Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio trailer introduces a version of the tale unlike any other
Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Tilda Swinton, and more star in Netflix's stop-motion take on the classic tale
Aux News Guillermo del Toro
Move over, Disney, there’s a new Pinocchio in town. The trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s take on the classic tale is here, and the gorgeously rendered stop-motion animation couldn’t be more different than the 1940 cartoon or the upcoming live-action remake.
Ewan McGregor’s Sebastian J. Cricket sums up the thesis of the Netflix film quite nicely: “From my many wanderings on this earth, I had so much to say about imperfect fathers and imperfect sons, and about loss and love.” Gepetto (David Bradley) is a woodcarver mourning the death of his son, so he carves a puppet out of a tree growing above the boy’s grave. An “old spirit” gives the puppet life, and thus Pinocchio (Gregory Mann), “the wooden boy with the borrowed soul,” is born.
“It’s a story you may think you know, but you don’t,” Sebastian warns in the trailer. And that’s certainly true: This Pinocchio is growing up in 1930s Italy amidst rising fascism, “in an environment in which citizens behave with obedient, almost puppet-like faithfulness,” del Toro told Vanity Fair.
“Many times the fable has seemed, to me, in favor of obedience and domestication of the soul,” the filmmaker explained to the outlet. “Blind obedience is not a virtue. The virtue Pinocchio has is to disobey. At a time when everybody else behaves as a puppet—he doesn’t. Those are the interesting things, for me. I don’t want to retell the same story. I want to tell it my way and in the way I understand the world.”
And one of those ways is dropping the whole “real boy” schtick: “To me, it’s essential to counter the idea that you have to change into a flesh-and-blood child to be a real human,” del Toro said. “All you need to be human is to really behave like one, you know? I have never believed that transformation [should] be demanded to gain love.”
Del Toro co-directs the film with Mark Gustafson from a script co-written by del Toro and Patrick McHale. Additional cast includes Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Finn Wolfhard, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, Cate Blanchett and John Turturro. Pinocchio will debut in theaters in November before streaming on Netflix in December.
57 Comments
I will gladly watch this over that Tom Hanks remake or whatever the heck that Pauley Shore one was.
Me too but I do want to get some merchandise from the Disney one. That’s if it looks like the original which is my favorite Disney film.
You take that back. The Pauly Shore one was an epic of shite filmmaking. It was almost as bad as Twilight.
I never thought I’d say this, but it really drags whenever Pauly Shore’s not there.
Father, when can I leave to be on my oooOOWWWWwwwnnn?
Have we already forgotten the Pinocchio boom of the late 90s and early aughts?
Gonna need to hear the actor playing Pinocchio say “FAAATHER, when can I leave to be on my own? I’ve got the whole wooorld to see…” just for comparison.
Came here to say if there’s not a “so long, butterface” or “ski-dee ski-dee ski-dee” I’m out
If he’s going long on that “FAAAATHER,” it needs to be Matt Berry.
Now that would be something! Imagine if the first words out of the newly animated puppet’s mouth were bellowed, Berry-style.. fantastic.Yes, I can hear you Clem Geppetto.
Disappointed the characters aren’t speaking with House of Gucci Italian accents.
It’s a me, Pinocchio
Give us this day our daily nightmare fuel.
If it’s not nightmare fuel, it’s not del Toro.
This looks incredible. With the exception of seeing Finn Wolfhard in the credits. At least we won’t have to see him mugging at the camera the whole time
Oh wow that looks great. Now I’m annoyed about the existence of the Disney Tom Hanks one.
Maybe we shouldn’t assume Pinocchio’s a real wooden boy. We should check if they is a real wooden non-binary sentient being.
PinWOKEchio.
Aren’t-you-cute-and-clever.
Is this ironic humor?If not, it’s kind of amazing that you would pick *Pinnochio* of all stories to try to shoehorn in a joke about how people should be forever chained to the identity they were assigned by others at birth.
You outta know, I guess.They gave me Pinocchio, I rolled with Pinocchio. Was he really born, so much as whittled?
Any artistic endeavor is in a sense, giving birth.
You mean, chained-to by a little thing we call reality.
In the original story, Pinocchio kills the cricket, then is haunted by its ghost.
So animals have souls in the Pinocchi-verse?
As do puppets.
At least they can “borrow” them.
Also in the original, the fox hangs and seemingly kills Pinocchi at the end of one of the stories, although the author had him saved at the last minute in the next edition of the serial.
Pinocchio is one character that can go from cute to creepy AF in seconds.
I’m so confused, there’s this one AND the new Disney one? How many Pinocchio movies do we need?
Zero, is the ideal number.
None. None more Pinocchio movies.
31.27
Jungle Book situation
Don’t forget the Roberto Begnini one.
That’s not a ‘sweet’ take on the story either. Extreme poverty and dismal characters.
NEVER FORGET the Roberto Benigni one. In fairness, that movie more or less tanked his career in the US, so it’s not all bad.
We need Mannequin 3: Man Up!
I am very excited about anything stop animation while waiting for the next LAIKA fillms and I will always interested in a del Toro film (even though it’s been a while since I’ve really enjoyed one). I hope the political context for this story plays as much of a role as it did in Pan’s Labyrinth and it doesn’t end up as bland, feel-good fare. I assume it can’t really be too dark of a story if it’s a Netflix holiday family film. Anyway, I’ll at least enjoy looking and listening to it.
The Fish Fucker movie was so disappointing. Wonder why that was the one that got him the Oscar.
Mostly because the Academy realized they fucked up for not giving him one for Pans Labyrinth.
I love his early work but his winning for director and The Shape of Water winning for picture over Nolan/Dunkirk, Guadagnino/CMBYN, Peele/Get Out are up there with the Shakespere in Love/Forest Gump years for me.
Lady Bird should have won.
Hard disagree but you do you.
Because all the academy members love to fuck fish.
well, now i’m excited!
In your pants?
Always
Pinocchio’s disobedience is only a virtue if you completely change the premise of the story. Which apparently is what Del Toro has decided to do. This sounds bad.
I mean maybe changing the premise of nearly 150 year old story isn’t a bad thing.
Obviously the person you’re replying to isn’t just a random contrarian but someone who REALLY cares about the integrity of the original Pinocchio story and considers most adaptations faithless to the vision of the original author, whom the OP could definitely name without googling.
Maybe so. But Del Toro’s argument seems to be based on a misunderstanding of the story. That doesn’t inspire confidence. It’s like Spielberg thinking it was a bad thing that Peter Pan finally left Neverland.
I’m a little tired of dealing with people who justify their selfish asshole behavior as some kind of grand moral stand against… um, against, something something, the evils of a repressive society, when all they’re doing is just annoying other people and changing the world for the better not one iota.
Wasnt Paul Thomas Anderson and RDJ supposed to make this story a while back?
Would it be a Del Toro film without Ron Perlman?
The unvarnished version of Pinocchio is really quite dark.
I want the real, book Pinocchio or no deal.https://slate.com/culture/2011/10/carlo-collodi-s-pinocchio-why-is-the-original-pinocchio-subjected-to-such-sadistic-treatment.html
How is this like no other? They’ve made stop motion Pinocchio before.
Finally! A Christmas season horror movie I can get behind! Trailer really creeped me out!