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While fans wait for Disney to release their live-action version of Pinocchio this fall, directed by Robert Zemekis and starring Tom Hanks, Guillermo del Toro’s version of the classic story of a wooden puppet who wants to be a real boy is arriving this December. Despite coming to Netflix a few months after the Disney movie, del Toro’s stop-motion musical version of the story has beaten Disney to the punch by releasing its first look at the movie ahead of the House of Mouse, in the form of a teaser trailer that introduces audiences to Ewan McGregor as Sebastian J. Cricket.
Coming from the combined efforts of the Jim Henson Company, ShadowMachine and del Toro, as you would guess this is going to be a well-crafted and beautifully animated movie, and it boasts an impressive voice cast to boot. Along with McGregor’s take on the cricket that “lives in the heart of a little wooden boy”, the ensemble cast also features David Bradley as Geppetto, Gregory Mann as Pinocchio, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, and Burn Gorman, with Christoph Waltz and Tilda Swinton.
Del Toro is currently building a stunning relationship with Netflix, having already worked with the streamer to produce the animated Trollhunters series, and is set to debut his new horror anthology show Cabinet of Curiosities later this year. With the addition of Pinocchio, the visionary director has the chance to make his mark in the world of stop-motion animation, a form that was once thought to be dying out but seems to be on the rise once again with many stop-motion projects coming soon including a sequel to Chicken Run and a new Wallace and Gromit short film.
Guillermo del Toro Wanted to Make Pinocchio as He Feels Connection To The Character
As one of the greatest fantasy directors in cinema history, Guillermo del Toro has earned the right to decide which movies he chooses to make, but when it came to making an animated version of the story of Pinocchio, he said that he feels a connection to both the medium of animation and the character of Pinocchio himself.
“No art form has influenced my life and my work more than animation and no single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio,” the director said in 2018 when the project was announced. . “In our story, Pinocchio is an innocent soul with an uncaring father who gets lost in a world he cannot comprehend. He embarks on an extraordinary journey that leaves him with a deep understanding of his father and the real world. I’ve wanted to make this movie for as long as I can remember. After the incredible experience we have had on Trollhunters, I am grateful that the talented team at Netflix is giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to introduce audiences everywhere to my version of this strange puppet-turned-real-boy.”
Of course, Disney is releasing a live-action version of their own Pinocchio animated feature, which will join the long line of remakes being lined up at Disney’s door. While two movies based on the same character and general story could, under other circumstances, prove to be problematic, there will be no doubt that the tone and style of Guillermo del Toro’s version will ensure that it doesn’t get swallowed up by a whale called Disney.
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