This was a really nice palette cleanser after Disney’s abomination, Del Toro and Gustafson did their thing on this. The voice acting was great and I’m sure its been mentioned before, but Christoph Waltz has a knack for nailing antagonists. Stop-motion animation has come a long way since the Harryhausen era. I hope Guillermo sticks with this route when tackling the upcoming Lovecraft adaptation.
By far the most mature children’s film I’ve watched since Pixar’s Soul. It didn’t shy away from embracing those heavy moments of life. The themes of neglect and fatherhood reflecting through both Candlewick’s and Spazzatura’s situations were well done. There was also something nightmarish with the way Pinocchio moved about in his first scene, despite him being so filled with wonder of the world. Feeling mixed with some of the detours it takes during the middle, but other than that, this was very well-crafted.
Geppetto crafted Pinocchio while he was deeply wasted and in a state of mourning…WITH A BOX OF WOODEN SCRAPS. If that’s not motivation then I don’t know what to tell you.