Guillermo del Toro is currently hard at work on a stop-motion musical version of the classic children’s novel, Pinocchio. This is reportedly a passion project he’s been wanting to make since the early 2000s. And it has been growing towards a reality in recent years. It took one big step forward in 2018 when del Toro teamed up with Netflix to produce it. It took another when principal photography began late last year, which Deadline reports has not been affected by the pandemic. Now, we know the spectacular voice cast.
Newcomer Gregory Mann will portray the titular Pinocchio. Ewan McGregor will voice Cricket. And David Bradley, known for villainous roles in the Harry Potter franchise and Game of Thrones, will voice Gepetto. Other voices include Ron Perlman, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Finn Wolfhard, and Burn Gorman.
McGregor’s involvement was announced in June while Bradley revealed his role in February. Bradley also listed some of the other voices, such as McGregor and Tilda Swinton. But this is the first official announcement for the majority of the cast members. Alongside the cast reveal, the Oscar-winning del Toro had this to say:
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.”
The Crew Behind Pinocchio
Pinocchio will be del Toro’s feature-length animation directorial debut. But he has produced several animated films in the past like The Book of Life and Rise of the Guardians. Mark Gustafson, who served as animation director on Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, will co-direct. The Jim Henson Company and ShadowMachine (Bojack Horseman) will produce along with Gris Grimly. Grimly’s artwork from a re-release of the book in 2002 reportedly inspired this version’s animation. He also serves as co-writer along with del Toro, Patrick McHale (Adventure Time), and Matthew Robins (Crimson Peak).
There have been many versions of Pinocchio’s story, though the most notable is Disney’s 1940 film. Del Toro’s version takes place during the rise of Fascism in Mussolini’s Italy. But it will still focus on Pinocchio’s dream to become a real boy and make his father proud. No release date accompanied the cast announcement, though many outlets have reported it will release in theaters as well as on Netflix.
