Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500716
28 S U M M E R 2 0 2 3 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y MOTION PICTURES – ANIMATED GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO by ADAM HOWELL CAS We've all pulled a Pinocchio before. You know, we've all told a little lie that we thought was harmless, but only it made matters worse. When I was about 10 years old and I spent the night with a friend, we excitedly jumped at the chance to take a late-night ride to the convenience store with his older sister. Even though I knew our curfew was 9 p.m., I couldn't resist. Here was the cool sister with a driver's license asking us to hang out! We hopped in her car at 10 p.m. to pick up some candy—probably Nerds, Fun Dip, and strawberry Chewits (clearly this tale took place in the '80s). As we winded down a familiar street, a car approached with high beams—it was none other than my mother. We ducked in the backseat as our car passed my mom's, certain that we evaded her watchful eye. Tomorrow came and as I walked into my house, my mom—already sipping on black coffee—quietly greeted me. "Good morning. Did you have fun last night?" she asked with that knowing smirk. I sheepishly nodded an affirmative, but she stopped me dead in my tracks. "Wanna tell me where you were going at 10 o'clock at night?" And so began the better part of a week of being grounded. My nose didn't grow, but my feelings of shame certainly did. I also learned a valuable lesson: Lying gets you into even more trouble (especially with mom). Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio takes a fresh, new look at the nearly 150-year-old universally known tale of a marionette and a woodcarver. The sound team did an extraordinary job and the CAS congratulates the winners in the Motion Pictures – Animated category. Following is a Q&A with recipients Carlos Sotolongo (original dialogue mixer), Jon Taylor CAS (re-recording mixer), Peter Cobbin (scoring mixer), and Kirsty Whalley (scoring mixer). Unavailable to make our deadline were Frank Montaño (re-recording mixer) and Tavish Grade (Foley mixer). Guillermo del Toro (GDT) called this a passion project and said, "No single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio." The film poses some deep questions, such as "What is the meaning of life?" while confronting the struggles of living up to parental expectations. How did you use your expertise and skills to reciprocate those learnings to your audience? Jon Taylor CAS: GDT's Pinocchio isn't the story with which most people are familiar, but it echoes our social issues today wonderfully. Learning to focus on the similarities among groups of people, and celebrating our differences instead of fearing them, is a timeless lesson that we have to continually reintroduce as our world changes. The film also serves as a great guide to dealing with loss. Our hearts do not have a finite amount of love to give, and it is our social duty to exercise the boundless nature of this ability as life allows. How long did you work on this project and from what facilities? Carlos Sotolongo: My facility [The L.A. Studios] was booked from the very beginning of the writing/recording process. I actually hosted and recorded the first table read with about eight actors hired to record the whole script for the MEET THE WINNERS Re-recording mixer Frank Montaño L-R: Carlos Sotolongo, Peter Cobbin, Kirsty Whalley, Tavish Grade, and Jon Taylor CAS Event photos courtesy of Alex J. Berliner/ABImages