Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

During the rise of fascism in Mussolini's Italy, a wooden boy brought magically to life struggles to live up to his father's expectations.

  • Released: 2022-12-24
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Animation, Drama, Fantasy
  • Stars: Gregory Mann, David Bradley, Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Tim Blake Nelson, John Turturro, Burn Gorman
  • Director: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
 Comments
  • ajintvarghese1 - 1 April 2024
    Showed the themes of grief, war, and defying expectations.
    Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio movie is a stop-motion masterpiece is a visually stunning and darkly reimagined Pinocchio story. Del Toro crafts a world both whimsical and haunting, breathing new life into the classic tale. Gregory Mann is a charming Pinocchio, and Ewan McGregor provides delightful narration. The film tackles mature themes of grief, war, and defying expectations. While some darkness might surprise younger viewers, it adds depth and emotional resonance. The animation is breathtaking, with meticulously crafted puppets that feel tangible. Pinocchio is a dark gem, offering a fresh perspective on a beloved character. It's a must-see for fans of animation, dark fantasy, and stories that go beyond the ordinary.
  • nazmemnun - 18 February 2024
    A movie that becomes more meaningful as you get older.
    In my opinion, it is a very impressive film with the messages it has like the reality of life and the cruelty of war.

    In addition, the film also touches on historical events, which makes the film really interesting.

    The Pinocchio tale turns into a whole diffrent and interesting movie with Gulliermo del Toro's stop motion technique. Also the music in the film also impressed me greatly.

    But i have to say that this film may not be suitable for all the childs. I think an adult would love the film more than a child. The messages it contains, emotional and historical scenes would impress an adult more than a child. I think that as the person who watches the movie gets older, they will realize that it is a much more meaningful movie.

    A good movie worth 2 hours of your time, I highly recommend it.
  • LW-08854 - 25 December 2023
    A radical rethinking of the old story
    Very well animated with a fresh new approach to the character. Ewan McGregor though is really poor, his dialogue is so on the nose, the themes are so in your face and unsubtle when he spells it all out. I think the film probably works best as a challenging kids film than one which adults will want to dip into too often. It's for sure quite an interesting take on the original Piocchio story, the animation is also extremely impressive. The trouble is though this film is not as a good as Pan's Labrinth, I don't think any kind of fairy story will ever measure up to how good that was, because it treated it's audience like grown ups. It's unflinching portrayal of the brutality of fascism has been watered down a bit here for a younger audience.
  • boomansreviews - 6 January 2023
    Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
    Booman Reviews on Youtube for the video review

    Guillermo Del Toro is easily one of my favorite directors. His haunting visual style is captivating, and his attention to detail regarding the characters in his movies has always drawn me in. Needless to say, I was excited about his interpretation of the classic story Pinocchio. So excited I forgot it came out on Netflix almost two weeks ago and didn't talk about it until now like a dumb piece of shi(intro)

    The film is called Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio for a reason. The first frame shows off his dark fantasy style with period costumes, impeccable attention to detail, and hauntingly beautiful sets brought to life by the incredible animation studio ShadowMachine. Modern stop-motion animation needs to become more prominent. I understand developing this type of movie takes a long time to produce correctly, but passion shines through every shot. The hard work on display here makes this iteration of Pinocchio so unique. The broad strokes of Pinocchio's story are still here, but Guillermo and fellow writer and screenplay contributor Patrick McHale wanted to bring us a stylish adaptation that would feel remarkably human. I say that because the writing of these characters and the reactions to the situations they encounter are portrayed so close to life. I had a hard time thinking of how I'd describe the tone in this film, and fantasy realism is what I'm leaning toward; I don't think that's a thing (it's not). I mean that the setting and characters are fantasy, but how genuine the film is with its emotion makes it feel true to life. Some moments are dark and depressing but can also be oddly hysterical. Life may have hard times, but that doesn't mean it's not worth living. The fact life is so short is a part of what makes it so unique. There is some heavy stuff in here for anyone, let alone kids, but if you happen to watch this review and wonder if your kids would like this film, I'd say give it a shot. The movie has a lot of great moral themes about being yourself, and even if the beautiful messages the film has to offer don't get through, the wonderful music and stunning visuals will carry them through. Plus, The dry, semi-dark humor portrayed here will probably get some kids laughing; it definitely had me laughing. All of this is tied together by the incredible voice acting performances from the likes of Christoph Waltz, Ewan Mcgregor, Cate Blanchett, who definitely got the short end of the stick when it came to the role she was given (monkey), Ron Perlman, and so many more talented performances came to bring this film to life, and it's what elevates this movie from good to great. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is in my top 5 movies this year. I absolutely loved it and wished I had watched it sooner. I highly recommend you see it, and if you want more content, Netflix also has a 40-minute behind-the-scenes film you can watch to give you the context of how they brought this world to life. That's all for me, thank you for watching.
  • antonioaguirreabcd - 4 January 2023
    The part of life we don't like
    This movie deals with the part of life we don't like: Death. No matter the cause, it's always a hard thing to deal with. I saw in this movie a mirror of my own fears, both with a children (my daughter) and a old man (my grandfather). We learn about it since we are kids: death it's just another part of the road, which happens to be the biological end of it and yet, here we are, still suffering, still crying. Centuries go by, science improves, countries change but our attitude towards death remains the same. A heart wrenching, destroying, confusing and cold rite of passage towards the unknown and unseen.
  • legobuilderpro - 2 January 2023
    A stop-motion Pinocchio story
    In the year 2022 there were 3 Pinocchio movies, and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) was the best one out of the three. I like the idea of Guillermo del Toro doing Pinocchio, especially when it is done in great stop-motion to make it more interesting.

