Netflix Gets A Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinnochio Special This December

We’ve seen many versions of the Italian folklore story of Pinnochio, especially the infamous one starring the inappropriate voice of Pauly Shore. But what about a stop-motion clay-filled adaptation from visionary director Guillermo Del Toro?

The director behind classics like Pan’s Labyrinth and Pacific Rim will be bringing his stop-motion animated take on the story onto Netflix by the end of 2022. The upcoming animated movie, titled Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinnochio, will feature a number of big names like Ewan McGregor (Sebastian J. Cricket, because Jiminy’s taken by Disney), Ron Perlman (the Podesta), David Bradley (Master Geppetto), Finn Wolfhard (Candlewick), Cate Blanchett (Sprezzatura the Monkey), Christoph Waltz (Count Volpe), and Tilda Swinton (Fairy with Turquoise Hair). Gregory Mann will be voicing the titular wooden boy.

Here’s the official description & synopsis:

“Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents the 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.”

It sounds like we’ll be seeing more terrifying versions of children turning into donkeys and very detailed insides of a giant whale. For those who don’t know, Guillermo Del Toro wanted to make this dark version of Pinnochio back in 2008. It has been in production since then, with him getting company ShadowMachine to animate and produce it in 2012. We’re not sure what happened to that version, but nobody wanted to fund his version of Pinnochio until 2018 when the project was revived to be a stop-motion animated film instead. Thankfully, Netflix has acquired it and will be releasing his version of the wooden boy chronicles.

Check out the film in action below, stop motion 3D and all. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio will be out this December on Netflix and select cinemas worldwide.