The first teaser for Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion Pinocchio movie has been released by Netflix.
Featuring Ewan McGregor as Sebastian J. Cricket (we assume the J stands for ‘Jiminy’), the animated insect is about to recount a story we think we’ve heard all before. This Pinocchio, though, is shaping up to be different: it looks incredible, for one thing, and the hand-carved look would even make Geppetto proud.
Pinocchio also comes bundled with an incredible cast. McGregor is joined by David Bradley as Geppetto and newcomer Gregory Mann as Pinocchio. Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton will all accompany them. Phew.
Actor Ron Perlman – who is appearing in the 2022 release – has also confirmed it takes place in Mussolini’s Italy in the 1930s in a recent interview with Inverse (opens in new tab).
The official Netflix synopsis, though, keeps things a little closer to the chest. It reads: “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 musical 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.”
While del Toro will get all the attention, Gustafon also spent time as animation director on 2009’s The FantastIc Mr. Fox.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is set to release in December 2022. For more from the streamer, check out the best Netflix movies you should be watching right now.