Guillermo del Toro‘s “Pinocchio” has been lauded as a triumph of stop-motion. del Toro wants to further prove animation is not a genre, and not just for children. Without slowing down, the visionary director has already announced his next stop-motion project. He’s adapting “The Buried Giant,” by British Nobel Prize-winner Kazuo Ishiguro for Netflix.
“The Buried Giant” is about an older couple living in post-Arthurian England. King Arthur has died and Saxons and Britons live among one another harmoniously. But the entire community suffers from a strange case of selective amnesia. Axl and Beatrice, the elderly couple, vaguely recall they might have had a son. Determined to remember, the two set out on a journey to find him. What unfolds is a story quite similar in tone and structure as Arthurian legends of the 15th century.
del Toro is co-writing the film with “Matilda the Musical” writer Dennis Kelly, and continuing to work with his stop-motion animation studio Shadow Machine. “‘The Buried Giant’ continues my animation partnership with Netflix and our pursuit of stop-motion as a medium to tell complex stories and build limitless worlds,” GDT said. “It is a great honor and greater responsibility for me to direct this screenplay which Dennis Kelly and I are adapting from Kazuo Ishiguro’s profound and imaginative novel.”
Animation is a Medium, Not a Genre
An adaptation like this from del Toro will undoubtedly mesmerize with fantastic visuals and art direction. Adapting a novel influenced by Arthurian legend and the Dark Ages is clearly intentional. Guillermo is determined to prove that animation in the United States has far more potential than what it’s generally used for. After all, other countries have often used animation to tell stories of all types. Obviously, it’s high time animation is recognized that way in America. It’s not just something to keep children entertained.
