I might have heard that there was a major Pinocchio movie out in 2022.  There were actually two major Pinocchio movies released that year.

One is the standard Disney live-action remake of one of their classics.  Even with Tom Hanks and familiar songs, it has a score of 5.1 on IMDB.  The production budget of $155 million, but Disney didn’t bother with a theatrical release.  They say the movie went straight to Disney+ in September of 2022, because of Covid.  They had to know it was a flop.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio has a score of 7.6 on IMDB, and had a production budget of $35 million.  It was made for Netflix, but should have gotten a full theatrical release.  It’s complex, dark and intelligent.  It’s got that stop-action animation style that seems jinky compared to CGI, but that doesn’t damage the movie.

It’s too intense for little kids.  Some of the bad guys are fascists.   Not people you lose political arguments with, but actual Italian fascists.  Mussolini shows up as a VIP guest for Pinocchio’s stage show.

There is no cursing, nudity or violence.  There are serious consequences and deep themes.  It isn’t bright colors, endless songs and silly people.  Little kids would be bored.  It earns it’s 7.6 out of 10.