Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1489831
o c t o b e r • n o v e m b e r • d e c e m b e r 2 0 2 2 c g w 7 A cademy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro joined forces with Emmy Award-winning stop-motion veteran Mark Gustafson to direct a stunning new reimag- ining of Pinocchio set in Mussolini-era Italy. Based on Car- lo Collodi's classic tale of a wooden doll that comes to life, the film is a breathtaking adventure that explores the depths of grief and the transcendent power of love. Created in a richly-detailed stop-motion style with a stellar en- semble voice cast, the production creates a seamless synergy be- tween classic handcraed animation and cutting-edge visual ef- fects. HANDCRAFTING CHARACTERS Production designer Guy Davis, a frequent del Toro creative collab- orator, designed expressive character puppets that would meet the demands of a stop-motion animation workflow. Director of charac- ter fabrication Georgina Hayns worked closely with Mackinnon & Saunders, an industry leader in stop-motion puppet production, to transform Davis' designs into workable figures with robust attributes. "Throughout the process, Guillermo was heavily involved in the look of the puppets on all levels," Hayns recalls. Centro Internacion- al de Animación, a Guadalajara-based animation studio founded by del Toro, also functioned as a second unit puppet department. Each character began as a clay maquette, which evolved into a full working puppet sculpt with detailed features and costume el- ements. The fabrication team referenced painters from around the turn of the 20th century, particularly the work of Norman Rockwell and Andrew Wyeth. Animation supervisor Brian Leif Hansen began developing the puppets' movements with a series of preliminary tests of Geppetto's hands on ball-and-socket rigs interacting with props. "I think it really opened Guillermo's mind about what this might be," he recalls. Puppet maker Richard Pickersgill led the development of Pin- occhio's unique design. "His body is his armature," Hayns explains. The puppet's construction combines ball-and-socket joints first de- veloped for King Kong (1933), modern 3D-printed metal joints and plates, and a painted plastic shell. "With him being just a skeleton, there are lots of things that you normally would hide underneath," Hansen notes. "I would say that what Richard did with Pinocchio was an engineering masterpiece," Hayns adds. The faces of the film's puppets were primarily constructed with complex systems of interlocking paddles and gears beneath a lay- er of silicone skin, allowing animators to manipulate their features with meticulous precision. The Pinocchio puppet, however, utilized a "rapid prototyping" expression system rather than mechanical el- ements. A collection of swappable 3D-printed plastic facial plates allowed the character to appear as if carved from wood. ESTABLISHING AN AESTHETIC A sample fabric swatch for Spazzatura's red-and-white striped pants led to a breakthrough in the film's design process. Aer re- viewing samples created with various painting, printing, and stitching techniques, this particular piece struck a chord with Hayns and art director Robert DeSue. "The lines of the makeup of how the colors