The first look of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which will stream on Netflix was revealed at the Annecy Animation Festival in France. Pinocchio was first announced in 2018, but the film had to deal with several delays since then.
Del Toro’s Pinocchio is a stop-motion animation inspired by Gus Grimely’s unique visual design of the character from his 2002 illustrated version of the original 1883 Carlo Collodi novel.
Pinocchio stars Gregory Mann as the titular character, Ewan McGregor as Sebastian J. Cricket, and David Bradley as Gepetto, all of whom have been included in a series of first-look pictures released. A glimpse of Count Volpe, the villain who will be played by Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) is also shared.
Pinocchio has a typical del Toro style and is described as a dark and twisted version of the classic Italian fairy tale that has produced innumerable theatrical, television, stage, and written adaptations for over 100 years.
The film follows a wooden puppet who comes to life and engages in mischief and trickery on a trip that del Toro describes as a love story set in Fascist Italy in the 1930s, the time when the country was ruled by Benito Mussolini.
According to del Toro, his version of Pinocchio will be a significant departure from the Disney film and book, in which the puppet-who-would-be-a-boy embarks on a journey of temptation and vice in order to reinforce concepts of parental obedience. Del Toro wants to tell a different kind of story, one that encourages kids to be who they are.
“It’s counter to the book because the book is seeking the domestication of the child’s spirit in a strange way.” It’s a book full of great inventions, but it’s also in favour of obeying your parents and being a good boy, and all that. This (movie) is about finding yourself, and finding your way in the world-not just obeying the commandments that are given to you, but figuring out when they are okay or not,” adds del Toro.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is geared up to release on Netflix in December 2022.
