Academy-award winning director and producer, Guillermo Del Toro is all set to plunge into feature-length animation with Pinocchio on Netflix.
Pinocchio will be Del Toro’s first feature film after The Shape of Water, which won him four Oscars, including best director and best picture. Del Toro will take care of the screenplay and production of the stop-motion musical.
Del Toro has chosen 1930s’ Italy to retell the classic tale of Pinocchio and the project will also be a new phase in the ongoing collaboration between Netflix and Del Toro.
He commented, “There is no other form of art that has affected me and my works as much as animations. There has been no other character that I have set up a bond with as much as Pinocchio in my life. In our story, Pinocchio is an innocent soul and his father is a sloppy father, lost in a world he cannot comprehend. In his extraordinary journey, Pinocchio’s perspective on his father and the real world changes and his perceptions unfold. I have wanted to make this movie as long as I can remember. After the great experience, we had with Trollhunters, I’m glad the Netflix team gave me this opportunity to present my version of this classic puppet-human story to audiences around the world.”
The Jim Henson Company and ShadowMachine will work on the stop-motion animation. Apart from Del Toro, other producers of the film are-Lisa Henson, Alex Bulkley from ShadowMachine, Corey Campodonico and Gary Ungar of Exile Entertainment.
The animation will be co-produced by Blanca Lista and Patrick McHale will be part of the crew with Mark Gustafson as the assistant director. Guy Davis, who was inspired by Gris Grimly’s original in designing Pinocchio, will be the production designer. The puppets in the movie will be made by Mackinnon and Saunders. The production is expected to begin this fall.
Del Toro is one of Hollywood’s most successful directors who was the main producer of feature-length DreamWorks animations such as Puss in Boots, Kung Fu Panda 3 and Rise of the Guardians, for seven years. He is also the creator of Guillermo Del Toro Presents 10 After Midnight, which will air soon on Netflix. He had previously directed the Emmy award-winning series Trollhunters, the first of the Tales of Arcadia trilogy by Dreamworks for Netflix. 3Below, the second movie of the trilogy will air on 21 December and the final movie Wizards will be released in 2019.
