Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio

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Designs for Penguin Horror Series curated by Guillermo del Toro

Paul Buckley. Designs for Penguin Horror Series curated by Guillermo del Toro. 2013

Installation view of Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, December 11, 2022 – April 15, 2023. © 2022 The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Emile Askey

Director, Guillermo del Toro: The first time I thought about doing Pinocchio, I was in my teens and I thought a very intimate relationship between Pinocchio and Frankenstein exists.

Director, Mark Gustafson: There’s many similarities between the two stories. A guy creates something and then loses control of it and then he has to deal with the consequences of that.

Senior Sculptor & Fabricator, Toby Froud: The Frankenstein-esque creation of this creature, this monster Pinocchio—and then going through the world and having humans react to that and humanity would do to someone like that.

Composer, Alexandre Desplats: It gives perspective for Pinocchio himself being such a different person and very quickly he’s the scapegoat, he’s the enemy, because he’s a stranger, he’s somebody weird.

This stranger that Pinocchio represents is a real inspiration for young kids when they will see the film, because they will see how somebody different can be hated and how somebody different can actually be a very good person and very generous, even give his life for somebody else.