The Academy Award-winning director of Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water is bringing his whole range of filmmaking chops to bear on the legendary tale of Pinocchio, the wooden marionette that magically comes to life at the hands of an old woodcarver called Geppetto.
Between Disney’s live-action re-telling of this classic tale starring Tom Hanks and del Toro’s own stop-motion adaptation, this does seem to be the year that the titular Pinocchio finds new life in the pop-cultural landscape. But this is del Toro we’re talking about, so you can almost count on his movie to bring all the nightmarish elements of your favorite Gris Grimly novel — on which it’s based — to life.
Here’s the official synopsis for Pinocchio along with a promotional poster by Netflix:
“Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents Carlo Collodi’s classic tale of the wooden marionette who is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto. This whimsical, stop-motion film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.”
We hardly need to tell you that Disney’s pic will draw an almost ludicrous contrast to this animation, what with all of its chirpy songs and lighthearted themes. So if you’re looking for a twisted retelling of this story, del Toro’s take on the classic Italian fairytale will be the movie for you.
Gregory Mann is portraying the titular puppet, while British legend David Bradley has come on board to take on Mister Geppetto. Ewan McGregor is bringing Sebastian Cricket to life, and Christoph Waltz will be Count Volpe.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is slated for release on Netflix sometime in December.
Published: Jul 27, 2022 08:41 am