From "Pan's Labyrinth" to "Pinocchio": Guillermo del Toro's great triumphs in Hollywood

3 Latin American films, shortlisted at the Oscars 0:22

(CNN Spanish) --

Guillermo del Toro triumphed big in Hollywood once again.

His moving film "Pinocchio" won the statuette for best animated film at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards and the Mexican director made history by becoming the first Latino to win the award in that category, according to

• All the winners of the 2023 Golden Globe Awards by category

Del Toro is an old acquaintance in Hollywood cinema and this award is added to the Golden Globe as best director that he won in 2018 for "The Shape of Water", another of the most successful box office films of the Mexican that later ended up taking also the Oscar for best film that same year.

Here's a recap of del Toro's three biggest hits in Hollywood:

pinocchio

Del Toro took about 15 years to make "Pinocchio", almost half of his career, and it became, according to the director himself, the "most personal" film he has made.

In his particular animated version of the children's story by Italian Carlo Collodi, the Mexican director distances himself from the horror that has characterized him in other films to delve into death and fantasy through stop-motion, themes that are also recurring in his cinema.

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On several occasions he has said that his intention with "Pinocchio" was to show that animated films can be much more than a children's story that allows us to talk about "deep, painful and beautiful things in a more adult way."

Yesterday he repeated it when receiving the Golden Globe award. 

"Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre for children. It is a medium," said the Mexican director.

The tape is made in stop-motion, an artisanal technique that consists of photographing still images, which, placed one after the other, give the sensation that in reality a single moving image is being recorded.

• Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro on Netflix: release date, plot, trailer and the cast behind the production

"I really wanted this film to strike with the expressiveness and material nature of hand-drawn animation, a beautiful handcrafted exercise in carving, painting, sculpting but with the sophistication of movement, arrived at after researching the equipment and the puppets," del Toro explains in a Netflix video behind the film's art.

The success of "Pinocchio" is not only reflected in the awards it has received at film festivals and in Hollywood.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in New York (MoMa) inaugurated at the end of 2022 an exhibition that shows the creative process behind the film that, by the way, a part was made in del Toro's hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico.

Three scenes, an average of 4 minutes of the total film, were made with dozens of Mexican artists in the Taller del Chucho, an animation studio in Guadalajara in which the director himself is involved.

"We made this film on more than 60 stages and in more than a thousand days of recording and we gave life, beauty and reality to a story of life, death and belonging. If you have not seen it, watch it, it is a film, not for children, but You can see it with the children, maybe you can explain it to them later. Thank you very much, I'll see you later," this is how the award-winning director concluded his acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards.

the shape of water

Guillermo del Toro's response that went viral 1:20

With "The Shape of Water," del Toro's career was established in Hollywood.

The film was nominated in 13 categories at the 2018 Oscars, of which it ended up taking four statuettes: best picture, best director, best soundtrack, and best production design.

Before, the Mexican director had already won two Golden Globe awards for best director and best soundtrack for the fantasy film starring Sally Hawkins and Michael Shannon about a 1960s investigation in which a janitor forms a relationship with a amphibian creature that is captive.

“Since childhood I have been faithful to the monsters, I have been saved and acquitted by them.

Because I believe that monsters are the patron saints of our blissful imperfection, ”he said in his emotional acceptance speech after receiving the statuette back then.

And later, at a post-ceremony press conference, del Toro made viral comments about the fact that being born in Mexico is one of the factors that has allowed him to make films that are light and dark at the same time. time.

"You have an extraordinary ability to see the dark side of human nature, fantasy and terror, but at the same time you are a really happy and loving person. How do you achieve that balance?" asked the reporter and the Mexican replied: "I'm mexican".

And he immediately extended his response: "No one loves life more than us because we are very aware of death. And we appreciate life because we are next to the only place we all go to. Let's say that all of us who are on this planet approach the same train bound for death. Then we're going to live, we're going to have beauty, and love, and freedom. And I think if you take one of the two parts out of the equation it becomes a pamphlet. When you take darkness into account to turn on the light, that is reality".

The film was not only a critical success, but also at the box office: it grossed US$195 million globally —according to figures from BoxOfficeMojo— and is the second most lucrative film by the Mexican director.

The Pan's Labyrinth

"Pan's Labyrinth" is perhaps Del Toro's most highly praised film.

The film that premiered in 2006 and shows a dreamlike vision of terror was nominated for six Oscars.

He won three, including best dotography.

Set in Franco's Spain in the 1940s, the film follows Ofelia, a girl who moves to a town where her mother is getting married and turns to the world of imagination when she discovers a labyrinth where she finds a faun who serves as her guide. Escape your reality.

commercial successes

Guillermo del Toro has proven to be a versatile director, with a distinctive auteur stamp and also the ability to make big-budget movies for a wide audience.

In Hollywood, he made his debut in 2022 with "Blade II," which grossed $155 million worldwide, according to figures from BoxOfficeMojo.

Then in 2004 he directed "Hellboy," which grossed $99 million.

In 2008 the sequel "Hellboy II" was nominated for an Oscar for best makeup and grossed $168 worldwide.

His biggest commercial success has been 2013's $411 million "Pacific Rim," which was also nominated for a BAFTA for visual effects.

It is his highest grossing film to date.

With information from Belén Zapata and Sebastián Jiménez

Guillermo DelToro