Trailer: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio set for Netflix December debut
David Farnor | On 11, Nov 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio will be stringing its way onto Netflix this December and a new trailer gives us our closest look yet at the director’s distinctive take on the pupppet.
The stop-motion animation, co-directed by del Toro and Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr Fox), retells the journey of a wooden boy magically brought to life by a father’s wish. Set during the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, del Toro’s Pinocchio is a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father’s expectations.
Newcomer Gregory Mann will star as Pinocchio, and will be joined by David Bradley (Game of Thrones) as Geppetto, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen) and Burn Gorman (Enola Holmes).
You can see and hear them in action on 9th December, when the film streams worldwide on Netflix. Here’s the trailer:
Watch: Full trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
27th July 2022
“From my many wanderings on this Earth, I had so much to say about imperfect fathers and imperfect sons…” That’s the sound of Ewan McGregor voicing Cricket in Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – and a new trailer gives us a first look at the stop-motion animation.
Drawing on the classic Carlo Collodi tale, the musical will follow the journey of a wooden boy magically brought to life by a father’s wish. Set during the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, del Toro’s Pinocchio is a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father’s expectations.
The film is co-directed by Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr Fox) from a script by del Toro and Patrick McHale. The song lyrics are by del Toro and Katz, with music by Alexandre Desplat, who will also write the score. Newcomer Gregory Mann will star as Pinocchio, and will be joined by David Bradley (Game of Thrones) as Geppetto, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen) and Burn Gorman (Enola Holmes).
The film will premiere on Netflix this December, becoming the streamer’s flagship family film for the festive season. The precise release date hasn’t yet been confirmed but until then, here’s the trailer:
First look: New images of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
15th June 2022
While Disney readies to debut its new live-action take on Pinocchio, Netflix is drip-feeding more details about its own stop-motion version of the tale, and new images this week give us our best glimpse yet of what Guillermo del Toro has been assembling in his workshop.
Drawing on the classic Carlo Collodi tale, the musical will follow the journey of a wooden boy magically brought to life by a father’s wish. Set during the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, del Toro’s Pinocchio is a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father’s expectations.
The film is co-directed by Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) from a script by del Toro and Patrick McHale. The song lyrics are by del Toro and Katz, with music by Alexandre Desplat, who will also write the score. Newcomer Gregory Mann will star as Pinocchio, and will be joined by Ewan McGregor as Cricket, David Bradley (Game of Thrones) as Geppetto, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen) and Burn Gorman (Enola Holmes).
“I’ve always been very intrigued by the links between Pinocchio and Frankenstein,” del Toro told Vanity Fair in an interview. “They are both about a child that is thrown into the world. They are both created by a father who then expects them to figure out what’s good, what’s bad, the ethics, the morals, love, life, and essentials, on their own.”
His film “tackles very deep ideas about what makes us human”, he added, noting that it will not be about obveying parents or being a “good boy” but about “finding yourself and finding your way in the world”.
The film debuts its first footage at the Annecy International Animation Festival this week, before debuting on Netflix worldwide in December. In the meantime, here are the new images to savour:
Watch: First teaser for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
25th January 2022
“I want to tell you a story. It’s a story you may think you know…” That’s the sound of Guillermo del Toro putting a new spin on Pinocchio – and a new teaser gives us a first glimpse of the stop-motion tale.
Drawing on the classic Carlo Collodi tale, the musical will follow the journey of a wooden boy magically brought to life by a father’s wish. Set during the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, del Toro’s Pinocchio is a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father’s expectations.
The film is co-directed by Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) from a script by del Toro and Patrick McHale. The song lyrics are by del Toro and Katz, with music by Alexandre Desplat, who will also write the score.
Newcomer Gregory Mann will star as Pinocchio, and will be joined by David Bradley (Game of Thrones) as Geppetto, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen) and Burn Gorman (Enola Holmes). As for Cricket,
Ewan McGregor will be taking on the conscientious vocals – and it’s him centre-stage of this new teaser, as he positions himself not just as moral compass but also narrator.
You can see the full thing in action, one frame at a time, when it premieres on Netflix in December this year – just in time to be its big Christmas release. Here’s the video:
Netflix confirms cast for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
18th August 2021
Netflix has confirmed the voice cast for Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Pinocchio.
Drawing on the classic Carlo Collodi tale, the stop-motion musical will follow the extraordinary journey of a wooden boy magically brought to life by a father’s wish. Set during the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, del Toro’s Pinocchio is a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father’s expectations.
The film is directed by del Toro and Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox). Del Toro and Patrick McHale wrote the script. The song lyrics are by del Toro and Katz, with music by Alexandre Desplat, who will also write the score.
As if that wasn’t enough to pique your interest, Netflix has now unveiled the cast for the filmmaker’s lifelong passion project, with Ewan McGregor officially confirmed as voicing Cricket. Newcomer Gregory Mann will star as Pinocchio, and they will be joined by David Bradley (Game of Thrones) as Geppetto, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen) and Burn Gorman (Enola Holmes).
The film is produced by del Toro, the Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson, ShadowMachine’s Alex Bulkley and Corey Campodonico, as well as Exile Entertainment’s Gary Ungar; it is co-produced by Blanca Lista of the Jim Henson Company and Gris Grimly. Other credits include production supervisor Melanie Coombs, co-production designers Guy Davis and Curt Enderle, animation supervisor Brian Hansen, puppet supervisor Georgina Hayns, director of photography Frank Passingham, art director Rob DeSue, and animatic editor Ken Schretzmann.
Gris Grimly created the original design for the Pinocchio character, and the film’s puppets are being built by Mackinnon and Saunders (Corpse Bride).
The film will debut in cinemas and on Netflix and, after principal photography began last Fall at ShadowMachine’s Portland, Oregon studio, production has continued uninterrupted during the pandemic.
“After years of pursuing this dream project, I found my perfect partner in Netflix. We have spent a long time curating a remarkable cast and crew and have been blessed by continuous support from Netflix to quietly and carefully soldier on, barely missing a beat. We all love and practice animation with great passion and believe it to be the ideal medium to retell this classic story in a completely new way,” said del Toro.
Ewan McGregor to voice Jiminy Cricket in Netflix’s Pinocchio
18th June 2020
Ewan McGregor will voice Jiminy Cricket in Netflix’s Pinocchio, the actor has confirmed.
Directed and written by Guillermo del Toro, the stop-motion musica is produced with The Jim Henson Company (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) and ShadowMachine (Bojack Horseman, The Shivering Truth). The project is set in Italy during the 1930s, introducing us to Pinocchio – 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.
More details than that aren’t known, but McGregor has now confirmed that he will voice the iconic insect in an online Q&A with ACE Universe.
“It’s stop-frame animation so it’s going to take them a long time to make that film,” he said, “but my first part of that, which is recording his dialogue, is sort of done.”
“There may or may not be a song that needs to be recorded,” he added. “I’m not sure that I’m at liberty to discuss that.”
McGregor is no stranger to Netflix, have also signed on to star in Ryan Murphy’s Halston, a limited series that tracks the meteoric rise and fall of the first American celebrity fashion designer. Filming on that had begun in New York, before the coronavirus lockdown halted production.
Here’s the video:
Guillermo del Toro to direct Pinocchio for Netflix
22nd October 2018
Guillermo del Toro is making his animated feature film directorial debut at Netflix with his lifelong passion project, Pinocchio.
The stop-motion musical, which del Toro will write and produce, will be the director’s first feature film since The Shape of Water, which won four Academy Awards last year, including for Best Director and Best Picture.
Del Toro has set his retelling of the classic tale of Pinocchio in Italy during the 1930s and is producing with The Jim Henson Company (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) and ShadowMachine (Bojack Horseman, The Shivering Truth), which will house the stop-motion animation production. Alongside del Toro, Lisa Henson, ShadowMachine’s Alex Bulkley, Corey Campodonico, and Gary Ungar of Exile Entertainment will produce. Blanca Lista will co-produce. Patrick McHale (Over The Garden Wall, Adventure Time) will co-write the script, Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) will co-direct, and Guy Davis will serve as co-production designer, taking inspiration from Gris Grimly’s original design for the Pinocchio character. The film’s puppets will be built by Mackinnon and Saunders (Corpse Bride).
Guillermo says: “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. 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.”
Melissa Cobb, Vice President of Kids and Family at Netflix: “Throughout his distinguished career, Guillermo has exhibited mastery in inspiring people through his magical worlds filled with unforgettable and magnificent characters, from the monsters in Pan’s Labyrinth to the aquatic beast in The Shape of Water. We are incredibly excited to expand our relationship with Guillermo and we know that his deeply touching vision for bringing Pinocchio to life on Netflix will be embraced by audiences the world over.”
The film marks an expansion of Netflix’s existing relationship with Guillermo del Toro, following the Emmy-winning TV series Trollhunters, the first installment of DreamWorks’ Tales of Arcadia trilogy. The next chapter, 3Below, is set to debut on December 21st 2018, followed by Wizards in 2019. He is also the creator of the upcoming Netflix series, Guillermo del Toro Presents 10 After Midnight.
Production on Pinocchio is expected to begin this autumn.