Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio teaser trailer promises love will give you life

We have two new Pinocchio projects coming our way. One of them is a live-action film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, that stars Tom Hanks as Geppetto and is coming to Disney+ in September. The other is a stop-motion animated film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson – and a teaser trailer for the del Toro Pinocchio has just been released online! You can check it out in the embed above. Along the teaser trailer comes the confirmation that del Toro’s Pinocchio will be receiving a limited theatrical release in November before reaching the Netflix streaming service in December.

Del Toro wrote the screenplay for his take on Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio with Patrick McHale… and while it is meant to be family friendly, it’s also a darker, more grounded take on the material. It’s not set in a fairy tale world, but in “Italy between World War I and World War II, during the rise of fascism and authoritarian rule in the country.” Geppetto carves Pinocchio out of wood taken from a tree that grew over the grave of his young son Carlo, hoping the puppet will be like the son he lost. But he’s not. There are no magical creatures other than Pinocchio and the wood spirit that gives him life. And there’s no donkey transformation. Instead, Pinocchio is “targeted by the government officials who hear tell of the boy made of wood and believe he might have other applications.”

Here’s the official synopsis:

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents Carlo Collodi’s 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.

Del Toro told Vanity Fair (most of the information we have on his Pinocchio comes from their interview with him) that his movie is

counter to the book, because the book is seeking the domestication of the child’s spirit in a strange way. It’s a book full of great invention, but it’s also in favor of obeying your parents and being ‘a good boy’ and all that. This [movie] is about finding yourself, and finding your way in the world—not just obeying the commandments that are given to you, but figuring out when they are okay or not.”

The voice cast of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio includes Gregory Mann, Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, and Burn Gorman.

Check out the trailer for Pinocchio above, then let us know what you thought of it by leaving a comment below. And while you’re scrolling down, take a look at the film’s poster: