“Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” (2022, also directed by Mark Gustafson) is a fantasy, musical, and animated film that brings a dark and intense take on a classic tale that has been told for decades.
The film is narrated by Sebastian J. Cricket (voiced by Ewan McGregor, AKA Obi-Wan), and it follows Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) and his father, Master Geppetto (David Bradley), as they live in Italy in the 1930s when Italy was being embroiled in fascism.
There are various moments in the film when Pinocchio and Master Geppetto are forced to make difficult decisions so that they can guarantee the safety and well-being of one another.
The animation of this film is definitely its greatest quality. It makes one of the most tedious types of animations (stop motion) look easy, effortless, and natural. For example, in the opening scene, a character is swinging on a swing and it looks like they are actually moving like a real person.
The coloring of the film is very well done, with the color scheme representing the emotions that the characters are feeling.
For example, when they are sad and distraught the scene is heavy with gray, blue, and black. When they are happy the scene is filled with yellow and orange hues.
The voice acting of all the characters is phenomenal, they all encapsulate their character’s personalities wonderfully, but the standouts of the film are definitely Pinocchio and Sebastion J. Cricket.
Gregory Mann does a great job of portraying Pinocchio’s innocence and boyhood-like nature, by making the audience laugh at his chaos, but at the same time giving some deep heartfelt dialogue that hits the audience right in the feels.
Ewan McGregor is a joy to hear throughout the film. With his witty and sarcastic remarks that make the audience giggle, to his serious moments that help guide Pinocchio. He does a phenomenal job at bringing so much life to an animated insect.
The script is a mixture of different things: comedy, heartwarming moments, heartbreak, and heavy conversation of politics. But, even with all of this chaos, the film makes it work and blend in beautifully.
The majority of the soundtrack of the film relies on a lot of instrumental and classical vocals that resemble the music that was popular in 1930s Italy, which is made to make the audience feel like they are in that small town in Italy.
Be aware that this movie does move fairly quickly, so if you turn away for even just a couple of minutes there is a great possibility that you missed something important to the plot of the story.
Even with all of these great qualities, some audience members don’t like the film because they feel like it is ruining some of their childhood memories because of the film’s conversation about politics and scenes including violence.
Out of the three Pinocchio movies that came out in 2022, “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” is miles better than Disney’s and Lionstage’s retelling of the story (and no nose grew after saying that.) It is a film that will influence the way future animators tell stories for years to come.