At long last, we get a look at Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s long awaited “Pinocchio” adaptation. The film has been in the making for – well quite frankly we’ve lost track. The project was originally at least announced in 2008. After several years unable to find a solid partner, Netflix salvaged the production in 2017. Del Toro’s take on Carlo Collodi’s will be a stop-motion musical. Mark Gustafson serves as co-diretor.
The new clip features Sebastian J. Cricket (Jiminy Cricket is purely from the Disney adaptation) introducing us to the tale. Voiced by Ewan McGregor, Sebastian implies this is a different take on the story we think we know.
This iteration of the tale will be set during Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime in the 1930s. The titular marionette will be voiced by Gregory Mann. His father / inventor is played by David Bradley. The rest of the cast is rounded out by a cavalcade of del Toro regulars (and a few newcomers) including: Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, and Burn Gorman.
Given the director behind this, we expect this Pinocchio to be much closer to the mischievous and less wholesome Disney adaptation. In Collodi’s original text the puppet finds himself in several sticky situations.
Ironically Disney themselves are working on a “live-action” adaptation of the piece (again). Robert Zemeckis is set to direct that and it’s currently slated to come out this year. Between the two, we’ll take del Toro’s take any day.
The Jim Henson Company and Shadow Machine are co-producing. Make sure you catch Henson Co.’s “Fraggle Rock: Return to the Rock” on AppleTV+ now. ShadowMachine’s most recent projects include “Bojack Horseman” and “Tuca & Bertie.” Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, “Nightmare Alley,” is in theaters now.
Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” will debut on Netflix in December of 2022.
