The following contains spoilers for Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, currently streaming on Netflix.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio retells the classic Italian story from the 1800s regarding Geppetto and his wooden doll, intended to make up for the loss of his son. It strays from the Disney animated movie as well as the 2022 live-action remake, with del Toro's vision being a lot more expansive and grave.
This version of Pinocchio leans more into Geppetto's backstory with his son, Carlo, against a much more harrowing backdrop in fascist Italy in the '30s. Interestingly, as the movie adds layers of nuance and more dimension to the father, it actually redeems the person who played Walder Frey in the Game of Thrones series.
Pinocchio's David Bradley Played Game of Thrones' Walder Frey
David Bradley, who plays Geppetto in Pinocchio, previously played Walder Frey in the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, and make no mistake, he was a terrible character. Walder was the Lord of Riverrun, most noted for orchestrating the Red Wedding. There, he used Edmure Tully's wedding to his daughter, Rosalin, as an excuse to kill Ned Stark's wife and son, Catelyn and Robb, respectively.
In fact, most of the Stark bannermen died that night, but even outside of that, Walder was a dysfunctional, awful father. He ridiculed his daughters, using them as political pawns, even joking that he didn't mind if they got killed. Simply put, they were objects to attain more power, to the point he belittled their looks, cooking skills and personalities. He even had that gross energy to him, taking younger girls as wives, whom he often deemed breeding stock.
This led to Arya impersonating one of his servants, killing him to attain revenge for all his sins. What made fans love this death was, in a show filled with toxic men, whether it be the Lannisters, Starks or Baratheons, most of them (bar Stannis) did right by their children. Walder, though, was plain evil and got his just karma when Arya fed him his awful sons in a pie and slit his throat.
Netflix's Pinocchio Casts Bradley as an Earnest Geppetto
Pinocchio, though, has the gruff-voiced Bradley in a much more endearing role, not just focusing on his Geppetto dealing with the puppet that came to life. There's a lot of context to his past with his son Carlo, as he educates him on school, religion and life in Tuscany. He teaches the boy to be selfless, heroic and respectful, making it clear this is the kind of person society needs.
Geppetto continues imparting this wisdom and love when Pinocchio comes to life after Carlo's death, turning his grief into something positive. Sure, he misses his kid and tries to impress Carlo's image onto the doll, but in time, he learns from the puppet and passes on the same lessons. Interestingly, he learns from Pinocchio, too, which is why he wants the boy to be resurrected with his own identity.
In the process, he inspires Pinocchio to become a beacon of light against injustice as he goes on to fight fascism and also defend innocents like Spazzatura from the oppressive Volpe. Ultimately, the boy believes in good, learning from his dad, who lost so much yet was still willing to give anything so the puppet could be his best and most loving self.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is currently streaming on Netflix.