The Stream: Another Pinocchio movie, really?

The Big Screen: Impressive animation and lively voice performances

The Final Bill: Guillermo del Toro justifies another Pinocchio movie with beautiful design and an emotional story

– S2S:Movie Review and Trip Fontaine
Director: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
Writers: Guillermo del Toro (screenplay by), Patrick McHale (screenplay by), Carlo Collodi (based on the book “Pinocchio” written by)
Stars: Ewan McGregor (voice), David Bradley (voice), Gregory Mann (voice)
Genre: Animation, Drama, Family
Rating: PG
Runtime: 1 hour 51 minutes
Production Companies: Netflix Animation, The Jim Henson Company, Pathé
Platform: Netflix released December 9, 2022
Notable Trailers: The Pale Blue Eye, You People

I’m a reeeeeal movie! (*Pinocchio classic voice*) Welcome back, Streamers. This week Netflix released Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro’s reinvention of Carlo Collodi’s classic tale, Pinocchio. As you know, the tale is about when a wooden puppet is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto. Del Toro’s and Mark Gustafson stop-motion musical follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit for a place in the world. Well, let’s get to it.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is beautiful, heartbreaking, and overall a fun movie. It actually makes no sense why the movie wasn’t exclusively released in the theaters. While it isn’t really a December/Christmas movie, it’s definitely one of those movies that just needs to sneak in during awards season and just before the end of the year. So… what to say about Pinocchio. The stop motion animation is top notch, creative, and realistic at the same time. I mean just another winner from del Toro. This new version of Pinocchio brings the old story but has strong storytelling and the voiceover work which gives the movie new life. The innonnce and naivete of Pinocchio, the desperation and hope of Geppetto, the callousness of Podesta and conniving and cunning of Count Volpe just shoot off the screen. It’s easy to say that with the voice work of a great cast of the likes of Christoph Waltz, Ron Perlman, David Bradley, and Gregory Mann in reverse order. Just to name a few because Ewan McGregor’s Cricket just sounded a bit too like himself to be anything other than Ewan McGregor. Anyway, you need those type of performances when this is a such a familiar story like Pinocchio. The imaginative artisty along with the voice work make this feature its own.

(Side note from Trip: I really enjoyed Ewan McGregor’s voice performance. He really funny and sincere in his delivery. I think McGregor gives the movie a nice edge that doesn’t come from anywhere else.)

Ultimately, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a must-see movie. The animation is inventive and beautiful. While the Pinocchio story is basically the same, this movie zones in on the emotional connection between father and son and a desire to be a better human being. Make sure to have a big box of popcorn and a few tissues when you watch this on Netflix.