The winner of both the Golden Globe Award for the best animated motion picture for 2023 and the Critics Choice Award for Best Animated Feature, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio is hardly a children’s movie although rated PG. The themes of life discussed in the movie are powerful, and it leaves not only a child but also adults with many questions about the existence of life. The movie, based on the age-old children’s classic by Carlo Collodi, discusses deep psychological themes providing a deep understanding of life, love and loss with its beautifully constructed animated characters.
“War is not fun. War is not good. War took Carlo away from me” - Geppetto
Death as a result of the war is just the tip of the iceberg. As a nation that dealt with a three-decade war, we identify with the pain caused by war very closely. Del Toro’s Pinocchio elaborates on a personal experience of war, telling us the story of Geppetto - the carpenter who faced this horrible result of the war. Gepetto took his son, Carlo, with him everywhere he went and when Carlo was tragically killed by a stray bomb, Geppetto almost lost himself in his grief. When Carlo was killed, Geppetto was working on a crucifix in their village church and the war destroyed the church too, where people go to be close to God.
Geppetto is just one example of many who faced unspeakable traumatic experiences during the war. During a war, people can be exposed to many different traumatic events, which raise the chances of developing mental health problems—like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression and poorer lifestyles. The years of wishful thinking and prayers did not seem to help Geppetto and the storyline portrays how his personal loss halts the renovations of the village church providing a simple example to define the complex outcomes of war concerning personal tragedy. It is not wrong to identify individual mental health as the driving force of any kind of development.
“While you may have eternal life, your loved ones, they do not” – Death
Coping with the loss of a loved one may be one of the hardest challenges we face in life and the grief is particularly intense. Loss is understood as a natural part of life, but it can still be difficult to overcome due to the shock and confusion, leading to prolonged periods of sadness or depression. It can change a person making them a shell of who they were when they are severely depressed and grief-stricken. This is what we see happening to Geppetto’s after his son Carlo dies. However, the story also proves how the sadness typically diminishes in intensity as time passes and how actively processing grief, as Geppetto did by carving a puppet out from the tree that grew from Carlo's imperfect pinecone, can help an individual out in the grieving process.
The movie takes us closer to grief twice; once when Geppetto loses Carlo and also when it’s time for Jiminy Cricket and Geppetto to go. Although the children’s classic version of the story gave us comfort with a hint of Geppetto and Pinnochio being with each other forever, Del Toro reminds us that eventually one of them has to leave too. That’s the way of life, for each one of us. The way Del Toro manages to deal with gloomy topics such as death in a way children won't be scared but rather inspired is truly fascinating. The characters Wood Sprite and Death contribute to this cause very well.
“The one thing that makes life precious, you see, is how brief it is” - Wood Sprite
Anxiety about our own death can be perfectly normal. The fear of the unknown and what happens afterwards is a legitimate concern. Research suggests that when considering our own death, we are most concerned about potential pain, helplessness, dependency, and the well-being of our loved ones. Whenever Pinocchio dies, he accesses the Wood Sprite’s realm and the two share in-depth conversations about the fragility of existence and the burden of living forever. The Wood Sprite’s first appearance offers an unbiased perspective about life to Pinocchio, explaining that life’s brevity is precisely what makes it so precious.
“I don’t like being called a puppet” – Pinocchio
At some point in our lives, we have all been taken advantage of. These events are painful, even devastating, and fortunately, for most of us, these encounters are infrequent. Many people in our society are living like puppets, controlled by forces outside of their awareness including religion, politics, societal norms, education, social media, mainstream media and many other factors.
Encounters with Count Volpe, the vicious puppet master and circus ringmaster, exploiting Pinocchio’s talents to sell out his travelling circus shows is a quick reminder of how some people lose their autonomy and are easily manipulated by others. Autonomy is the feeling that you are in control and have the choice to make informed decisions, taking responsibility for your decisions and actions, something that is essential considering one’s mental health.
“He is a puppet. He is just a puppet” – Geppetto
The older versions of the story rewarded Pinocchio for his eventual obedience, and turn him into a flesh-and-blood human. However, Del Toro reinterprets what it means for Pinocchio to become a “real boy” through a story that encourages imperfection, and counters the constricting structures that define fascist Italy with characters who learn to love one another for their idiosyncratic self-expression. Being different from every other version of Pinocchio, disobedience here is a virtue. Also, it’s Pinocchio that transforms the people around him, instead of transforming himself to please and be accepted by the people around him. Geppetto and the Cricket learn from him. Geppetto starts the film talking about perfection trying to find a perfect pinecone and ends up embracing Pinocchio.
“When he called me a burden, his nose didn’t grow” – Pinnochio
In Del Toro’s Pinocchio, one other important truth that is discussed is the relationship between a father and a child. Geppetto is not perfect. He says some horribly cruel things, telling Pinocchio he’s a burden. He is sometimes drunk and compares Pinocchio with Carlo, pointing out how Pinocchio is imperfect. Pinocchio gets hurt and confused by his father’s behaviour. This is something that is not commonly discussed in parenting although it’s a popular theme in the discussion. Sometimes, parents do get frustrated and channelling this frustration isn't a skill that we think we need to master. Instead, the frustration still goes out, creating a negative impact on the child.