Guillermo del Toro’s Take on Animation: The Perfect Imperfections

What do you think of when you hear the word “animation”? Perhaps some thoughts that come to mind are characters beyond the realm of reality and expression: the journey of a hero where each action is a fluid motion that has either positive or negative outcomes all as a means of growth; an object giving human characteristics and faces to perform expression meant to entertain through over-exaggerations or wiggling, hypnotic movement. These are just some thoughts that come to mind, yet it seems like these days, most animations feel like they need perfect movement – but what about an animation about a rickety puppet?

Guillermo del Toro, the director of “Pinocchio” (2022) and “Shape of Water” expresses his thoughts on animation. “Animation to me is the purest form of art, and it’s been kidnapped by a bunch of hoodlums. We have to rescue it. [And] I think that we can Trojan-horse a lot of good shit into the animation world.” He made “Pinocchio” (2022) in his preferred style of animation of having it appear more lifelike by adding “unnecessary, inefficient gestures” of movement, as he detests unrealistic perfection. To him, the enemy of animation is not artificial intelligence, but corporate stupidity. He says that “you will always encounter assholes. But have faith in the stories you want to tell and wait until someone wants to buy them.”

What are your thoughts about the different animation styles? Which one would you use for your own animations? Tell us in the comments below!

Learn more about Guillermo del Toro’s take on animation from The Hollywood Reporter’s article by Scott Roxborough linked here:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/author/scott-roxborough/