Netflix is now a real studio.
The once and seemingly future king of streaming has taken home his first Oscar for Best Animated Feature for “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” a stop-motion animated film that offers a new take on Carlo Collodi‘s classic story about a wooden doll that comes to life.
Directed by del Toro, now a three-time Oscar winner, and Mark Gustafson, the film features the voices of Gregory Mann And David Bradley as Pinocchio and his father, the carpenter Geppetto, respectively, while Kate Blanchettnominated again this year for Best Actress for her work in ‘TÁR’, plays the abused monkey Spazzatura. A visually stunning interpretation of the source material that leans towards dark themes of life and death, the film fiercely proves that, despite some viewers’ prejudices and a frequent focus on kid-friendly stories, the animation genre isn’t just for kids.
After positive reviews from critics for its visuals and emotional storytelling, “Pinocchio” was the heavy favourite going into Sunday’s ceremony, having already won the corresponding Golden Globe, Annie Award, BAFTA and PGA Award. It’s just the second stop-motion animated film to win after 2005’s “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”.
TO SEE Full list of Oscar winners
Also nominated in the were category ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’, a film based on a series of short films of the same name Jenny Slate And Dean Fleischer-Camp; “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”, a strong sequel to 2011’s “Puss in Boots” (and the latest installment of the “Shrek” franchise, which proved to have more staying power than we expected); “Turning Red”, Pixar’s latest entry and “The Sea Beast”, another Netflix production.
“Pinocchio’s” win is Netflix’s first in the category of four nominations. In addition to It and ‘The Sea Beast’, the studio’s nominees also include ‘Klaus’ (2019) and ‘Over the Moon’ (2020).
But while it’s a remarkable achievement to become Netflix’s first film to take home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, Sunday’s “Pinocchio” win is also one of the few movies to beat the powerhouse Pixar. The popular animation studio has dominated the category since its inception around the turn of the millennium, winning 11 times out of 17 nominations, most recently for “Soul” (2020).
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