Death, from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, commissioned by the awesome Guy Davis himself, Co-production designer of the film, and Creature designer of the character.
I’m very happy with this reinterpretation— I was hoping I could make her more unsettling, as Death can be sometimes, while still being recognizable and serene. Particularly happy about the dual tail stylization!
The ending of this stunning movie helped me feel less scared during my recent misadventure with cancer, I’m very happy and grateful for getting to do this really fun commission.
I didn't know Guillermo del Toro was a fan of Over The Garden Wall. I'm not that surprised. It's beautiful, surreal, Gothic, and fairy tale-like. He's one of the only people I'd trust if they ever did it in live action (which I really don't think they should as the artwork was meant to resemble vintage New England postcards.)
If you've never seen it, Over the Garden Wall is a mini-series that when spliced together is roughly movie length. It's about two boys lost in a strange and surreal forest. It's sort of an autumn themed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz. All the visuals are based on late nineteenth century and early twentieth century Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving, and Christmas New England postcards.
It features the voices of Elijah Wood, Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, John Cleese, and several others. Though most people now associate it with Hallowe'en it actually originally aired in November of 2014, meant to bridge between Halloween and Thanksgiving.
It's sweet and it's wholesome. The mini-series is like chicken soup for the soul. I highly recommend it.
i’ve gone on about this before but the amount of DETAIL in pacrim is so fun. i love how there people in the background cheer or clap or “oooh” during raleigh and mako’s test, how you can hear Cherno Alpha calling for backup im the background during Pentecost’s scenes in the Double Event fight, how Aleksis and Sasha have their own little conversation in Russian when Raleigh first appears in the mess hall, the way all the extras in the Kaiju bunker with Newt actually look like they’ve been running in the rain (some of them are carrying bags and purses, some ponchos, all are suitably drenched), how you can hear Newton and Hermann arguing in the background before they even get on the elevator. gdt i love you
Tbh I could watch a whole Netflix series just of Guillermo del Toro introducing shit. Man speaks like an angel and is shaped like a friend. Tell me about your funky little cabinet king.
Our art museum is hosting a exhibit of Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, and a live discussion with the Maestro himself! Sadly, no photos or recording, though I think at some point the museum will release something. We hit the exhibition afterwards and I was shocked and excited to see a bit of Trollhunters displayed with his award winning movies! Along with the poster was a blurb about how critically acclaimed it was and all the awards it won. I had to represent, so I wore my Papa Skull shirt and RotT jacket, especially since I wasn't sure if he would be available for any fan interactions afterwards.
Anyways, I must say that the man is driven with a fiery passion for animation and movie making. He's also funny as shit and cusses a lot. I love him 😭
The basic elements of a proper Gothic romance require a heroine of pure heart that must travel, often across the world, guided by her love for a dark, brooding gentleman of aristocratic origins. They will often take residence in a haunted building in which a deep secret is stored (often involving wealth, treasure, or ancestral secrets) only to be revealed by our heroine's journey. Often the characters represent sides of a single self. Almost as if the edifice was the mind, the self and its deepest catacombs, the id — with the festering horrors of the past.
Historically, the Romantic movement was a rebellious tide crashing against the dry, uncaring shores of reason. A movement that was sparked by the poetry of ruins and decay and the inexorable attraction of human emotion at its basest.
Thus, a Gothic romance lives and dies on two things: the fortitude of its heroine and the power of its villain. And so, casting our film became quite a complex process. The list of actors that I really wanted was quite short — I hoped for a heroine that was sophisticated intellectually but emotionally vulnerable to the myth of perfect love (even if she denied it publicly). I needed a character with a very strong backbone but a certain innocence to the ways of the world. She had a fierce mind, but her knowledge of the world all came from books and imaginary characters. When Mia Wasikowska became a candidate I was elated: In her past work, she always struck me as someone that seemed to be very assured of herself but timid and private. And then, Jessica Chastain and Tom Hiddleston emerged as the perfect Gothic villains — able to deliver the tough moments but capable of illuminating their actions to reveal the vulnerability, the humanity, beneath. There needed to be a reason and a true humanity behind their actions, no matter how grotesque.
Guillermo del Toro discussing the casting of Crimson Peak in the Foreword to Crimson Peak: The Art of Darkness by Mark Salisbury