Entre o texto e a tela: a subversão da obediência e a representação do fascismo na adaptação de Pinocchio por Guilhermo Del Toro

Abstract

The film adaptation of Carlo Collodi's Le avventure di Pinocchio (1883), directed by Guillermo Del Toro and Mark Gustafson, offers a politically engaged interpretation of the Italian classic. This thesis investigates how Pinocchio, a Franco-Mexican-American stop-motion animation that premiered in 2022, reinterprets the theme of obedience present in Collodi’s narrative. In the film, also known as Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio, Pinocchio’s disobedience emerges as an act of resistance against fascism. To understand this shift in perspective, this study focuses on the analysis of two key episodes: the Land of Toys in Collodi’s novel and the military training camp in Del Toro’s adaptation. Both passages articulate, in distinct ways, a critique of antiintellectualism. While the Land of Toys represents a space where contempt for education leads to degradation and punishment, the military camp in Del Toro’s film highlights how authoritarian regimes instrumentalize blind obedience to suppress individuality and critical thinking. This research is based on the theoretical framework of Linda Hutcheon (2013) and Robert Stam (2006), who discuss adaptation as intertext, moving away from the notion of fidelity. In addition to these scholars, this study will reflect on the principles of intercultural adaptation formulated by Marcel Vieira Barreto Silva (2013). The analysis also considers the context of Benito Mussolini’s fascist Italy, a decisive backdrop for Del Toro’s reading, which explores the impact of authoritarianism on identity formation and decision-making, drawing on Stanley (2018), Eco (2007), and Foucault (1999). This study is characterized as a descriptive and analytical research that examines the adaptation strategies used to transform the character of Pinocchio into a narrative of resistance.