Pinocchio
Pinocchio
Starring Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Christoph Waltz
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Starring Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Christoph Waltz
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Animated films are extremely difficult to pull off, even moreso than live-action, because you have so much more to do to make it believable, and stop-motion animation is by far the most difficult. Each set piece, every character, and every small nuanced movement is meticulously crafted by hand and painstakingly put to camera frame-by-frame, resulting in a surreal, otherworldly feel that is unparalleled and sheer magic. Films like "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Kubo and the Two Strings," "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "Coraline" have remained in the cultural zeitgeist for years after their release, and with good reason. Now it's Guillermo del Toro who tries his hand at stop-motion animation, and while it focuses on the story you think you know, he weaves a tale that's more true to the source material than anything Disney could ever put out, and he maintains his trademark style for glorious creature designs and emotional war-torn stories.
In Italy during World War I, lowly woodcarver Geppetto (David Bradley) is living a nice existence with his young son Carlo (Gregory Mann) until a rogue bomb strikes the church he's working at, leading to Carlo's untimely death. Heartbroken and shattered, Geppetto remains by Carlo's gravesite day and night, doesn't eat, and has pretty much given up on life for the next twenty years. Meanwhile, Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor), a cricket, takes residence in a pine tree by the grave, and is shocked when Geppetto cuts down the tree to make a new boy. That night a Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) arrives and breathes life into the wooden boy that she names Pinocchio (Gregory Mann), entrusting Cricket to teach him how to be a good boy.
With a youthful energy and vibrant outlook on life, Pinocchio runs into a rogue's gambit of bad guys and also good through ringmaster Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz) and his abused pet monkey Spazzatura (Cate Blanchett), along with fascist government official Podesta (Ron Perlman) and his abused son Candlewick (Finn Wolfhard). While at first Geppetto shuns Pinocchio for his rebellious nature, he grows to care and love for him, and Pinocchio learns what it means to be a real boy as the two embark on a journey to find each other again.
Disney has had a way of turning classic fairytales into their own stories, and the majority of people believe those stories to be the real deal, but the majority of them are much darker than the House that the Mouse built made them out to be. While their Pinocchio is fantastical and whimsical, the original story by Carlo Collodi is much darker, and it's something Guillermo del Toro has never shied away from. His wheelhouse is being able to mix the fantastical and the gritty reality with gems like "The Devil's Backbone" and "Pan's Labyrinth," so it's no surprise "Pinocchio" drew his attention. The film has been a labor of love for the Oscar-winning director as he's spent nine years coming up with the story and over one thousand days and over forty animators to bring the story to life. While the majority of films are simple cash grabs, stop-motion films are anything but: they're love letters written specifically for the audience, written by love and care by everyone involved, due to the overwhelmingly difficult nature to bring it to the big (or small) screen.
This "Pinocchio" takes place in-between two of the world's biggest wars, and its story is fashioned between the two momentous moments in history, forming and shaping the characters in a way that only del Toro could accomplish. His styling is rubber-stamped throughout the process, especially the color palette used, incorporating natural colors in favor of bold ones, further solidifying the connection between humanity and nature that Pinocchio exhibits. He's made out of wood, but he has human characteristics. Del Toro has incorporated such diatribes in his other work, so it's undoubtedly something that's uniquely his that's also mixed with the classic tale.
Not only was there an astonishingly amount of talented people who brought the stop-motion to the big screen, but the A-list voice actors behind the characters also provide their heartfelt emotions through every word. Ewan McGregor's narrator Cricket is a blend of egotistical pride and also slapstick comedy that makes him a very endearing character, while David Bradley voices Geppetto with a continual sense of loss and regret, along with eventual hopeful vigor and joy. Newcomer Gregory Mann gives duel performances as the carefree Carlo and also the titular character, showing both the positive and negative sides of childhood (positive being seeing everything as something amazing, negative that he tends to not to listen to authority figures and lies). Tilda Swinton also plays double duty as Life and Death, offering thoughtful philosophical discussions that would probably go over kids' heads. Christoph Waltz gives the Count a gleefully evil nature, while Cate Blanchett is totally unrecognizable as the voice of the monkey Spazzatura, who doesn't have any actual lines of dialogue. The rest of the cast - from Ron Perlman to Finn Wolfhard, Burn Gorman and John Turturro - give it their all as well, rounding out the idea that the entirety of this long-gestating project was a labor of love.
