![]() ![]() “Children can watch if their parents talk to them. That might be why a certain cricket is the repeated target of more traditional cartoon violence. Still, Gustafson said that one of the challenges in making this film was finding the balance between dark moments and light ones. We decided early on, we are not going to talk down to them.”Īdded Del Toro: “Kids, especially now, have an incredible sense of what’s authentic and what is not.” “We have a lot of faith in children,” said Gustafson. But beyond the connection between fascism and certain types of parenting, his “Pinocchio” addresses death and rebirth and the consequences of one’s decisions - themes and topics that some may consider too weighty for children’s entertainment. In juxtaposing a specific moment of history with a story about a child, “Pinocchio” carries on the spirit of such earlier Del Toro works as “The Devil’s Backbone” (2001) and “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006), which used moments during the Spanish Civil War period as their backdrops. ![]() And in all three relationships, the sons start to push back. There is also Candlewick, a young boy who lives in Pinocchio’s hometown, and his father, a fascist officer who is determined to make Pinocchio follow the rules. There is Volpe, the flamboyant carnival leader who seduces Pinocchio into joining his stage show, and his puppeteer monkey Spazzatura. This made Mussolini’s Italy a perfect backdrop for a film that tells “rhyming stories of fathers and sons.” As Del Toro points out, Geppetto and Pinocchio are not the only father-son pair featured in the movie. “The strong man in fascism is a very dark and seductive figure of power for stray souls that are looking for a sort of father figure that can dictate what you do.” “The conceit behind fascism is the darkest interpretation of a father figure,” said Del Toro. The Oscar-winning director tosses aside obedience and embraces defiance in the face of conformity in his retelling of the classic “Pinocchio” story. What is shown over the course of the film, however, is that it’s not Pinocchio who needs to change who he is in order to be loved - it’s on Geppetto to realize and appreciate the miracle that he’s been given.Īwards In Guillermo del Toro’s darker, weirder ‘Pinocchio,’ it’s Geppetto learning the lessons This Pinocchio (voiced by Gregory Mann) is not necessarily concerned about being good in order to become a real boy, but is willing to try to behave in order to make Geppetto (David Bradley) proud. If you ask Guillermo del Toro whether his “Pinocchio” is appropriate for kids, he will tell you that “it’s not necessarily made for children, but children can watch it.”ĭescribed as “a fable about disobedience as a virtue,” “ Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” out now on Netflix, flips the script on the themes of Walt Disney’s classic adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s 19th century children’s story and sets it in fascist Italy during the rise of Benito Mussolini.ĭirected by Del Toro and Mark Gustafson, the wooden puppet at the center of this tale is a grief-stricken father’s drunken creation brought to life by a wood sprite. ![]()
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