Mini Film Review – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

I have just seen Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; and it was really nice, and sweet, and rather sad too! Directed by Guillermo del Toro, and Mark Gustafson, and starring Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, and Gregory Mann; Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a stop motion animated, dark fantasy musical, loosely based on the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. After the passing of his son, a distraught Geppetto crafts a new son to take his place, but struggles to accept him for who he really is, causing his creation to set out on a rather tragic adventure. From the first frame to the rather sad ending, the film treats us to it’s terrific art style, and wonderfully crafted animation. The animation is not smooth moving animation, there is a very humanly crafted element to them, which brings up fond memories of watching classic films by Aardman Animations, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s a very clever film, as it features great acting, as well as some wonderful moments of singing, from cast members you may not have realized had such a hidden talent for perfect singing. But it’s cleverness, is hidden in the subtleties, as the film acts as a message on the frailty of mortality. To this end we see an adventure like no other, as instead of going down the Disney route, we are treated to the immense imagination of Del Toro’s, as he takes this classic tale, and puts his own spin on it. So we get all the mod cons of the classic story, but references to other classic stories such as the Tale of Jonah, as well as the grim realities of Italy during World War II. And all the while that this is going on, we see and learn to understand how the world, and life upon it is fleeting, and begin to shed tears, as we reach the predictably happy side, to what turns out to also be a sad ending, but with a happy, creative, and rewarding twist!