After winning the Academy Award for Best Animation for his film “Pinocchio”, Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro promised to stimulate animation work and help the next generation of Latino filmmakers in the genre.

“Pinocchio” received great reviews for an incredibly beautiful production that takes a darker look at the issues between the puppet and his surrogate father, Gepetto. The film has won several awards, including the Golden Globe and the top prize at the Animation Industry’s Annie Awards.

“Unlike the 1940 Disney movie, del Toro’s movie refers to topics like war and fascism, and he has said it's not about Pinocchio's learning to be the perfect boy. Del Toro has long pushed against seeing animation as only for children. He has said that animation is pure cinema and that animators should be treated as artists — not technicians”. according to NBC News.

The voice cast includes Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz, Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton.

After the win, del Toro told reporters he will continue to advocate for animators by spurring dialogue with the guilds and the motion picture academy, planning to “push this message” at the coming Annecy International Animation Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Del Toro has established two filmmaking scholarships and plans to finance a stop-motion animation class for students from Mexico at the Gobelins animation school”.

“It will help us give more movies to the community in Mexico and in Latin America to keep pushing for stop motion, which is one of the most democratic forms of animation. All the other forms of animation are too difficult or too expensive. But a kid can put a camera on the wall in their room, they can do animation in stop motion,” he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

According to NBC News, Del Toro addressed issues of representation and being Latino when talking about his efforts to boost the next generation of filmmakers.

“The first duty of representation is to do it really well ... because you’re not doing it for you,” del Toro said. “You’re doing it for people that come after you and are looking for opportunities. If you don't do that, you’re closing that door.”

Del Toro said that when he came to the U.S. in the 1990s, he encountered “a lot of open and subtle racism.” He remembered “with great chagrin” an interview his cinematographer, Oscar winner Guillermo Navarro, had with a talent agent.

The agent said to him ‘Why do I want a Mexican? I have a gardener.’

“You have to keep pushing it all the time. It doesn’t end with one generation. It doesn’t end with one person,” del Toro said. “But again, together you push that limit more and more and create opportunity.”