Del Toro’s Pinocchio is not huggable

It is one of the most anticipated movies of 2022: Guillermo del Toro ‘sPinocchio. A dark stop motion version of Carlo Collodi’s ambiguous fableabout a puppet whose nose sometimes grows when he lies. The Disneyinterpretation is famous, but the Mexican director gives it his own twist andmoves the story to Italy during the rise of dictator Mussolini. That isreminiscent of his Oscar-winning Pan ‘s Labyrinth (2006), which combinedSpain’s fascist history with fairy tale elements.

Del Toro and co-director Mark Gustafson ( Fantastic Mr. Fox ) get the mostout of stop motion, the technique where real puppets move a little bit eachframe. Sets are not smoothed out like in computer animation, the movingfigures are beautiful and uncanny at the same time. Del Toro’s Pinocchio isnot cuddly, but has spindly limbs and protruding nails. And there arewonderfully gruesome monsters, such as the man-devouring whale or theburrowing rabbits in the regularly visited purgatory.

It took the Mexican director decades to convince financiers to put their moneyinto his animation. It seems as if during that period the ideas, associationsand metaphors in the script piled up. The original fairy tale is alreadyepisodic: it appeared as a serial in a children’s magazine. Del Toro’s filmgoes one step further in terms of plot twists. For example, the film openswith a long prologue about Pinocchio’s father Gepetto, in which themes emergethat recur later, such as the life-destroying effect of war and the way inwhich church and state force people to conform.

Childish slapstick

Woodworker Gepetto is an acclaimed model citizen until his son Carlo dies inan unfortunate bombing raid on the church where they are working together on acrucifix during WWI. The grieving father loses himself in alcohol until aforest fairy revives the puppet he intoxicated made: Pinocchio.

Unlike Gepetto’s earlier son, this ‘replacement’ has little desire to listenwell and allows himself to be seduced by circus director Volpe, who promiseshim candy and fame. Meanwhile, fascism is becoming more and more present. Thatleads to childlike slapstick, like an encounter with a puppet version of IlDuce. But also to original variations on Collodi’s story. For example, the’lazy land’ where Pinocchio turns into a donkey here is a fascist youth camp.

Sometimes Del Toro could have chosen sharper. The tone of his _Pinocchio_varies a lot at times: vocal numbers for a much younger audience are out oftune with the rest of the film. And towards the end, so many plot twists arerushed through that the surprising, emotional ending about the meaning ofPinocchio’s life choices and the transience of earthly existence just fallsshort of the chord it seems to be aiming for.

stop motion

Guillermo del Toro ‘s Pinocchio Directed by: Guillermo del Toro and MarkGustafson. Starring: Gregory Mann, Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton. Length: 118mins.

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