Move over Disney, becauseNetflixhas now unveiled its own version ofPinocchio, and it looks like award-winning director Guillermo del Toro has pulled out all the stops to turn this beloved fairytale into something unique thanks to the magic of stop-motion graphics.
Despite the world lining up so that there arethree differentPinocchiomovies coming out in 2022, del Toro’s take, co-written by him alongside Patrick McHale, boasts the most start-studded voice cast with the likes of Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton joining Gregory Mann, who’s been cast as the wooden boy.Netflix’sPinocchiois based on illustrations made by artist Gris Grimly, whose darker spin certainly bodes well for thePan’s LabyrinthandShape of Waterdirector.
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ThePinocchiotrailer kicks off with McGregor’s Sebastian J. Cricket acting as narrator, telling a tale of imperfect fathers with the warning that this is not quite thePinocchiostory audiences believe they heard before. The images seen here mostly focus on showing endearing moments between Geppetto and Pinocchio, as well as some threats the latter faces during his journey. However, the real standout here is the art style and stop-motion animation that will be heading to theaters in November before closing out 2022 with a Netflix release in December.
ThisPinocchioanimation is certainly a stark contrast to Disney’s live-action spin on the character. That version seesTom Hanks interact with a modernized CGI versionof the popular Pinocchio design that the company introduced to pop culture in 1940. Of course, even with the more modest $35 million budget of del Toro’s movie, both of these projects are quite distinct from Lionsgate Films' straight-to-DVD animatedPinocchiomovie released back in March.
Thekey differentiator between del Toro’sPinocchioand Disney’s version is that for the latter company, remaking old classics has become customary, and there are reasons to believePinocchiowill be watered down this time. However, for the Mexican director, it’s more of an opportunity to create something that hasn’t been done before, just like his experiments withHellboy. In fact, Disney isn’t even the first studio to execute the idea of live-actionPinocchiosince there’s already an Italian production starring Roberto Benigni that came out in 2019 to tons of critical acclaim.
WithDisney’sPinocchioset to come outin September and del Toro’s just a couple of months later, the battle of the Pinocchios will definitely be something to watch out for later this year.
