Themes from New Pinocchio 2022 written by the Hobbit and the Queen. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before you Watch
Movie: Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hr. 57 mins
Age Suggested: 12 and up
Release Date: December 9th, 2022
Streaming Service: Netflix
Genres: Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Musical
Warnings: Multiple deaths, child peril, war scenes, and fascism. See our “Is Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Appropriate for Younger Kids?” section below for more details
Quick Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Summary
Guillermo del Toro has written an adaptation of Pinochio that is closer to the original Collodi story. It is therefore darker than the well known Disney version. He has changed the time of the story, moving it to the early to mid of the last century.
Is Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Appropriate for Younger Kids?
This is not the familiar Disney movie. It deals with mature themes and has multiple deaths and shows children being trained to be soldiers (see summary below for further details). The movie starts with Geppetto and his son bonding, but a bomb drops and kills his son. Pinocchio “dies” several times. Several other characters die, and these are shown so that there is no doubt they are dead. Overall, even though the movie is rated PG, it is really pushing right up against that PG-13 rating.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Review:
This section WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, but I use spoiler advisedly. Most people are already familiar with the story and I will concentrate on differences in this version.
The first and most obvious is that Geppetto has a human son. A very loving relationship, it is cut short by a stray bomb in World War One. Geppetto goes into morning and is overcome by grief for 20 years. He then chops down a pine he had planted by his son’s grave just as Sebastian J. Cricket makes it his home. We then start the familiar elements.
This story takes place in fascist Italy during the early to mid stages of the Second World War. Mussolini shows up and fascism plays a large role, although the movie takes knowledge of this period for granted. It is effective in showing that people can be puppets of the state, but more explanation would have helped. Likewise, Pinocchio in the carnival does a “patriotic” show that extols war, and he and Candlewick are not turned into donkeys, but soldiers, with an emphasis on killing your enemies.
The film uses stop motion animation. I love stop motion and enjoy it. It is very well done, although I am not sure how a generation raised on CGI will respond (CGI, remarkable as it is, has limits). And stop motion is excellent for a wooden boy.
Themes from New Pinocchio 2022 to Discuss
There is a lot to discuss from this movie, especially for people who have seen multiple versions of this story. Remember when discussing to encourage openness and not to shut down conversations. Talking through difficult things like death (especially when children are involved) can be hard, so make ample room for everyone involved.
- Being a puppet
- Loving you for who you are
- Death
- Grief
- War
- Friendship
- Love
- Sacrifice
Final Thoughts
Lots of interesting themes to think about for adults and teens (especially older teens already familiar with Pinocchio), but not a family movie. Because it is, in several ways, more faithful to the original, it also works well in a study of the story and its themes
Thanks for reading our Themes from New Pinocchio 2022. Here’s what to check out next:
-Our top family friendly Netflix Streaming Suggestions
–A Tale Dark and Grim Review
-Lessons from The Willoughybys with Discussion Questions
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