In this section of our Colossus Movie Guide for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, we answer questions you have about the movie. If you’re curious about plot explanations, meanings, themes, lessons, motifs, symbols, or just confused by something, ask and we’ll do our best to answer.
Cast
- Pinocchio – Gregory Mann
- Carlo – Gregory Mann
- Geppetto – David Bradley
- Sebastian J. Cricket – Ewan McGregor
- Count Volpe – Christoph Waltz
- Spazzatura – Cate Blanchett
- Podestà – Ron Perlman
- Candlewick – Finn Wolfhard
- The Wood Sprite – Tilda Swinton
- Death – Tilda Swinton
- Written by – Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale
- Directed by – Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio | Questions and Answers
Why did the Wood Sprite bring Pinocchio to life?
del Toro seems to be making a bit of a statement about Christianity. Geppetto is someone of faith who has helped the church by carving them a new Jesus figure. Yet Carlo dies in a church. And Geppetto spends years lost in grief. But when the Wood Sprite passes by and witnesses Geppetto’s grief, she does something about it. She can’t bring Carlo back to life. But she gives Pinocchio a soul and instructs him to love Geppetto. In the story, the Wood Sprite does it just out of the kindness of her heart. But the reason del Toro has her do it and not the god of a different religion is probably worth a discussion.
What happens to Candlewick?
The last time we see Candlewick is after the bomb drops on the youth army camp. It blows Pinocchio out of the camp and into the mountains. And probably annihilates Podesta. But we have a shot of Candlewick running through the wreckage, calling out for Pinocchio. And that’s it. The movie doesn’t tell us anything more other than Candlewick survived.
What’s interesting is that Candlewick was from the same area. So you’d imagine at some point he would have stopped by Geppetto’s to check in? Unless he and his mother just fled Italy or something. But I imagine there was a scene that just didn’t make the final cut. Or even a sequel where Pinocchio goes out into the world and maybe runs into Candlewick in some city.
Why the emphasis on the pinecone?
The pinecone is del Toro’s succinct way of visualizing the journey of life. We’re born, hang on as long as possible, then fall.
If it’s World War I and Italy, why the Nazi salutes?
Hitler and the Nazis did not invent the salute. It’s originally a Roman thing. Wikipedia has a whole article on it you can check out. For a couple centuries, it had a mostly neutral, classical association. To the point that people in the United States were doing a version of it as part of the Pledge of Allegiance (around the 1890s).
But those running the Fascist Party in 1910s Italy really loved it and it became a prominent part of their iconography. Which led directly to its adoption in Germany. But Germany rebranded it.
Wasn’t the hourglass almost empty when Pinocchio made the deal to return?
It certainly looked that way. But that’s the thing: every second mattered. Pinocchio knew Geppetto was in grave danger. If he waited even 20 seconds longer, he probably wouldn’t have made it back in time to save his papa from drowning. So he sacrificed his immortality.
Is Pinocchio immortal again after Sebastian’s wish?
It kind of seems like that might be the case? Which is why Sebastian, at the end, even asks the question, “Will [Pinocchio] eventually die?” Yet we know Pinocchio can choose to lose his immortality. All he has to do is die and come back early. If he does that, it means his next death is the final one. But, for the time being, it seems he does have his immortality back. What he chooses to do with it is anyone’s guess.
Death did mention to him that human life is precious because it’s so brief. So it’s possible Pinocchio chooses to give up his immortality pretty quickly to have that experience?
Was Mussolini that short?
del Toro presents Mussolini as shorter than everyone else around him. A stumpy child moreso than a bold national leader. Part of this is just del Toro wanting Mussolini to come off as uninspiring as possible. It’s his equivalent to Tarantino’s artistic license with Hitler in Inglorious Basterds. But in real life, Mussolini was on the shorter side, standing between 5’6 and 5’7.
What questions do you have?
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