2023 Academy Awards Nomination Breakdown: Best Animated Feature

The Academy Awards are airing live on March 12, and for the first time, I have set out to break down every nominee in every category in order to assess, as accurately as I can, who and what has the best chance of winning. Today I will be discussing the nominees for Best Animated Feature!

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

There are lots of things present here I never thought I would see depicted in an adaptation of Pinocchio, primarily among them the blatant atrocities of war and an unfiltered look at the brutality of early 20th-century fascism. Even though this is a family film, it’s about what I expected from a del Toro-led adaptation of this story — the man has a penchant for telling dark tales, and this is about as restrained as he can be. The film incorporates elements of the classic story that Disney-fied versions never would, like religion and war, and it only further elucidates the metaphors on display here. The story of Pinocchio has never been more cogent and captivating than it is here.

Read my review of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio here.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

On the way home from the theater, my friend pointed out that there’s plenty of stuff in Marcel the Shell with Shoes On that present-day children will look back on, and their expanded minds will connect more with a film they loved as a child because of its color, comedy and accessibility. Despite this, I firmly believe there can never be an A24 film “made for kids.” Sure, Marcel the Shell is suitable for a younger audience, but there’s still a remarkable amount of philosophy, emotion and incredibly seamless stop-motion animation present to entertain those of any age.

My Top Ten Movies of 2022

After a similar article in mid-August, I expected much of my Top 10 to stay the same for the remainder of 2022. I should have predicted and expected the utter power of awards season, though, as many have been swept out of the list in favor of more recently-released films. Some of the top contenders have endured, though, proving that sometimes, the first is the best; but I have a feeling that that is not something that will be true for every year from now on. 2022 was unique, and unlike any moviegoing year in my recent memory, and I can only hope its vast caliber can be replicated at some point in the future. 2023 has some big shoes to fill.

“Pinocchio” is a Dark Children’s Tale from Maestro del Toro (Review)

There’s no way a team-up between award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and the Jim Henson Company on the supposedly limitless dime of streaming giant Netflix results in anything but a truly magical experience. My optimism is helped by the fact that del Toro is my favorite director, responsible for some of my all-time top films (Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water among them), and my excitement was immediate when I discovered he was spearheading a darker adaptation of the classic Pinocchio story, while maintaining the tale’s all-ages appeal. In every conceivable way, it sounds like a recipe for success.

Image courtesy of Netflix

I realize it sounds like I’m about to say I was severely let down by Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio — but in fact, the opposite is even more true. His Pinocchio was first announced in 2008, but didn’t end up moving forward with production until ten years later, and its longtime spot in development hell was finally at an end. Now, after an extensive festival run and massive critical acclaim, its Netflix release is on the horizon.