Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
During the rise of fascism in Mussolini's Italy, a wooden boy brought magically to life struggles to live up to his father's expectations.
- Released: 2022-12-24
- Runtime: 120 minutes
- Genre: Animation, Drama, Fantasy
- Stars: Gregory Mann, David Bradley, Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Tim Blake Nelson, John Turturro, Burn Gorman
- Director: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
Comments
- hoernkeem - 23 April 2024
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022, Guillermo del Toro & Mark Gustafson)
Eric's Grade: B+ I am by no means a Pinocchio aficionado or purist so walking into this I only had the barest template of the story in my mind as I have never read the source material which is an 1883 novel by Carlo Colladi, and it has been at least 2 decades, probably more, since I have seen the Disney animated classic. 'Pinocchio' had long been a passion project for del Toro, and although the film was announced as early as 2008 it languished for years with no studios willing to finance it until it was finally acquired by Netflix in 2018. It is a stop-motion animated movie co-directed by Mark Gustafson with a screenplay co-written by del Toro and Patrick McHale. 'Pinocchio' garnered critical acclaim and won the Best Animated Feature award at the Academy Awards.
'Pinocchio' tells a familiar if slightly skewed version of the classic Pinnochio tale. The setting is Fascist Italy between WWI and WWII as Mussolini holds power and sway over the country. Geppetto loses his son to an errant bomb dropped in WWI. He mourns and descends into drunkeness and despair. Years later, out of that despair, he carves a puppet made from the tree planted at Carlo's grave, and a wood sprite brings it to life assigning a cricket who lives in the wood to be his conscience and guide. 'Pinocchio' is essentially a newborn and lacks understanding and self control eventually frustrating the old Geppetto. He sends him off to school but Pinocchio gets waylaid by malign forces in the form of Count Volpe and his circus. Pinocchio is seen as a tool by Volpe and then the Fascists, but he keeps striding forward trying to do right in his new existence as well as right by his father who at first cannot see Pinocchio as a replacement for his son, but eventually learns to love Pinocchio for who he is apart from his boy.
This version of the classic tale incorporates many elements from the original story, but also clearly puts its own slant on things mainly in moving the setting to the politically charged Fascist era of Italy's history. The story does not feel shoehorned in though and instead feels right at home being told against that backdrop. The direction and animation here are exquisite and it is mind boggling to think of the painstaking detail that goes into creating a stop-motion feature such as this. The character designs slant a bit more fantastical which is right in the del Toro wheelhouse. The cricket does not bare much resemblence to the Jiminy character most of us know, and Pinocchio himself is more of a roughly hewn puppet as opposed to the finally crafted epitome of a little boy that is the more classic rendering of the character. He works really well in this form though as he feels unfinished so is his personality unfinished and seeking experience and approval. The film does have some darkness, but essentially maintains that youthful optimism of the Pinocchio character even through all the darkness of death, impending war and the Fasicst mandates on the populace. 'Pinocchio' is not really a story I adore or gravitate toward so I just find the narrative okay, but it is hard not to watch and marvel at the sheer creativity and animated visual feast that del Toro and his production team built here, and the story, while familiar, is also original enough to give del Toro and company credit for their achievement there as well. - goksuasya - 18 February 2024
patlamismisirlicorba
I think this movie is a wonderful. This movie is not one topic. There are many different and important topic in this movie. The film mentions the helplessness of a father who loses his child because of the war planes at the beginning. Then the father wants a new son who can be like his died child. So one soul give a life to his puppet which will be the son of Geppeto. However, Pinokyo is not like Carlo and its macigal. People say that Pinokyo suitable for war and circus because he is undead. Pinokyo didn't know everthing about this world and he wanted Geppeto to be happy. So he went to circus and in this its mostly talked about the political stuation. It's not just about this section most of the sections talks about the political. Then the movie mentioned about the war. They educate the children for war but Geppeto doesnt like the war because he lost his son beacuse of the war and he didn't want to be this stuation again. And there are many important stuations in this movie. Its not just about the national problems and its about the general selfish opinions. However the main idea of this movie is that we can't wish for someone to be like they were not. - ScorpioDog - 3 January 2024
Beyond Phenomenal!
Honestly this film is just a showcase of Guillermo del Toro's phenomenal talent! The stop motion animation is some of the best I have ever seen.
Pinocchio's design is my favourite rendition of the fairytale character. He is just so adorable and unique from other adaptations. Del Toro captures that childlike naivety through both character design and the animation! Gregory Mann's voice acting is just the cherry on top. I hope to see him in more acting and singing roles in the future.
There are several details woven into the animation and character design. I absolutely loved the design of both the wood sprite and the death spirit. Overall, this version of 'Pinocchio' is the one that everyone should be raving about! - UniqueParticle - 7 January 2023
Magnificent darker than most family tales
Visually stunning, well directed and joyful delight! Guillermo Del Toro films are all great he can't wrong, he's done several horror movies and you can tell although the bulk is a family story. The only aspect I'm not a fan of is musicals but even in this its perfectly mashed unlike others that oversaturated the singing. Pinocchio is very deserving of a nomination in the Golden Globes in the animation category and might win. I don't like to spoil so I will just say there's a little bit of adult subject matter that shouldn't be seen much by kids under a certain age. Usually not as into Netflix as others but damn this is great entertainment! - MK_Movie_Reviews - 5 January 2023
Pinocchio's new frontier!
I love Disney's Pinocchio, so I chose the Netflix original movie "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" as my first movie to watch in 2023. This movie has a slightly darker feel than the original Disney movie. It is a content that incorporates old wars and human dramas. To be honest, I didn't really like the animation and art of the characters very much. Because it's a little dark overall. This is a movie I recommend for adults who want to watch it alone on a Sunday afternoon. For family fun, I recommend Disney's original movie Pinocchio. Finally, my favorite line is those two.
