Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio [4k UHD + Blu-Ray
![Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio [4k UHD + Blu-Ray] (Criterion Collection) - UK Only](https://k4s.uk/posts/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/81QeH8sBd2L.jpg)
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio [4k UHD + Blu-Ray] (Criterion Collection) – UK Only
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio [4k UHD + Blu-Ray] (Criterion Collection) – UK Only
Del Toro’s take on the classic fantasy tale is not only visually stunning feat of craftsmanship but also heartbreakingly emotional. Criterion’s transfer is reference quality, the disc is full of extras and housed in a beautiful and clever digibook packaging. I can’t praise this release enough!
This film has an engaging story and amazing detailed production design. A must watch for every movie fan who appreciates passion over overbudget money grab productions what we get nowadays most of the time
Only flaw is the lack of any other language than English.
My family is French but there is no other edition than Criterion’s for this movie.
And I wouild have loved to watch it in Italian as the characters are supposed to be.
This stop-motion animated film, which had been in Development Hell from 2008 to 2018, was a passion project from Guillermo Del Toro, who actually GIVES a damn. The Disney remake is another godawful example that the studio are milking in our nostalgia and updating things for ‘modern audiences’, and it was directed by Robert Zemeckis (the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy [1985-1990], WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT [1988]), who has truly become a shadow of his former self (what happened to you Robert?).
The reason why Del Toro’s PINOCCHIO spent so long in Development Hell was because no studio in Hollywood were up to financing a stop-motion animated film (which became well-known thanks to the original KING KONG [1933], the films of the legendary Ray Harryhausen and the works of Aardman Animations). It’s setting, against the background of Fascist Italy and being a much darker, edgier version of the Pinocchio tale didn’t help either.
But after winning Oscars for THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017) – his best theatrical directorial effort since PAN’S LABYRINTH (2006) – and the success of the CG-animated Netflix series TROLLHUNTERS (2016-2018), the project got the green-lit at Netflix and debuted last year to well-deserved acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film (I know some people wanted PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH [2022] to win, but look on the bright side, at least the gong didn’t go the mediocre Pixar film, TURNING RED [2022]).
The heart of this movie is the father-son relationship between the grieving Geppetto (David Bradley) and the exuberant and rowdy Pinocchio (Gregory Mann). One of the things I like about Del Toro’s films is that they always have a humanity, whether it’s the innocence of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) in PAN’S LABYRINTH or the tenderness of the Amphibian Man (Doug Jones) in THE SHAPE OF WATER, and PINOCCHIO is no exception.
I’m impress with the voice cast for this. As well as Bradley and Mann, there’s Ewan McGregor (young Obi-Wan Kenobi in STAR WARS) as Sebastian J. Cricket, Christoph Waltz (INGLORIOUS BASTERDS [2009]) as Count Volpe, Cate Blanchett (Lady Galadriel in Peter Jackson’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy [2001-2003]) as Spazzatura The Monkey (!), Del Toro collaborator Ron Perlman (Slade in Cartoon Network’s TEEN TITANS [2003-2006]) as Podesta, and Tilda Swinton (best known for her collaborations with the Korean auteur Bong Joon-Ho) as The Wood Sprite & Death.
Just a word of advice, if children does decide to watch GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO, then they should watch it with their parents. Because this is NOT like the 1940 animated film. But, as Del Toro rightfully points out, animation is a medium for everyone to watch, it’s not a genre and it’s definitely not aimed at kids only (take note, Disney).
One of Guillermo Del Toro’s best and definitely one of the more deserving winners of the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar (unlike TOY STORY 4 [2019] and ENCANTO [2021]). Highly recommended.
Reviewer: Ben David W