Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a stop-motion animated musical fantasy film released on Netflix. The film is directed by Guillermo Del Toro and Mark Gustafson and is based on Gris Grimly’s design from his 2002 edition of the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
The creators reimagine the classic Carlo Collodi tale of the fabled wooden boy with a whimsical tour de force that finds Pinocchio on an enchanted adventure that transcends worlds and reveals the life-giving power of love. It has a runtime of about 1 hour and 56 minutes.
The character of Pinocchio is voiced by Gregory Mann, David Bradley voices Master Geppetto, Christoph Waltz as Count Volpe, Ewan McGregor as Sebastian J. Cricket, Tilda Swinton as the Wood Sprite & death, Ron Perlman as the Podestà, Finn Wolfhard as Candlewick, Cate Blanchett as Spazzatura, Burn Gorman as the Priest, John Turturro as Il Dottore and Tim Blake Nelson as the Black Rabbits.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Ending Explained
Set in Italy during the reign of Benito Mussolini, the film shows that a puppet is carved from the wood of a tree that grew over a young boy’s grave. When the boy’s father, Geppetto, wishes for a child to be returned to him, he gets a bit more than he bargained for with Pinocchio, a scraggly and unfinished wooden mannequin who happily injects an element of pure chaos into his new father’s life.
Pinocchio gets to know about his immortality when Geppetto arrives at the circus to bring him home, he and Volpe have a tug-of-war that results in Pinocchio being thrown to the road where he is hit by a car. He gets to the afterlife where he meets Death, the sister of the Wood Sprite.
She explains that he is immortal and that he will return to the mortal realm once an hourglass has flowed, cautioning that the time he spends in the afterlife will increase each time he returns. When he comes back to life, the Podestà finds him to be the perfect soldier who would never die on the other hand Volpe demands money in exchange for Pinocchio.
Stressed and anxious to lose his son again, Geppetto says some harsh words to Pinocchio. Leading him to join Volpe’s circus, both to earn cash for Geppetto and to avoid being drafted into the Royal Italian Army by the strict Podestà. Sebastian and Geppetto search for him at every destination the circus goes to but once crossing the sea, they are swallowed by a giant Dogfish.
Pinocchio keeps on working hard but when he gets to that Volpe isn’t sending any money to Geppetto, as well as mistreating Spazzatura, he decides to ruin a big performance by insulting Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. He gets shot but on revived, he finds himself in a training camp where other small boys train themselves to fight in the war.
There Pinocchio befriends the Podestà’s son, Candlewick, who is scared of disappointing his father and being seen as weak. On his advice, Candlewick stands up to his father but the training camp gets bombed, killing the Podestà. Pinocchio manages to escape but is captured by Volpe, wanting revenge against the puppet for ruining his circus business.
He tries to burn his to death but Spazzatura intervenes and they are sent over a cliff, with Volpe meeting his demise. On gaining consciousness Pinocchio & Spazzatura, find themselves in the middle of the sea and are swallowed by the same Dogfish, where they soon reunite with Geppetto and Sebastian.
Their only way out is to get blown out of the fish’s blowhole. Just as they escape, the Dogfish try to eat them again and while trying to save Geppetto, Pinocchio sacrifices himself by detonating a naval mine, stuck in the fish’s mouth. Upon meeting death again, he demands to be sent back early so that he can save Gepetto from drowning.
Death responds that he can go back early by destroying the sandglass, however, it will turn him mortal and he won’t be revived again. He still destroys it and while rescuing Pinocchio dies. As Geppetto is mourning for his son again, Wood Sprite appears to give its condolences, at this moment, Sebastian uses his wish to bring back Pinocchio to life.
He gets revived again and goes back to live a happy life in their home but with time, he outlives all of his loved ones as Geppetto, Sebastian and Spazzatura meet their life’s end in old age. Now Pinocchio is out in the world looking for more adventures.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is currently streaming on Netflix.
Also Read: 10 Best Miniseries of 2022 to Binge Watch Right Away: Dahmer, The Essex Serpent and More!