I think off the bat, I should tell you that this article is about Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022), an animated film and not Disney’s upcoming live-action Pinocchio film (read here) which is a live action adaptation. It can become a bit confusing as both these films are coming out this year and both are based on the 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi. So, do not get confused. Disney’s live-action version is a remake of Disney’s own animated film Pinocchio which was released in 1940. Whereas Del Toro’s Pinocchio is a new animated film which will come out this year on Netflix. The first for the same was released by Netflix.
Netflix Releases Stills for Pinocchio Adaptation
The new images give us a look at del Toro’s vision for the literature classic. The film has a cast of renowned actors such as Ewan McGregor as “Sebastian J. Cricket,” and David Bradley as Gepetto and the debutant Gregory Mann as Pinocchio, all of whom who feature in the new images. We also get a first look at the villain- Count Volpe played by Christoph Waltz, honestly the most exciting addition to the film. We see del Toro has taken a stop motion like approach to achieve the aesthetic feel of the film. While we show you some of the images here, you can see the full gallery at Vanity Fair:
Del Toro Explains His Darker Adaptation
Guillermo del Toro makes it clear he is taking a big shift from the traditional Italian classic and also the 1940 Disney adaptation. He elaborates, “It’s counter to the book, because the book is seeking the domestication of the child’s spirit in a strange way,” the director says. “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.”
To underline his themes in this adaptation he has changed the world the story will be set in, “an environment in which citizens behave with obedient, almost puppet-like faithfulness” he explains. He has set the story in WWII Italy. del Toro concludes with, “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.”
We’re lucky to say the least for getting two adaptations of the classic in the same year while I’m more excited about del Toro’s adaptation, let me know which one are you most excited about. Pinocchio will release on Netflix in late 2022.
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