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"A monster the size of 20 ships, full of hunger and rage!"
Think this will be a cute Lighter and Softer Disney-esque retelling of Pinocchio? No way. Not. even. close.
- We see the death of Geppetto's first son when a group of planes returning to their military base drop some bombs off into a populated town's church just to lighten their load. Even worse is the buildup to the scene, after Gepetto is done with his part of the crucifix for the day he and Carlo get ready to leave but Carlo leaves the "perfect" pinecone behind and tries to go back for it; then Geppetto sees the planes in the distance and immediately realizes what's coming and tries to get his son to return to his side in vain before a bomb hits the church killing Carlo.
- The Wood Sprite and her sister are Creepy Good figures, but they're still creepy, what with their Angelic Abomination appearance, emotionless masks that seem to hide their real faces and otherworldly voices bordering on Voice of the Legion akin to Satan's from The Mysterious Stranger scene from The Adventures of Mark Twain. Geppetto is startled when the Wood Sprite appears to him towards the end after Pinocchio's Heroic Sacrifice. There's a reason why the angels of the Bible needed to say "Be not afraid" when showing up...
- The part where Geppetto drunkenly creates Pinocchio is somewhat unsettling, with him felling the tree out of rage that God will not give Carlo back to him and carving his effigy in a manic fit. Some have even compared it to "Frankenstein", almost as though Geppetto were viscerally piecing together a corpse.
- When Pinocchio first comes to life, he looks like a Ju-on ghost as he rearranges his limbs in a horrifying way. Although Pinocchio is being playful throughout this scene and ultimately means no harm to anyone, Geppetto is justifiably horrified at this.
- Imagine what it must've been like for the church-goers to see Pinocchio at their church. Here's this human approximation of wood that moves uncannily all by itself, and when it lies about being a human too, its nose starts to grow in a spidery fashion. There's also something visceral about Pinocchio's first lie being that he too is a human "made of flesh and meaty bits". Coupled with the church-goers' viewpoint that Pinocchio is an abomination, it makes it feel uncomfortable, even coming from an innocent character like him.
- In this adaptation, Pleasure Island is replaced with a fascist youth training camp, where the children are indoctrinated with fascist ideology and trained to mercilessly kill their enemies almost as some sort of perverse game. The most horrifying part being when after Candlewick and Pinocchio insist they tied in a competition, the Podestà , Candlewick's abusive father, demands that Candlewick shoot and kill Pinocchio with a real gun in order for him to "claim his glory". It's worth noting that youth camps like this actually existed
. - The scene where Count Volpe tries to burn Pinocchio alive after Pinocchio humiliated him.
- The poor wooden boy looks like how women did when they were burned at the stake (tied to a cross, surrounded by fire), as well as how unhinged Volpe has become.Count Vulpe: Is our contract worth nothing? I'll do my part, and you, you will burn! Burn bright! Like a star!
- Spazzatura then tries to stop him from burning Pinocchio, only for him and Volpe to fall off the cliff. We then see the man hit a rock violently onscreen, accompanied by a Sickening "Crunch!" while Spazzatura thankfully falls into the ocean.
- The poor wooden boy looks like how women did when they were burned at the stake (tied to a cross, surrounded by fire), as well as how unhinged Volpe has become.
- The Dogfish is introduced by the Sea Captain as some sort of Animalistic Abomination that resides at the bottom of the sea, emerging only every decade or so and swallowing everything in its path, with everyone avoiding sea travel while it is at large. When we finally see it, it lives up to its reputation, looking much more grotesque than any of its previous incarnations, resembling a Sea Monster from a Here There Be Dragons map, with many rows of gigantic teeth. Its inside also looks extremely disgusting with gastric acid dripping from everywhere. It's also just as cruel and relentless as its Disney counterpart Monstro, chasing Pinocchio, Geppetto and Spazzatura after they escape through its blowhole.
