In September, while this year other big Pinocchio movie came out, we wrote about the the story of Pinocchio on screen, and why it’s such a popular story to adapt, despite each adaptation so far being a bit scary in its own way. This time, however, the creep factor might be working in his favor. If there is anyone who can do good Pinocchio adaptation is Guillermo del Toro. Its dark fairy tale aesthetic might just be the thing to breathe new life into this old story. We are already impressed by what we have seen so far.
Why would he be the one to make us love yet another version of the wandering adventures of the wooden boy who yearns to be real? On the one hand, del Toro cares a lot himself. He talked about making a Pinocchio movie for decades and has been actively working on it since 2008. Throughout that time, despite numerous starts and stalls, budget issues and talent turnover, he never gave up. Although he was undoubtedly pressured to compromise his vision for a stop-motion animated film based on the designs of artist Gris Grimly, he persevered until that vision came true. Now that it’s finally here – with a stellar voice cast that includes Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, and more – we’ll see if the enthusiasm and know-how – make del Toro produce a Pinocchio movie unlike anything we’ve seen before. [Cindy White]
