Among the more niche upsets, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” by far the gnarliest and most beautiful of 2022’s glut of adaptations, did not, as many hoped, pick up a nomination for best picture.

Twenty-six years ago, in the spring of 1997, this outrageous rocket on wheels broke the sound barrier and became the fastest land vehicle ever built. The automobile was created to revolutionize ...