Pinocchio

Guillermo del Toro's stop-motion version of Carlo Collodi’s classic tale proves to be a fascinating personal vision.

For his latest venture, Guillermo del Toro shares the directorial credit with someone else. While that might be unexpected, it makes perfect sense because this is the first time that del Toro has given us an animated feature film for the cinema and his co-director is Mark Gustafson who is a specialist in that form (for example, he was animation director on Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009). Nevertheless, del Toro is the key creator here as befits a film that is sometimes known as Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and I say that because this is a project that he has long cherished. Furthermore, the credits find him additionally listed as a producer and as co-writer of the screen story and of the screenplay. That said, it is no surprise that this treatment of Carlo Collodi’s classic tale contains elements that are in line with del Toro's previous work, not least his decision to set the story in 20th century Italy with Mussolini in power and the threat of Fascism a clear menace. Less expected is the fact that the film makes less of such elements than one anticipates.

The main story told here is certainly the one with which we are familiar, that of the woodcarver Geppetto who creates a puppet named Pinocchio who, like a real child, takes on a life of his own, proves rebellious rather than dutiful but then find himself exploited. His adventures, which eventually lead to a bond of greater understanding between him and Geppetto, combine fairytale elements (spirits with supernatural powers play a part), an exposure of the adult world’s ruthlessness (a carnival owner, Podesta, entices Pinocchio into his money-making stage shows and then cheats him of his wages) and all-out dramatic fantasy-action (four leading characters land inside a shark but eventually escape).

That del Toro has other elements that he wants to bring into play is apparent from the start. Here the story begins during the First World War and shows how a bomb falling on a church takes the life of Geppetto’s son, Carlo. This leads to the idea of Geppetto creating Pinocchio as a replacement for his dead son and, bringing Vertigo to mind, it shows the folly of treating a person in this way. In this version of the tale, there is also another father/son relationship and one that goes even more awry. Here we have a Fascistic government official forcing his son, who is all too eager to win the father’s approval, to go to a military youth camp despite the fact that the youth’s nature is such that he hates it.

Since del Toro is a great admirer of the classic Disney film made in 1940, it is in keeping that he should retain the insect figure, Jimmy Cricket here introduced as Sebastian J. Cricket, as the friendly guide who acts as Pinocchio’s conscience. Ewan McGregor's gentle handling of this voice part is admirably judged (it is Cricket who is made the narrator of the tale). Disney is followed again when it comes to including songs. These are provided by Alexandre Desplat in addition to his orchestral score and it has to be said that the musical numbers are much less memorable than the ones that Disney inserted into so many of his films. In contrast to that, Ron Perlman voicing Podesta is a suitably impressive villain and, when it comes to the quality of the stop-motion animation, this film is in the top league.

Nevertheless, this Pinocchio faces strong competition and I feel that Matteo Garrone’s live action movie of the same name made in 2019 (a work that was no less clearly a labour of love) wins out over del Toro’s. Admittedly, the fresh elements introduced this time around do make sense: if puppets with or without strings can be controlled, there is a parallel to be drawn with the way in which dictators like Mussolini treat the people. Furthermore, this film’s elaboration of the fairytale aspect gives us a Pinocchio who has innumerable lives but it then goes on to argue that it is preferable to accept death and to make the most of living just one life. However, the inclusion of the material that expresses these additional themes tends to add to the sense of this being a distinctly episodic work and the film’s tone is overall surprisingly light for a work that introduces darker elements into the story. Given that del Toro is a powerful director whose work often has a confrontational edge, the impact is less than one expects. This is in a way summed up by the scene in which, at a performance in the presence of Mussolini, Pinocchio performs a song that mocks the dictator. It should be an edge of the seat moment, but all we get is a number which, however disrespectful, is notable for its references to farting. At moments like this, one senses a slightly uneasy gap between making the film appealing to a young audience and giving it the impact that adult viewers would surely prefer. Similarly, the action climax featuring the shark is built up and up for its own sake although taking such sequences over the top is perhaps what appeals not just to children but to modern-day audiences generally.

That said, this Pinocchio has much to recommend it. It can indeed be considered bad luck for del Toro's film that it reaches us at a time when one can point to Garrone’s version as the one which is utterly sure-footed in creating an appeal to satisfy audiences of all ages fully.

Original title: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Voices of  Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Ron Perlman, Christoph Waltz, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Finn Wolfhard, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Alfie Tempest, Tom Kenny, Anthea Greco.

Dir Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, Pro Guillermo del Toro, Alexander Bulkley, Corey Campodonico, Lisa Henson and Gary Ungar, Screenplay Guillermo del Toro and Patrick McHale, from a  story by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins, from the book by Carlo Collodi, Ph Frank Passingham, Pro Des Curt Enderle and Guy Davis, Ed Ken Schretzmann and Holly Klein, Music Alexandre Desplat.  

Netflix Animation/The Jim Henson Company/Pathé/Shadow Machine/ Necropia Entertainment/Netflix-Netflix. Available on Netflix in the US and in the UK from 9 December 2022.
117 mins. USA/Mexico/France. 2022. US Rel: 11 November 2022. UK Rel: 9 November 2022. Cert. PG.