After much anticipation, the trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is finally out. The Netflix-backed version of Pinocchio is a retelling of the classic story originally told by Carlo Collodi in the late 19th century. It’s about love, hope, and imperfect fathers and sons. And it’s also about a very familiar wooden boy trying to find his place in the world.
Pinocchio marks Del Toro’s first stop-motion animated film. And the Academy Award-winning director sets the stage for a whimsical and entertaining journey only made possible by the mind behind Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, two movies that changed the way we look at film thanks to their heart and unique storylines.
Fans are ready to bask in the cinematic splendor. Stepping away from the polished and palatable Disney aesthetic, del Toro is taking his love of all things Disney and giving it the dark update we’ve come to expect from him, backed by a team that lives and breaths stop-motion animation.
People are already predicting that Pinocchio will be in the running for several awards this upcoming awards season. After all, del Toro knows how to win awards for his otherworldly work. He has an unparalleled talent for taking tales we are familiar with and bringing them into his world, giving each his unique perspective and vision.
“Many times the fable has seemed, to me, in favor of obedience and domestication of the soul,” del Toro told Vanity Fair. “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.”
Pinocchio is set for a December 2022 release, just in time for the holidays.