'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio' Review: Darkness Envelops a Wooden Boy

Gorgeous animation adorns the latest dark vision of co-director Guillermo del Toro.

Now Streaming: I completely misjudged Pinocchio. 

Of course, I'm referring to director Robert Zemeckis' recent remake, starring Tom Hanks and now streaming on Disney Plus. Because I always try to look on the bright side, I emphasized what I enjoyed most about the film in my Screen Anarchy review, noting: "All the familiar characters appear, along with several new characters and a recognition that we all exist in a much more diverse world than we did as the Second World War broke out. Zemeckis and [writer Chris] Weitz add a few scenes and characters and delete others, with the emphasis on what works best for the narrative."

Compared to that effort, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson (animation director of Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox), is a stone-cold dark masterpiece, refashioning Carlo Collodi's story, first published weekly and then in novel form in 1883, into a reflection of his (del Toro's) sensibilities. The plot skeleton resembles Disney's animated version, released in 1940, and its remake, following sad Gepetto, who is still mourning the death of his young son when he makes a puppet that reminds him of the lad, which then comes unexpectedly to life. 

From there, the new film touches some of the other films' main plot points, while otherwise blazing its own creative trail. It is the first time del Toro has made anything resembling a family-friendly film that is made to be devoured by youngsters. Even so, after a relatively sunny first third or so, del Toro's familiar themes of death and reincarnation are introduced, which echo some of the themes that appear in Carlo Collodi's story, which, according to this Wikipedia summary, is really quite wild. Clearly, Guillermo del Toro was not the first adaptor to cherrypick plot points and themes from the book, yet the inspiration is darkly apparent. 

Putting aside story details, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is sumptuously realized. It's a very dark vision, best seen through adult eyes first, even though it's rated PG. Probably it's more appropriate for goth teenagers and adults who adore animation, who will have a field day. Make your own popcorn, but mind the sparks around wood; we wouldn't want anyone's limbs to burn off. [Netflix]