Most of Guillermo del Toro's filmography has been made up of live-action feature films from Oscar winners like Pan's Labyrinth to his 2021 film Nightmare Alley. It wasn't until 2022's Pinocchio film for Netflix that del Toro directed an animated feature, but that could be just the start of a new phase of his career according to recent comments the director has made.

Speaking at the Annecy Animated Film Festival, de Toro revealed that he only has a few more projects he wants to do before shifting gears.

“There are a couple more live-action movies I want to do, but not many. After that, I only want to do animation. That's the plan,” said del Toro.

Why does del Toro want to shift into the animation game full-time? Well, it's simple — he doesn't like the state of the industry. “Animation to me is the purest form of art, and it's been kidnapped by a bunch of hoodlums. We have to rescue it [and] I think that we can Trojan-horse a lot of good s**t into the animation world,” he admitted.

When talking about his specific issues with the animation medium, del Toro brought up a very valid point about the tone of these films, saying that the characters in the films are “codified into a sort of teenage rom-com, almost emoji-style behavior. [If] I see a character raising his f**king eyebrow, or crossing his arms, having a sassy pose — oh, I hate that s**t.”

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He would continue, “[Why] does everything act as if they're in a sitcom? I think [this] is emotional pornography. All the families are happy and sassy and quick, everyone has a one-liner. Well, my dad was boring. I was boring. Everybody in my family was boring. We had no one-liners. We're all f**ked up. That's what I want to see animated. I would love to see real life in animation. I actually think it's urgent.”

What it sounds like del Toro is describing is the “Marvel syndrome” where every character has quips and one-liners ready at the hip. Even The Flash had an issue with its constant jokes and comedic bits — this is coming from a fan of Thor: Love and Thunder.

Guillermo del Toro — animated or not — is one of the most prolific filmmakers of his generation. His upcoming projects include Frankenstein, which World of Reel added should start production this year dependent on the WGA writers' strike. The Frankenstein flick is set to star Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth, and Andrew Garfield.