    The voice acting from Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, and the rest of the cast were fantastic as these characters. I especially liked Gregory Mann as Pinocchio, I liked how naïve and innocent he was and loved how they animated him with details that that looks real.

    The other characters like David Bradley as Geppetto are nicely animated and they have distinct personalities. The stop-motion animation is amazing and looks pretty, with beautiful looking locations and scenery that I loved to look at.

    The movie focuses on the darker moments of the Pinocchio story, which is cool to see in animation like this. There are songs, and they are nice to listen to, but they start and end quickly, and this movie has a great musical score to it that is also nice to listen to.

    There are scenes, especially the ending, that will make you cry for how beautifully executed they are. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) was a fantastic adaptation of the Pinocchio story, and I did love Guillermo del Toro's direction with the movie which is why I highly recommend you watch this.
  • Boristhemoggy - 30 December 2022
    It's a hard Pi-NO-cchio from me.
    Yes I will anger some people but, sorry I thought this to be one of the worst versions I've seen. Even Robert Zemeckis' version was better even though that was incomplete.

    Stop motion is old news. It's not valid anymore. It's like the Amish who choose to live the way they do, and that's a very fringe thing. Stop motion is s choice del Toro made, but it's a very fringe thing to do.

    As well as the stop motion I found it very distracting that Geppetto's hair was like carved wood. And the colours throughout were harsh and garish.

    Even the faces had no aesthetic appeal, it's as if Del Toro was fantasising about how Tim Burton might have done it.

    The story just didn't appeal to me and all the famous headline actors in the film can't lift a poor film. I gave it a 3 but I'm not even sure it deserved that.
  • masonfisk - 28 December 2022
    DEL TORO'S TAKE IS THE BEST...!
    The other Pinocchio project (along w/Robert Zemeckis' misguided Disney+ entry) currently streaming on Netflix. Following the simple through-line of Collodi's original, Del Toro wholeheartedly lends his stamp to the classic fable by grounding it in the all too real world (the rise of the fascists in Italy during the 30's) as Gepetto builds his son from a tree which looms over the grave of his diseased son (who perished during a bombing one fateful night). Once the blue fairy gives life to the little wooden boy, Gepetto (voiced by David Bradley who worked w/Del Toro on FX's The Strain) is a little thrown back (he was built under alcohol'd duress) as his new charge is more than a handful & following the original story's beats, Pinocchio falls in w/a carnival exploited by its owner, voiced by Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, follows Candlewick, Finn Wolfhard, to a fascist youth camp which his dad, Del Toro regular Ron Perlman, runs & has to save Bradley & his conscience the cricket, Ewan McGregor, from the belly of a whale. Sprinkled w/easy going songs (some of which McGregor starts but never finishes due to humorously being cut off) & fashioned in wonderful stop motion animation (very reminiscent of Laika studios output), this is of a piece w/Del Toro's oeuvre, especially The Devil's Backbone, which handles the familiarity of the narrative the way it should be, giving the audience, in this case, much food for thought while being entertained & wondered at the same time. Other voice actors include Oscar winners Cate Blanchett & Tilda Swinton w/Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, John Turturro & Gregory Mann who voices the wooden miracle.
  • jeromesgabilo - 27 December 2022
    MARVELOUS STORYTELLING
    I was not very familiar with the original Pinocchio film and the story, but director Guillermo del Toro took a risk with this stop-animation film and it paid off. The production was a bit reminiscent of Tim Burton with the utilization of dark cinematography and animation, but this one was a league of its own. Again, stories with emotional leverage were deeply loved by audiences, and this one was no different. The story was relevant and the historical background provided a much stronger emotional depth to the entire film. The only problem I had was it failed to ellicit such emotional reaction in me. But the storytelling was marvelous.
  • Neon_Gold - 26 December 2022
    Awful character
    So confused why this has so many good reviews? I'm gonna take a guess and say because it's by Guillermo, who I absolutely adore. Shape of water and pan's Labyrinth are perfect. I even love Devil's backbone. Maybe not Crimson peak so much tho...but I normally love his movies. And you can feel his darkness in this but I think Pinocchio might be the most annoying character on screen ever. I wanted to throw him into a fire. The voice actor was bad for me. He sounded like a snotty kid screaming at his mum in Harrods. And the singing...wow.

    Obviously it looks amazing. It's absolutely stunning. But the annoying character and boring story just made me so irritated.