It’s animated, it’s a musical, it’s an adaptation of Pinocchio and it couldn’t be more original. Guillermo Del Toro’s take on the Italian fantasy features all the story beats people will recognise but in a totally new context. While the film is appropriate for children to see, the way the film tackles its themes of fascism, rebellion, fatherhood and grief is so elegantly done that it can be appreciated by anyone.

Devasted by the loss of his son during the first world war, Italian carpenter Geppetto, in a drunken rage, cuts down the tree next to his son’s grave and carves it in to a puppet. That night, a mysterious entity appears and, feeling pity for Geppetto, grants his new creation life, christening him Pinocchio.

The Characters

Of all the characters that’re interpreted here, the most memorable and empathetic is Geppetto. While I’m sure past adaptations have shown the Italian carpenter’s grief, this film doesn’t pull its punches in its depiction. In the first act we see him and his son when he was alive, not for long but long enough to understand how much he means to Geppetto.

He’s voiced by David Bradley in what might be one of his moving performances. His sadness, despair and rage are viscerally conveyed both in Bradley’s voice and the character’s animation. When he meets Pinocchio he’s initially horrified but over time they begin to develop a sort of companionship, Geppetto is still very much conscious that this puppet isn’t his real son. As Pinocchio learns more about the world and the obstacles it presents, he and Geppetto begin to accept each other as they are rather than what one wants the other to be.

Pinocchio doesn’t really have an arc per say. He struggles fitting in with others and while he does picks up little truths about life, death and freedom, for the most part, he’s happy with who he is. It’s the characters around him who really change, especially Geppetto.

The cricket, or Sebastian J. Cricket as he likes to be called (voiced by Ewan McGregor), is quite unlike past interpretations. In the first act, the mysterious entity (voiced by Tilda Swinton) tasks the cricket with being Pinocchio’s guide. Sebastian only accepts under the condition of receiving a wish from the entity. This cricket’s reasons for helping Pinocchio aren’t really altruistic. He’s not just a lecturer on Pinocchio’s shoulder, he’s got his own motivations. However, over time, like Geppetto, seeing Pinocchio as he is changes the cricket for the better.

These takes on these characters aren’t just original but make them more interesting to watch. The film could’ve easily presented Pinocchio as he typically has been, as a naïve boy who learns important lessons in a number of adventures, but instead it’s the other characters who learn the important lessons, which I certainly haven’t seen done before.

The Themes

Death and fascism aren’t ideas one initially considers when thinking of Pinocchio yet Del Toro weaves both into the story seamlessly.

This version of Pinocchio takes place in Mussolini’s Italy. Anyone who’s seen Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth or The Devil’s Backbone will know that this isn’t new territory for him thematically. Like Pan’s Labyrinth it’s a fairy story centring around an adolescent with a historically fascist backdrop.

One theme both this and Pan’s Labyrinth share is the virtue of disobedience. As stated before, Pinocchio likes himself as he is, which becomes a great annoyance to a local government official (voiced by Ron Pearlman) who wants the puppet to train as a soldier.

Pinocchio doesn’t just rebel to the government but to death itself. We learn that while Pinocchio can die, when he does, he turns up in a sort of afterlife where, since he doesn’t have a soul, can be restored and wake up back in his puppet body. This becomes a real obstacle when Pinocchio learns that this rule only applies to him and not to everyone else. Here Pinocchio does undergo a change in that he realises what all the other characters have always known; it’s life’s impermanence that makes it so precious.

Unless I see anything better in the next few weeks, this will almost certainly be my best film of the year. It’s one of the freshest takes there’s ever been on story as worn and overdone as Pinocchio. With perfect stop-motion animation, magical songs and great performances all round, it’s one of Del Toro’s best and I can’t praise it enough.

I give Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio an outstanding 10 out of 10.