When Guillermo del Toro embarked on the journey to create a new version of Pinocchio, he demanded they do it with no notes from the studio and no preview. He believed that having no studio oversight would liberate the artists involved, and what he ended with was a dark story about death and father-son relationships. According to a report covered by Variety, instead of worrying about what some imaginary kid would think of this movie, he instead believes that the world needs more children like Greta Thunberg.
The 20-year-old Swedish activist was recognized for her activism in 2018 when she was in school before gaining world renown for her speech at the climate change summit in 2019. She was then awarded the Gulbenkian Prize in 2020, earning her $1.15 million, which she, in true form, donated to charity. The activist picked up more steam with her ongoing Twitter feud with men’s rights activist Andrew Tate, which may or may not have lead to his arrest in Romania.
But why does the legendary director want more Greta Thunbergs in the world? She was a big reason why del Toro wanted to do the movie without studio notes; he uses her as an example of who children are today and why studio notes are more harmful than helpful. In his explanation, del Toro explains that studios think of children as skateboarders in suburbia, protected by soccer moms but misunderstood because they are more like the climate change activist.
He says that Greta Thunberg is representative of who children are today and how they are aware of the reality of the world around them. They have faced death (thanks, primarily, to the pandemic) in ways that recent generations haven’t had to, and they see the difference between the world that parents present to their children and the world those children experience outside their locked doors. He says they know we have destroyed ecology, and there is one thing they want.
Who knows whether politicians and people who control policy will actually listen to her or her generation, but there is one thing that Greta Thunberg proved without a doubt, one voice can make a difference. Her speech was short, pointed, and impassioned, and it began a movement within her younger age group to take action against the effects created by the generations before them. Of course, you may just watch Pinocchio and take it as a darker version than the Disney story, but if del Toro has his way, parents will see it as a way to start listening to their children more and allowing them to see the real world.
