Netflix unveils the cast of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Sharpen your whittling knives, mix your paints, and prepare for a visit from the Blue Fairy because Netflix announced the cast of Guillermo del Toro's upcoming stop-motion animated musical feature PINOCCHIO.

Newcomer Gregory Mann will sing and dance as Pinocchio with Ewan McGregor (DOCTOR SLEEP) as Cricket and David Bradley (GAME OF THRONES) as Geppetto. Other cast members include Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton (SNOWPIERCER), Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz (ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL), Finn Wolfhard (GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE), Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett (THOR: RAGNAROK), John Turturro (THE BIG LEBOWSKI, THE BATMAN), Gloden Globe winner Ron Perlman (HELLBOY), Time Blake Nelson (O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?), and Burn Gorman (ENOLA HOLMES).

Based on the classic cautionary tale by Carlo Collodi, del Toro's stop motion musical follows the extraordinary journey of a wooden boy magically brought to life by a father’s wish. Set during the rise of Fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, del Toro's Pinocchio is a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father’s expectations.

“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,” says del Toro.

The film is directed by del Toro and Mark Gustafson (FANTASTIC MR. FOX). Del Toro and Patrick McHale wrote the script. The song lyrics are by del Toro and Katz, with music by Academy Award winner Alexandre Desplat who will also compose the score. When it comes to the puppet's unique, woodland look, it was Gris Grimly who created the original design for the Pinocchio character. The film’s puppets are being built by Mackinnon and Saunders of Tim Burton's CORPSE BRIDE fame.

Principle photography for PINOCCHIO began last Fall at ShadowMachine's Portland, Oregon studio, and unlike many other films this year, production has continued uninterrupted during the pandemic.

Wow! Am I the only one who's feeling truly excited after reading about the team that del Toro has assembled for this film? The thought of del Toro taking his knack for dark fantasy to the stop-motion stage is almost more than this animation enthusiast can handle, and my body is more than ready to experience the black magic of del Toro's PINOCCHIO when it debuts in theaters and on Netflix.