1) "Well, in this world, you get what you give." 2) "Every moment shared with them may be the very last." - ArranJParkes - 2 January 2023
Doesn't Put a Foot Wrong.
I'm going to be ranting and raving about this for years. Guillermo must be a wizard, because his latest project is peppered with so much magic and whimsey that it's hard not to get immediately swept up in it all. A rollarcoaster of emotions, so joyous and profundly moving that I couldn't help but be intensely giddy by the end.
This movie is pure magic, one of the hardest things to create for the screen. And del Toro has beautifully remade this story for the ages. This is an absolute win - go and watch it!
An experience that reminded me how great life can be. How powerful love is. And how great cinema can be.
Bravo!! - [email protected] - 30 December 2022
Who knew Pinocchio was so sad and joyful
I Watched this with my entire family over 2 nights and found my youngest 10 year old lying in bed after the first half saying how she was in shock at how sad the story was and I couldn't disagree with her it was very sad. Then we watched the second half on the second night and that was just as sad with so many twists and turns, however I thought that he turned back into the little boy but in this version of Pinocchio that didn't happen. Everyone thought it could be a bit more of a happy ending but still loved the movie as being a very unique animation that wasn't the usual Disney animation, I need to go dry my eyes. - mickeythechamp - 29 December 2022
It´s the return of dark kids stuff!
A grim retelling of a story we know well. Guillermo del Toro delivers a beautiful stop motion retelling of Pinocchio that fits his brand so well. It´s a kids movie but it has so many twisted scenes and ideas to it that it can only be a del Toro movie. It didn't click with me a hundred percent as I see it more as a visual challenge than a good story, but it´s a fun and interesting watch.
After losing his son to world war 2, the carpenter Geppetto makes a boy of wood. A wood spirit brings the wooden boy to life and he most now navigate being alive.
The animation is absolutely incredible. It took me a few minutes in to really see it was stop motion. The animation is so smooth Nealy all the time and the characters are designed in such a way, it might as well had been an animation style in the traditional ways. The production is incredible here and everything from sets, backgrounds and characters look incredible. This is a technical marvel and so well done.
I really love the faded look of this movie. It could have gone for a color popping style and really lean into the kid style but it went for a more laid back color pallet which really helps del Toros style. It looks amazing from start to finish and everything in terms of production is outstanding.
The movie is full of incredible voice acting. Nealy every character is voiced believable and fitting for their character. I loved Ron Perlmans performance, David Bradley, Christoph Waltz. I also was surprised how good Finn Wolfhard was as a voice actor and I hope he keeps it up. My favorite performance was Gregory Mann as Pinocchio. It´s a relatively new actor on the scene and he really delivers here. He hit the childhood innocence of Pinocchio perfectly and is a joy to listen to from start to finish. An outstanding performance from an actor that will go far.
This is a great twisted version of the classic Disney Pinocchio tale, and it works so well. Del Toro can´t help himself fusing in horror in his media, even when it´s a kids movie like this. The movie has this horror tone and felling to it, while not leaning directly into horror. It´s still a kids movie in my opinion but has thoughts small things. Pinocchio moving creepy in the beginning, the underlying war, the spirits, all has this scary felling to it. But the movie hasn't much story to it. It´s a series of events and a fun take on the original tale. I think it tries too hard to tell you what it´s about in the end and the movie doesn't do a great job of moving to the emotional climax. It´s a bid aimless but still a really fun movie.
The musical elements aren't that impressive to me, and I think the movie had been better without. It doesn't add much and only one song doesn't sound like a generic musical song to me "Ciao papa".
Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro is a prediction marvel that looks incredible, and it has his style. It´s a different kind of kids movie in an era of safe kids media that dares to go and show dark things. It´s an enjoyable movie and it entertains throughout but doesn't have much substance to it in terms of story. I still enjoyed it though, and can´t wait to watch it again. - jp_91 - 27 December 2022
Lovely film!
"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" is probably the best film adaptation based on the novel "Le avventure di Pinocchio" written by Carlo Collodi. Guillermo del Toro wrote a deep script that revolves around the loss of a loved one and facing death, as well as including a social criticism of the fascism that is still out there. One of the great successes is the voice work done by the cast, who provide feeling to their respective characters. Another of the highlights is the perfect stop-motion animation, packed with amazing designs and impeccable work. This work is the best animated film of the year and one of the best in the history of cinema. - imdb-4788 - 26 December 2022
Boeing and soulless
There is no discussion about the beautiful art abd settings and puppet mastery that is used in this movie.
But as it shines on the outside, it's empty on the inside.
At no point did I feel a connection to any character (and i regularly cry watching movies!). Everything is too perfect, even the unperfected.
Also the songs are horrible. Boring songs with boring lyrics. What a joy was "Nightmare before Christmas" in that matters what a letdown is it here.
And of course Torro chose Fascism as the ultimate evil. It's not fitting at all in the story abd feels just to make the movie "important".
One of the most soulless and boring movies with one of the worst soundtrack and songs.
I was not expecting a happy movie knowing Torros previous works but this was just a waste of time.
What is up next? Heidi meets fascist Japan? Grimms fairy tales in World War I? Lassy in the old south, guarding slave plantations?
You can tell very heartfelt and very important stories without these settings. But it's so much easier to settle withe those, where the audience leaves the movies with a heavy head, as this is never allowed to happen again. Ahh yes, there was also this puppet...what was it's name..Pinocchio!!...yes, this Pinocchio was also in the movie. But the fascists! And the Duce!
