Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Film Review

The fact that we got two Pinocchio movies this year is quite strange to think about. The first was Robert Zemeckis‘ live-action adaptation which was absurdly awful in every sense of the word. Not only was it a hugely uninspired mess, but it failed to recapture the magic that the original story contains.

That’s why I was crossing my fingers that legendary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro wasn’t going to let me down with his brand new stop-motion animated musical fantasy Pinocchio, and now that I’ve seen it, I can breathe a sigh of relief and assure you that it’s amazing.

Right from the opening few frames alone, it’s obvious that this version of the story is incredibly bold and unique, daring to do things that you won’t see coming. To be honest with you, I’m willing to go as far as to say that you shouldn’t show this version of Pinocchio to your youngsters because it’s legitimately dark. Seriously.

The opening fifteen minutes feel like something you’d see in a horror movie, and not a PG-13 one either. Of course, there are some great moments of family fun in this film but it’s mostly a serious tale that doesn’t have too much interest in catering to the small kids out there.

Del Toro has always been someone who’s not afraid to take gigantic swings with his work. If you see a project coming out with his name attached to it, you know that it’s going to be his vision. You know it’s going to have that classic, gothic Del Toro style, and Pinocchio is thankfully no exception.

The stop-motion animation here is also a thing of beauty. It never fails to amaze me just how much time and effort goes into making these kinds of movies, and it’s exactly why I hope that this medium of art gets more and more recognition as the years go by.

In Pinocchio, we can see the little ridges of wood blossom to life on his body and the world he lives in pop with grit and grime. It’s a world that feels remarkably lived in during every single frame, and it’s absolutely astounding to sit back and take it all in with a big smile on your face.

But obviously, the story here is the most important thing and Del Toro nailed it. It’s quite a faithful retelling while also adding some new touches to make it his own. I was surprised with just how raw and emotionally charged this version was. Geppetto feels so sympathic here, and the usually annoying talking cricket character gets a ton of depth here. This whole movie is a work of art and it’s one of the best animated films of the year, hands down.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a staggeringly beautiful and surprisingly dark retelling of the classic story, brought to life by state-of-the-art stop-motion animation.