Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Criterion Collection 4K Blu-ray Gets a Huge Deal

The Criterion Collection’s mission is to honor the art of filmmaking with home video releases that are presented with the highest technical quality and include the most comprehensive bonus content (as you can see from the image above, the packaging is also exceptional). This is all done under the watchful eye of the filmmakers themselves when possible, and that was the case with The Criterion Collection edition of Guillermo del Toro’s animated masteripiece Pinocchio, which is now available to pre-order here on Amazon in 4K Ultra HD for $34.99. That’s a hefty 30% discount, so lock it down while you can. It will be released on December 12th, which makes it a perfect gift for fans of del Toro’s work and cinema in general. A full breakdown of the special features can be found below. 

This new take on Pinnochio was launched in 2022 and was a hit with fans and critics alike. The project clearly meant a lot to Guillermo del Toro, who had the following to say about the opportunity to put his own spin on this classic tale: 

“No art form has influenced my life and my work more than animation and no single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio,” del Toro said when Netflix announced the film in 2018. “In our story, Pinocchio is an innocent soul with an uncaring father who gets lost in a world he cannot comprehend. He embarks on an extraordinary journey that leaves him with a deep understanding of his father and the real world. I’ve wanted to make this movie for as long as I can remember. After the incredible experience we have had on Trollhunters, I am grateful that the talented team at Netflix is giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to introduce audiences everywhere to my version of this strange puppet-turned-real-boy.”

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio The Criterion Collection 4K Blu-ray Special Features:

• 4K digital master, supervised by directors Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Handcarved Cinema, a new documentary featuring del Toro, Gustafson, and cast and crew, including the film’s puppet creators, production designers, and animation supervisor
• Directing Stop-Motion, a new program featuring del Toro and Gustafson
• New conversation between del Toro and film critic Farran Smith Nehme
• New interview with curator Ron Magliozzi on The Museum of Modern Art’s 2022 exhibition devoted to the film
• New program on the eight rules of animation that informed the film’s production
• Panel discussion featuring del Toro, Gustafson, production designer Guy Davis, composer Alexandre Desplat, and sound designer Scott Martin Gershin, moderated by filmmaker James Cameron
• Conversation among del Toro, Gustafson, and author Neil Gaiman
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio
• PLUS: Essays by film critic Matt Zoller Seitz and author Cornelia Funke

Pinocchio is del Toro’s first animated feature and stars Ewan McGregor as Sebastian J. Cricket, the cricket who lives in Pinocchio’s wooden heart and serves as the film’s storyteller.. Del Toro teams with the Jim Henson Company and ShadowMachine on the stop-motion animation take on Carlo Collodi’s novel, which follows a puppet boy who comes to life. With McGregor, the voice cast also includes David Bradley as Geppetto, Gregory Mann as Pinocchio, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, and Burn Gorman, with Christoph Waltz and Tilda Swinton.