“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” Review
David Bradley voices a lonely woodcarver named Geppetto (Left) who creates a sentient puppet named Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) in “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.”
In 2022, I found that some of Disney’s animated films disappointed me in some way. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved “Turning Red” and thought that “Lightyear” was fine. But with “Strange World” disappointing me, I found that the 2022 slate of Disney animated films was a far cry from 2021 with “Ray and the Last Dragon,” “Luca” and “Encanto.” Fortunately, filling this void were other great animated films like “Apollo 10½” and “Marcel The Shell With Shoes On.” In a year where Disney also disappointed audiences with a lackluster remake of the 1940 classic “Pinocchio,” it was incredibly refreshing for Netflix to release “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” which is one of the best cinematic versions of the story. I dare say that it even rivals Disney’s iconic film from over 80 years ago.
At first it seems like the story is pretty familiar, a lonely woodcarver named Geppetto (David Bradley) makes a puppet named Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) who is brought to life by the magical blue fairy (Tilda Swinton). While an adventurous Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor) is appointed to look after the puppet, Pinocchio doesn’t always listen to his advice and goes on a massive journey where he encounters strange characters and learns life lessons.
While this might seem like an ordinary telling of a story we know all too well, there are some inherent differences that make it stand out. One is in the setting of the story. Instead of taking place in a timeless environment in the 19th century, this film is set in Fascist Italy during the 1930s with Benito Mussolini even making an appearance. This decision makes for a unique version of “Pinocchio” and also ties into Guillermo del Toro’s style.
In most of his films, Guillermo del Toro focuses on how fantasy creatures interact with a realistic environment and that realistic environment is often a hostile, authoritarian one. “The Shape of Water” is set during the paranoia of the 1950s Red Scare in America while “Pan’s Labyrinth” is set in the Spanish Civil War. This makes Pinocchio’s arrival all the more strange since everyone has been conditioned to be a servant of the state while Pinocchio inspires free choice.
The other big difference of the story is in its tone. While this film does have a talking cricket, a monkey who becomes Pinocchio’s friend and a climax involving a monstrous whale, this is still a fairly realistic version of the story. In this film, Pinocchio is immortal but he can briefly die, which happens a few times in the film. When he does die, he’s sent to the afterlife where he has a chat with Death (Tilda Swinton) about what he’s seen and learned before coming back to the world of the living.
Once again, Guillermo del Toro’s vivid imagination has resulted in a charming film that is sure to enchant.
While this film does have a dark side to it in terms of its historical setting, this is still a family film with an enjoyable cast of characters and beautiful animation. I love stop-motion so much and I’m so glad to see Guillermo del Toro, codirector Mark Gustafson and a marvelous team of animators apply this style to this story. Because of stop-motion’s tedious nature, the film took over 1000 days to shoot and that hard work has paid off. This is some of the most gorgeous imagery I’ve seen in quite some time and there’s this fantastic energy combined with such beautiful artistry. While this is the hope for all stop-motion films, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” never feels like you’re looking at lifeless puppets. They feel real.
Bringing these animated characters to life is a phenomenal voice cast with Gregory Mann as the titular marionette. What is tricky about Pinocchio is that you have to capture a naivete and also have him evolve. This is easily a character that could become annoying if he just kept getting into trouble and never learned his lesson. Fortunately, Mann captures the desired performance perfectly and you really feel a sense of growth with this character. Yes he can act bratty and he makes mistakes, but he’s a kid and he does learn. I also love Pinocchio’s design. Often, films try to make him look more like a real boy but in this film, he looks like a wooden puppet with no paint but still managing to have such expression.
I’m also going to say something that you might be shocked by, I think that Geppetto and Sebastian J. Cricket are better in this film than in the 1940 Disney film. I just think that there’s so much depth with these characters with David Bradley and Ewan McGregor bringing all of their charm. In this story, Geppetto makes Pinocchio out of sorrow because he lost his young son Carlo (Gregory Mann) in the first World War. Unlike other versions of the story, where Geppetto’s loss is hinted at or briefly explained, this film goes in depth. We see Geppetto and Carlo’s relationship blossom. We become invested. Then, it’s cut down and you’re emotionally devastated. It’s like watching the first ten minutes of “Up” all over again.
As for Sebastian J. Cricket, he’s a bit more stern as a conscience than the bubbly Jiminy Cricket of the Disney film. When one of the characters becomes sorrowful and wants to crawl into a hole, Sebastian essentially tells them to pick themselves up and to move forward which is pretty different. He seems a lot more three dimensional than other versions.
Along with del Toro’s brilliant decision to cast the story alongside the rise of facism in Italy, there’s a grand sense of adventure to the film. While there’s no Pleasure Island where bad boys turn into donkeys, the things del Toro comes up with to replace it are just as powerful and frighteningly real. By the time the film reaches its ending, you feel like you’ve been on a big journey and want to relieve it. What I also love about the film is the ending which is happy but has a bittersweet quality that I want kids to see. I don’t think they’ll know how to handle it initially but it’s going to stick with them.
To call “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” forgettable is a big mistake. This is some powerful storytelling and is worth looking up on Netflix.
