A stop-motion Pinocchio musical is coming to Netflix
Fresh off his Oscar win for The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro is now gearing up to make his animated feature film directorial debut.
The director has come onboard with Netflix and will be making a stop-motion musical of Pinocchio, shooting for which will begin this fall; del Toro will also be writing and producing the project,
According to Hollywood Reporter, the film will be set in Italy during the 1930s, a particularly fraught historical moment and a time when fascism was on the rise and Benito Mussolini was consolidating control of the country.
“No art form has influenced my life and my work more than animation and no single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio,” said del Toro in a statement. “In our story, Pinocchio is an innocent soul with an uncaring father who gets lost in a world he cannot comprehend. He embarks on an extraordinary journey that leaves him with a deep understanding of his father and the real world. I’ve wanted to make this movie for as long as I can remember.”
As for del Toro's take on the tale, he said he was aiming for something a little more grown up than Disney's version.
"The Disney version is one of my favorite animated movies of all time," he told EW back in 2012. "What I’m going for is a PG-13 — more adolescent, more teenage. I hesitate to say just darker, because it’s not just darker. It is a tale that is adapted to a more complex reality, more complex ethical questions. It’s more a tale for youth than a tale for just kids."
“Throughout his distinguished career, Guillermo has exhibited mastery in inspiring people through his magical worlds filled with unforgettable and magnificent characters, from the monsters in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ to the aquatic beast in The Shape of Water," Melissa Cobb, VP of kids and family at Netflix, said in a statement.
“We are incredibly excited to expand our relationship with Guillermo and we know that his deeply touching vision for bringing Pinocchio to life on Netflix will be embraced by audiences the world over.”
