Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is a stop-motion animated musical fantasy film, based on the 1883 novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio. The movie's produced by Netflix Animation, Double Dare You! Productions, ShadowMachine, The Jim Henson Company, and Necropia Entertainment and distributed by Netflix. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is written by Guillermo del Toro, Matthew Robbins, and Patrick McHale and directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson.
The story is many years ago Geppetto lost his son after an inadvertent aerial bombing. Finally having enough, he chops down a tree and makes a wooden puppet named Pinocchio to replace the son he no longer has. This puppet shockingly comes to life. He soon realizes he just wants he father's acceptance, so he goes on a journey to live up to his expectations.
Initial Reaction
I'll keep it short as to why I wanted to see this film. Guillermo del Toro. That's the big reason. That guy has brought us nothing but great films, and with his involvement, I just had to see what he was gonna do with this story.
Cons
I don't have a single bad thing to say about this movie. Truly, I don't.
Middle Ground
Now while the movie's pacing is great 99% of the time, there is a period (I wanna say somewhere during the second act) where it was kinda slow. It wasn't too damaging to the movie, so I don't really think you'll mind that bit too much.
Pros
One thing I just gotta praise is the stop motion. Within the first 5-10 minutes of the runtime I knew I was gonna get a perfectly animated experience, and I truly did. I actually don't know if I give it anymore praise than it already gotten, because whatever positive thing you've heard about the animation, it's all true. What's also amazing about this version of the Pinocchio story is the performances. Once again, whatever praise you've heard about the cast it's true. Throughout the movie we can see the transformations the characters go through, but thanks to the cast we can also hear in their voices. Now much like the Disney version, there is music. However, what's gonna separate these songs from those, are I found them to be much more dramatic and more emotionally driven than the Disney's. Now that's not me saying these songs are gonna overshadow those ones, I'm just saying they're good, but in their own special way. Speaking of the movie doing things in its own special way, Oh my God these visuals! This probably the most visually appealing Pinocchio film I've ever seen. Everything from character designs to settings to even creature designs has its own unique look to them. You've truly gotta see the movie for yourself to see what I'm talking about, because words alone just can't do these visuals justice. The last thing I'll praise about the film is it's darker approach and themes. Especially themes. Typically when you see a Pinocchio film, those other versions sometimes just bite off from the Disney film...not this one. These one deals with themes of lost, life, death, the afterlife, and even has war themes in it. Because of those themes, you're definitely in for a thankfully very different tale of Pinocchio.
Honestly, this movie should've gotten a theatrical release as supposed to the limited one it got, and then being sent to Netflix. Not only that, but it's far better than the live-action remake we got a couple months ago. What with it's beautifully done stop motion, top notch performances, good music, absolutely gorgeous visuals, and much more darker approach to a classic tale. Sure the pacing can be off a few times, but that's easily forgivable.
My final rating is Great.
Well that's all for now. Come back on Monday, Dec 12th, for my review of Christmas Vacation. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
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