Comparing Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio to Disney's - It's better

Putting all nostalgia aside... 

Last week, Netflix released Guillermo Del Toro's stop-motion version of Pinocchio, which you can also see in select theaters. Many would agree that the Oscar winning director wouldn't create a film that reflects Disney's adaptation to the beloved story, and he didn't. 

In Deo Toro's film, Geppetto losses his real boy Carlo during The Great War during a bombing. The depressed wood carver buries his son and falls into a deep depression. But before Carlo died, he had planted a pinecone near where Geppetto buried him. Years pass, and that pinecone turns into a tree, attracting an ambitious traveling grasshopper named Sebastian J Cricket, who decides to make his home in the tree. One evening in a drunken rage, Geppetto cuts down the tree and creates a very weak wood boy. That evening when Geppetto passes out, a mystic wood sprite appears to bring the wood boy to life! 

Even though many would think Geppetto would be happy to have a boy again, Pinocchio constantly asks questions like a little boy, and breaks things, throws things that cause stress to the aged Geppetto. However, Pinocchio's childish demeanor and the similarity to Carlo helps bridge a connection between Geppetto and him. 

The storyline of Del Toro's Pinocchio doesn't reflect much of the story we are used to seeing.  Event though the story is still set in Italy, it's placed during Mussolini's fascist Italy around WW2. One of Pinocchio's missions in this film is to become a real boy but his main goal is to earn praise and respect from Geppetto. Pinocchio finds himself trying to prove himself by becoming a performing puppet (something we know very well) and then finds himself as a soldier with a group of other boys who are used as pawns and trained to fight for Mussolini. The men who stole Pinocchio to become a soldier use him to fight because he can't die. As Pinocchio is working with these other boys, he brings an innocence to the unit that reminds one of the boys that they're just boys. 

We'll leave it there so you can enjoy the ending yourself. 

The story really is about becoming a real boy but not in the sense of him becoming flesh and bone, but how he matures through his experiences. Unlike our beloved Disney version, Pinocchio actually dies four times in the film but has to remain dead for a certain amount of time before he can come back to life. If he breaks this rule, he loses all his extra lives. Like the Disney version, Pinocchio has to save Geppetto from sea monster. Pinocchio dies doing this but needs to return as quickly as possible before Geppetto. This of course breaks the deal he made with the Wood Sprite and now Pinocchio has no extra lives to live. This last act of bravery is the final step to him overcoming how he is different from humanity and proves that he has grown up from being the dimwitted little boy to a real boy. 

Overall this movie should've been the movie Disney made with the remake - at least the story. Even though Disney's live remake of it's classic altered the story a little, it didn't have the same depth as Del Toro's. As Disney continues to make their money grabbing remakes, they should alter the stories to meet the expectations of adult audiences while keeping the movies family friendly. Movies that are a copy and paste of the original have nothing new to tell, and adults are ready for a new story they can sink their teeth into. 

Del Toro's film took over 950 days to create, and it has been a dream project for Del Toro since he started working in the industry. That story is worth a read if you're ever interested in why Del Toro wanted to make this film in the first place. 

Del Toro's stop-motion adaptation is worth a watch. I wouldn't expect kids to be invested in the story as much, and the animation (even though it's top notch)  wouldn't appeal to some kids. 

The film stars some of our favorites stars, including Ewan McGregor (Star Wars), David Bradley (Harry Potter), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) Cate Blanchett (Lord of the Rings), Tilda Swinton (Dr Strange) and Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Bastards).