On December 9, 2022, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio began streaming on Netflix.

The film was extremely successful, managing to gain the praise of the most harsh of critics, and was beloved by audiences.

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio is a stop-motion animated movie that is based off the tale of Pinocchio. It is more mature than other movies that tell the tale of the living puppet boy, being set during WW2 in Italy, and handling the theme of thinking for yourself in a dangerous world.

At the 2023 Oscars it won best animated feature film. This is the first time a movie originally streamed on Netflix has won. At the 2018 Oscars the animated movie Klaus had one nomination, but not a win.

This is also the seventh time the award didn’t go to an animated Disney or Pixar movie.

Del Toro is very passionate about giving the industry of animation its chance at being taken seriously. He believes that it has been treated as entertainment for only children for too long.

He also believes that animators are usually looked down upon despite creating wonderful things. A kind gesture that he did was at the end of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio the animators are credited first along with the producers and musicians.

Some students at KHS who care about the arts feel the same about this issue as Del Toro.

Senior Remus Pitts articulated an opinion similar to Del Toro’s. “[Animated movies] are shut down by critics who assume all animated movies are for children.”

Sophomore Ava Salem agreed with this. “They tend to be underappreciated and undervalued by adults because they think they are only for kids,” Ava Salem.

Freshman Christano Ramirez responded with his own unique opinion. “I don’t think animation is only for children. I think it depends on who the company makes it for.”

Animation is a storytelling medium that can be entertainment for anyone, not only children.