Three years have gone by since it was announced that Netflix was giving Guillermo del Toro the chance to make his lifelong passion project, a stop-motion animated version of the Pinocchio story. Now a teaser trailer has arrived online to give us a look at Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, and you can check it out in the embed above. This trailer introduces us to a fellow named Sebastian J. Cricket and features some very cool looking animation – and best of all, it ends with the confirmation that we’ll have the chance to watch Pinocchio before the year is over! Netflix will be releasing the film sometime in December 2022.
Guillermo del Toro had this to say when it was first announced he would be making Pinocchio for Netflix:
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. 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. After the incredible experience we have had on Trollhunters, I am grateful that the talented team at Netflix is giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to introduce audiences everywhere to my version of this strange puppet-turned-real-boy.
The cast of the film, which del Toro co-directed with Mark Gustafson, includes Ewan McGregor as Cricket, David Bradley as Geppetto, and Gregory Mann as Pinocchio. Also in the cast are Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reimagines the classic Italian tale of PINOCCHIO in a stop-motion musical adventure. Follow the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.
Del Toro wrote the screenplay with Patrick McHale and produced Pinocchio with Lisa Henson of the Jim Henson Company, Alex Bulkley, Corey Campodonico of Shadow Machine, and Gary Ungar. Jason Lust served as executive producer.