"Pinocchio" might be a family movie, but the themes are something that's extremely powerful for adults as well, and oftentimes found me with a tear welling up in my eyes. First is the concept of loss, as Geppetto mourns the loss of his son Carlo. The biggest fear of any parent is losing their child, and it's only compounded when that child is an only child, and there's no other parent in the picture. Geppetto spent twenty years mourning alone, and you can sense his deep anguish both in Bradley's performance and the stop-motion animation, and it's a guttural, visceral thing.
Then there's the idea of death and the time we have with our loved ones. Pinocchio - as he's without an actual soul - can never die, but as Death oftentimes reminds him, those around him will. She says "you never know how long you have with someone until they're gone." We tend to treat life as something painful and we're ready for it to end, but there's beauty in the darkness, and peace in the brokenness. Life isn't valued by how high we climb the social or financial ladder, but by those around us that we love and cherish more than anything - and "Pinocchio" shows us that we need to value them more, because we never know when we won't see them again.
Another important theme in the film is being true to who you are. This is most prevalent in the Geppetto and Pinocchio relationship, as at first Geppetto laments that Pinocchio is nothing like his son Carlo, but slowly realizes that he's seeing things all wrong: Pinocchio isn't supposed to be like Carlo, but he's supposed to be just Pinocchio. Likewise Pinocchio only wants to gain Geppetto's approval as a son would, and loves him despite his outbursts on the contrary. He tries to make Geppetto proud, and Cricket comes back with timely wisdom: "you must try your best, and that's the best anybody can do."
Finally there's the theme of fathers and sons, and how it's never really typically good. Geppetto and Pinocchio's relationship was already mentioned, but there's several other father/son figures that the film shows. In a way, the Count sees Spazzatura as his son, even though he's a monkey, and shows contempt and anger toward him. Likewise the Podesta sees his son Candlewick as weak and timid - something he can't tolerate. Finally there's the overarching theme of fascism and fighting for the Fatherland during the War, showing the total discontent that Mussolini has for his people. Through all these negative father/son parallels, Geppetto and Pinocchio's parental/child connection shines all the more, proving that fathers might not be perfect, but they still love you despite their angry outbursts.
In Italy during World War I, lowly woodcarver Geppetto (David Bradley) is living a nice existence with his young son Carlo (Gregory Mann) until a rogue bomb strikes the church he's working at, leading to Carlo's untimely death. Heartbroken and shattered, Geppetto remains by Carlo's gravesite day and night, doesn't eat, and has pretty much given up on life for the next twenty years. Meanwhile, Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor), a cricket, takes residence in a pine tree by the grave, and is shocked when Geppetto cuts down the tree to make a new boy. That night a Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) arrives and breathes life into the wooden boy that she names Pinocchio (Gregory Mann), entrusting Cricket to teach him how to be a good boy.
With a youthful energy and vibrant outlook on life, Pinocchio runs into a rogue's gambit of bad guys and also good through ringmaster Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz) and his abused pet monkey Spazzatura (Cate Blanchett), along with fascist government official Podesta (Ron Perlman) and his abused son Candlewick (Finn Wolfhard). While at first Geppetto shuns Pinocchio for his rebellious nature, he grows to care and love for him, and Pinocchio learns what it means to be a real boy as the two embark on a journey to find each other again.
Disney has had a way of turning classic fairytales into their own stories, and the majority of people believe those stories to be the real deal, but the majority of them are much darker than the House that the Mouse built made them out to be. While their Pinocchio is fantastical and whimsical, the original story by Carlo Collodi is much darker, and it's something Guillermo del Toro has never shied away from. His wheelhouse is being able to mix the fantastical and the gritty reality with gems like "The Devil's Backbone" and "Pan's Labyrinth," so it's no surprise "Pinocchio" drew his attention. The film has been a labor of love for the Oscar-winning director as he's spent nine years coming up with the story and over one thousand days and over forty animators to bring the story to life. While the majority of films are simple cash grabs, stop-motion films are anything but: they're love letters written specifically for the audience, written by love and care by everyone involved, due to the overwhelmingly difficult nature to bring it to the big (or small) screen.
