This was my favorite category and set of nominees of the night. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio won a hotly contested race with Dreamwork’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish for the 2023 Oscars Best Animated Film, proving both of these films should have had more recognition.
If you wanted to see a hotly contested, completely worthy set of nominees battling it out for an Academy Award Sunday night, the Best Animated Film/Feature was the category to watch.
Films like Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Sea Beast, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and Turning Red, all of which could have been Best Animated Film winners in their own right, had to go against one another in easily the most competitive, difficult, and rewarding category of the entire Oscars show.
Still, even with all of that said, the two favorites going into the night (and my two favorites) were Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
Two films with two vastly different and difficult styles of animation (Puss In Boots: The Last Wish-modern CGI animation blended with classic 2D/Hand-Drawn Animation vs. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio-Stop Motion/Claymation Animation) and two polar opposites, yet equally emotional stories (Puss In Boots: an aging hero dealing with the meaning of life and true heroism vs. Pinocchio: a boy-doll coming to terms with what being a human, accepting responsibility, and having a family means) going head-to-head for one of the biggest prizes in filmmaking.
I can’t think of a better representation for the real reason why the Oscars were originally created.
The Oscars, Golden Globes, Emmy Awards, etc. were never (at least in my mind) created for crony Hollywood producers to appease Hollywood voters through Oscar-bait films, but rather a celebration of the filmmakers that poured their hearts and souls into stories which captured both the imagination of the audience and provided them with a sense of hope/empathy, sympathy/understanding/acceptance/etc. of the world.
Of course, all the movies in this category were able to convey said emotions and feelings, but these two did it the best.
Personally, I enjoyed Puss in Boots a little more than Pinocchio as Puss’ emotional journey from being a reckless, self-absorbed hero to a rational, caring, and selfless “family-man” (if Puss does end up with Kitty Softpaws in the future) was so unexpected and fascinating from a character many thought to be a B-level hero.
Don’t get me wrong, many people loved Puss in Boots from the Shrek franchise, but his own spinoff movie (Puss in Boots) in 2011 didn’t do him any favors in turning him into a franchise-leading, A-tier hero. This movie did that and more.
(Dreamworks/Universal Pictures-Puss In Boots: The Last Wish-Official Trailer 2)
Reversely, the story of Pinocchio is nearly as old as storytelling itself and didn’t require the creative story-telling ingenuity Puss in Boots: The Last Wish needed.
However, Guillermo Del Toro’s direction and character work through the Stop-Motion animation really sold this movie for me as even though it was somewhat similar to the other versions of the story (of course, the WWII setting aside), it had more heart and emotion than many of its predecessors.
Moreover, the voice acting work was also top notch as Gregory Mann (Pinocchio), Ewan McGregor (Sebastion J. Cricket), David Bradely (Master Geppetto), and Christopher Waltz (Count Volpe) masterfully brought the characters to life and made the Stop-Motion animation that much better.
That’s why I’m perfectly fine with Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio win as I would have given the award to both competitors if it was possible.
So, from the bottom of my heart, congratulations to both Guillermo Del Toro and Dreamworks as you guys made some of the best movies of 2022.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Netflix) (GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (Dreamworks/Universal Pictures) (Puss In Boots: The Last Wish – Official Trailer 2 – YouTube)
