Composer Alexandre Desplat dissects the score of “Pinocchio” and finds “moments of joy and happiness” amid the sadness

There is nothing to discuss Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro regardless of the music. Del Toro’s Netflix adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s story is set in 1930s Italy during Benito Mussolini’s fascist rule. In this story, woodcutter Geppetto (David Bradley) loses his son Carlo in an air raid and cuts Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) from a tree near his son’s grave. Composer Alexandre Desplat, who collaborated with del Toro The shape of the waterShe was commissioned to capture the wooden boy’s “joyful melancholy” musically. To strengthen the connection between Pinocchio’s character and the music, Desplat chose to use only wooden instruments in the score. Below, Desplat breaks down three key pieces of the score — “Carlo’s Theme,” “Going to Town” and “Saving Geppetto” — with their accompanying scenes for reference.

“Carlo’s Theme” was the first piece of the score that Desplat wrote. “It was crucial for me to find this theme before the melody before I could develop and find other ideas,” he says. The theme, which recurs throughout the score, is important in achieving the “joyful melancholy” that Desplat and del Toro wanted for the story. “Losing a child is something absolutely tragic and difficult to overcome,” he says, “but when you think about the child, you remember good moments, beautiful moments of joy and happiness, not just the sadness.” For this scene in the film, “Carlo’s Theme” returns to mark another example of Geppetto dealing with the loss of his son. When Desplat first wrote the play, he wanted to emphasize both Pinocchio and Carlo. “Pinocchio is the creature that was created to bring Carlo back into the world,” he says. “‘Carlo’s theme’ is actually Pinocchio’s theme.”

Desplat decided to start with something reminiscent of a nursery rhyme, but give it a more sophisticated chord progression. “It’s somewhere between a lullaby and a love song,” he says, giving it a nostalgic feel as the theme celebrates life and mourns the loss of Carlo. Desplat first played the song for del Toro on the piano and then started using other instruments. “The strings come in slowly with the harp, and then the woodwind joins the flutes and clarinet,” he says. “The sound gradually expands, but never too much. I didn’t want to sound bombastic, because it had to stay within the context of the film.”

“Going to Town” is a more adventurous and playful part of the score as Pinocchio leaves home to accompany Geppetto to town. “Pinocchio is a free spirit,” says Desplat, “he is not innocent because he likes to do things that may not sound innocent, but he is a free spirit.” The subject changes when Pinocchio sees the poster for Volpe’s circus, but changes again when Pinocchio is called back by his father. “Everything is an adventure for Pinocchio,” he says. “He delights in anything that takes him out into the world and opens him up to explore what’s out there.”

Desplat wrote the subject matter in a “question and answer” format, like a child questioning the world and getting answers from their parents. “There is a bit of continuity in the first song he sings, ‘Everything is new for me’,” he says. When Geppetto tells them to work, Pinocchio exclaims that he loves work before asking them what work is in a questioning tone of childlike wonder. “In the workshop everything is new to him, but outside the workshop everything is new to him… Going to the city is like sailing around the world, it’s a real adventure.” The “question” is asked by the woodwind and the “answer” by the strings creates the happy rhythm of a curious child experiencing the world for the first time.

Saving Geppetto begins with Pinocchio trying to save Geppetto from drowning. “Pinocchio is injured, he only has one arm and he desperately tries to swim down to help Geppetto,” says Desplat. “It’s grotesque and at the same time very, very touching, because you care about this little boy who is desperately trying to save his father.” While the scene is pathetic, the music instead focuses on a sense of hope for Pinocchio, his rescuing father. “The music tries to help Pinocchio by giving him hope that he can bring him back to life. It’s a very moving moment.”

Desplat begins the piece with “swirling, descending arpeggios” to simulate Geppetto writhing in the sea, using the piano to match the downward force. “The full orchestra is here, but it plays a theme from the first song we hear in the film, ‘My Son’, which Geppetto sings to Carlo,” he says. Desplat ties this scene to the beginning of the film and now uses the full orchestra to reinforce the melody and give the string instruments an influence on Pinocchio’s determination. “I knew pretty early on that we were going to use the melody from ‘My Son,'” he says, “but we did a variation where the melody swells up and down again… So it’s quite haunting and emotional. “