Movies - TV
7 Best And 7 Worst Moments In Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio
By CASS CLARKE
Best: The Film’s Release Timing
Released on November 9, Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio,” is a tear-jerking tale of the highs and lows of the human experience perfect for a post-Trump, post-COVID world. Del Toro said he pursued the film because "We find ourselves in a world that has become far more complicated in the last few decades and kids now have questions […] that are really complex.”
Worst: The Pine Cone Imagery
One of the most heartbreaking motifs in the film, the pine cone stands for life and death. Geppetto’s son Carlo dies when he returns to retrieve the pine cone he left behind in a church just as a bomb drops on it in an air raid, and later Geppetto builds Pinocchio out of an Italian pine tree in the woods, signaling that Carlo lives on in Pinocchio.
Best: Cricket Loses His House
The first act of “Pinocchio” gives audiences a break from Geppetto's grief with one of the film's funniest scenes when a drunk Geppetto begins carving Pinocchio without knowing the pine wood was already home to Cricket. With each drunken bob and weave, Geppetto accidentally destroys Cricket’s house, providing much-needed comedic relief.
Worst: Candlewick’s Tricks
When Candlewick first asks Pinocchio to sit close to the fire, it seems like curiosity, but as Candlewick’s requests get darker, the oblivious Pinocchio gets too close to the fire and his feet go up in flames. It’s an interesting lesson in what children learn from their parents — Candlewick knows his dad hates Pinocchio — and how far they might go to feel accepted.
Best: Cricket’s Pep Talk
By the film's end, Cricket is a loving and supportive friend to Pinocchio, and one of the best moments comes when Cricket gives Pinocchio a speech about empathy. After Geppetto snaps at him, calling him a “burden,” Cricket teaches Pinocchio an important lesson that people are not perfect, but that doesn’t mean they love you less.