Plans to focus on making animated films in the future.

“There are a couple more live-action movies I want to do but not many,” the Pinocchio and Shape of Water director told the audience at the Annecy animation festival on Tuesday. “After that, I only want to do animation. That’s the plan.”

“I believe you can make an adult fantasy drama with stop-motion and move people emotionally,” said del Toro. “I think stop-motion can be intravenous, it can go straight to your emotions in a way that no other medium can.”

Del Toro said the recent string of animated box office hits, including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, could provide a window for the production of more adventurous and “rule-breaking” films in the genre. He also cited Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, which premiered at Annecy and hits theaters in August.

“The three hits of Spider-Verse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mario are moving things, allowing a little more latitude, but there are still big fights to be had,” he said. “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 shit into the animation world.”