Director Guillermo del Toro never intended for his version of Pinocchio to be a children’s movie, but that does not mean it can not be a family movie. Del Toro tells Variety that he believes Pinocchio is a film that families can watch and enjoy together, but it was never meant to be exclusively for children.
Del Toro’s animated Pinocchio film is available on Netflix and still in select movie theaters. Del Toro’s version has important distinctions from the other popular Disney film version that most people remember. In Del Toro’s version, he does not turn Pinocchio into a real boy because he does not want to spread the message that someone needs to change to deserve love and acceptance.
There’s a difference between a ‘family movie’ and a ‘babysitter movie.’ The latter has been pasteurized to be consumed without parental supervision. We wanted a movie that could be discussed and enjoyed by adults and kids, whether they were together or not.”
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Del Toro also focuses on external conflicts happening in the world that cause stress and turmoil for the characters, such as the fascist regime. The filmmaker believes that these are universal themes, which he felt were important to incorporate.
“We started discussing mortality, life and death, and the brief period of time we have on earth. All that evolved from my father’s infirmity, losing my father, and considering my own role as a father.”
Del Toro’s Pinocchio Focuses on the Emotional Journey of Characters
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Del Toro chose to depict Pinocchio as a creation of Geppetto’s grief that was thrust problematically into the world as something he would be forced to confront. Ultimately, Pinocchio, as the manifestation of this grief, causes Geppetto to challenge his idealization of the past and love the imperfect parts of himself as well as his new son.
Many of the characters in Del Toro’s film undergo an emotional journey because of their relationship with Pinocchio, and Del Toro says this was a vital goal of the storytelling in the film. Pinocchio also bonds with the antagonistic Candlewick, who once bullied him, but in the end, stands up for his friend and refuses to harm him.
“It became as much a story of the transformations of Geppetto and the cricket. Pinocchio is a handful. He is hyperkinetic, loud, and largely uncaring, and Geppetto is an imperfect father; he is obsessed with perfection, but his journey ends with him accepting the imperfect and loving it more.”
Del Toro states,
“If at the end of the movie, you feel a desire to call someone you’ve been estranged from, then we’ve accomplished something — for this brief moment, we’re together, as imperfect as we are.”