This "Pinocchio" takes place in-between two of the world's biggest wars, and its story is fashioned between the two momentous moments in history, forming and shaping the characters in a way that only del Toro could accomplish. His styling is rubber-stamped throughout the process, especially the color palette used, incorporating natural colors in favor of bold ones, further solidifying the connection between humanity and nature that Pinocchio exhibits. He's made out of wood, but he has human characteristics. Del Toro has incorporated such diatribes in his other work, so it's undoubtedly something that's uniquely his that's also mixed with the classic tale.
Not only was there an astonishingly amount of talented people who brought the stop-motion to the big screen, but the A-list voice actors behind the characters also provide their heartfelt emotions through every word. Ewan McGregor's narrator Cricket is a blend of egotistical pride and also slapstick comedy that makes him a very endearing character, while David Bradley voices Geppetto with a continual sense of loss and regret, along with eventual hopeful vigor and joy. Newcomer Gregory Mann gives duel performances as the carefree Carlo and also the titular character, showing both the positive and negative sides of childhood (positive being seeing everything as something amazing, negative that he tends to not to listen to authority figures and lies). Tilda Swinton also plays double duty as Life and Death, offering thoughtful philosophical discussions that would probably go over kids' heads. Christoph Waltz gives the Count a gleefully evil nature, while Cate Blanchett is totally unrecognizable as the voice of the monkey Spazzatura, who doesn't have any actual lines of dialogue. The rest of the cast - from Ron Perlman to Finn Wolfhard, Burn Gorman and John Turturro - give it their all as well, rounding out the idea that the entirety of this long-gestating project was a labor of love.
"Pinocchio" might be a family movie, but the themes are something that's extremely powerful for adults as well, and oftentimes found me with a tear welling up in my eyes. First is the concept of loss, as Geppetto mourns the loss of his son Carlo. The biggest fear of any parent is losing their child, and it's only compounded when that child is an only child, and there's no other parent in the picture. Geppetto spent twenty years mourning alone, and you can sense his deep anguish both in Bradley's performance and the stop-motion animation, and it's a guttural, visceral thing.
Then there's the idea of death and the time we have with our loved ones. Pinocchio - as he's without an actual soul - can never die, but as Death oftentimes reminds him, those around him will. She says "you never know how long you have with someone until they're gone." We tend to treat life as something painful and we're ready for it to end, but there's beauty in the darkness, and peace in the brokenness. Life isn't valued by how high we climb the social or financial ladder, but by those around us that we love and cherish more than anything - and "Pinocchio" shows us that we need to value them more, because we never know when we won't see them again.
Another important theme in the film is being true to who you are. This is most prevalent in the Geppetto and Pinocchio relationship, as at first Geppetto laments that Pinocchio is nothing like his son Carlo, but slowly realizes that he's seeing things all wrong: Pinocchio isn't supposed to be like Carlo, but he's supposed to be just Pinocchio. Likewise Pinocchio only wants to gain Geppetto's approval as a son would, and loves him despite his outbursts on the contrary. He tries to make Geppetto proud, and Cricket comes back with timely wisdom: "you must try your best, and that's the best anybody can do."
Finally there's the theme of fathers and sons, and how it's never really typically good. Geppetto and Pinocchio's relationship was already mentioned, but there's several other father/son figures that the film shows. In a way, the Count sees Spazzatura as his son, even though he's a monkey, and shows contempt and anger toward him. Likewise the Podesta sees his son Candlewick as weak and timid - something he can't tolerate. Finally there's the overarching theme of fascism and fighting for the Fatherland during the War, showing the total discontent that Mussolini has for his people. Through all these negative father/son parallels, Geppetto and Pinocchio's parental/child connection shines all the more, proving that fathers might not be perfect, but they still love you despite their angry outbursts.
The visuals are downright dazzling, and needs to be recognized for the
art it is. Del Toro's biggest strength is his creature designs, and here
it's no different. The blowfish is a thing of visual nightmares, while
the duality of Life and Death are Biblical in nature and equal parts
beautiful and disarming at the same time. Even Cricket is meticulously
designed to del Toro's specifications. When it comes to the human
characters, Geppetto is wonderfully designed with careful pinpoint
precision with every wisp of hair and loose-fitting clothing, while
Pinocchio himself - as I said earlier - serves as a perfect balance of
human and nature, being without clothes but clothed in the light of
life. "Pinocchio" is, through and through, a labor of love that's one of del Toro's best films, a wonderful blend of the fanciful and real that will live long in your hearts after the credits roll.
The Score: A+
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