Guillermo del Toro, a Mexican director, has established himself as a master of the macabre throughout the course of his career.
For his latest project, the Mexican director will apply his one-of-a-kind approach to a well-known fable.
The director of Pan’s Labyrinth is currently working on a stop-motion musical adaptation of Pinocchio. He has chosen to situate the story during the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy as the backdrop for the action.
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Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio: Release Date On Netflix
The movie is scheduled to make its debut in front of the public on the 15th of October 2022 at the BFI London Film Festival, and then it will be shown in select theaters beginning on the 25th of November.
After that, it will become accessible to stream on Netflix exactly two weeks later, on Friday, December 9th.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio: Cast Members
Pinocchio, directed by Guillermo del Toro, features an impressive roster of voice actors. Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Cate Blanchett (The Affair), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Tilda Swinton (“Three Thousand Years of Longing”), Burn Gorman (“The Offer”), John Turturro (“The Batman”), Christoph Waltz (“No Time to Die”), Ron Perlman (“Don’t Look Up”), David Bradley (“Game of Thrones”), and Tim Blake Nelson are just some of the actors who have (Nightmare Alley).
Gregory Mann is the young actor who will be tasked with providing the voice for Pinocchio. Some of Gregory Mann’s previous credits include the ITV/PBS Masterpiece Theater series Victoria as well as the movie The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018). Pinocchio will be voiced by Gregory Mann.
Bradley will play the part of Geppetto, McGregor will play Sebastian J. Cricket, Blanchett will play Sprezzatura, Wolfhard will play Candlewick, Waltz will play Count Volpe, and Perlman will play Podesta. Other roles have also been confirmed.
- Cate Blanchett
- Finn Wolfhard
- David Bradley
- Ewan McGregor
- Ron Perlman
- Tilda Swinton
- Directed by: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
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Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio: Reviews
In this spare and gloomy adaptation of the Carlo Collodi classic, Guillermo del Toro has created a new stop-motion style animated account of Pinocchio. The release of such a thing was desperately required as an antidote to Robert Zemeckis’s disastrous, sickly, and sentimental live-action Pinocchio, which was also released in this year and starred Tom Hanks in a performance that was not vintage as Geppetto, the whiskery toymaker. Such a thing was badly needed as a corrective.
In Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation, the psychological horror that is already present in the tale of a lonely, childless craftsman in Italy who, in the throes of his grief, produces a puppet that turns out to be a real son is exaggerated.
When Geppetto’s son is killed in an air raid at the end of the first world war, young Pinocchio becomes the tragic substitute. He is brought to life by occult forces that are very different from Walt Disney’s brand of sweetness; he is dragooned first into a traveling circus and then finally into the young fascisti.
This Pinocchio takes a spin on the concept of innocence and guilt during the time of Mussolini. It is almost like a cross between Frankenstein’s monster and Oskar from Günter Grass’s The Tin Drum.
Geppetto, the older man, is voiced by David Bradley, while Pinocchio is portrayed by Gregory Mann, Ron Perlman plays the fascist Podesta, Christoph Waltz is the carnival leader Count Volpe, and Ewan McGregor is the quirky conscience-keeper Sebastian J. Cricket.
The film has a powerful and somber atmosphere, but I can’t help but feel that the story of a wooden puppet-boy living in a stop-motion world where everyone appears to be a wooden puppet is superfluous.
This version, with its meticulously packaged fantasy-horror element, does not, in my opinion, have the same level of anarchy and inexplicability as the Pinocchio film that was directed by Roberto Benigni and Matteo Garrone two years ago.
However, it does contain some touching and melancholy scenes, and McGregor’s comedic performances as the long-suffering cricket add a touch of lightheartedness to the otherwise somber atmosphere.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio: Plot Synopsis
Netflix calls this adaptation of Pinocchio “otherworldly,” and it is a rendition that combines the classic story written by Carlo Collodi with the singular vision of Guillermo del Toro. The following is the plot summary that was supplied by the streamer:
“Academy Award–winning director Guillermo del Toro and award–winning, stop-motion legend Mark Gustafson reimagine the classic Carlo Collodi tale of the fabled wooden boy with a whimsical tour de force that finds Pinocchio on an enchanted adventure that transcends worlds and reveals the life-giving power of love,” according to the synopsis of the film.
Previous reports have hinted at the ways in which this new version of Pinocchio will differ from either the original Disney animated film or the company’s live-action Pinocchio remake that was released earlier this year. This includes the fact that Geppetto had a younger son in the past who passed away.
Patrick McHale and Guillermo del Toro collaborated to write the screenplay.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio: WATCH TRAILER!
This melancholy yet majestic version of a classic children’s story follows Pinocchio as he embarks on a risky voyage of self-discovery with his dependable traveling companion, Sebastian J. Cricket.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio: Production
- You might have anticipated that the production itself would be an unremarkable story in and of itself, given the rumored expenditure of $35 million, the presence of a legendary director at the helm, and an exceptional voice cast.
- However, Guillermo del Toro’s animated rendition of the story has had a long and difficult route to full-scale production, having originally been unveiled by the acclaimed director in the year 2008.
- Pinocchio was supposed to be released in 2013 or 2014, but the production would take a disheartening turn when del Toro stated in 2017 how no companies were ready to finance the $35 million budget that he would need. The original intention was to release Pinocchio in 2013 or 2014.
- “It’s not going to happen. However, the plan was to film Pinocchio during the rise of fascism in Italy and collaborate with Mussolini on the project. It was a nice time to debate the concept of either being a puppet or a human, but you should realize that it’s not in progress. — Guillermo del Toro, via IGN.
- It was initially contemplated that the adaptation would be produced into a 2D-animation feature film, but finally, del Toro decided to go with stop motion (even though this increased the financial strain), and Netflix funded the project in 2018.
- In the year 2020, shooting occurred place in Guadalajara, Mexico, as well as Portland, Oregon.
