Guillermo del Toro is getting ready to show off his long-awaited reimagining of the classic Pinocchio to audiences at the Annecy Animation Festival in France. Per Variety, he’s set to unveil an exclusive first look at the film as part of Netflix’s recently revealed slate of animation for the fest which runs from June 13 to 18.
Del Toro’s Pinocchio has been in the works for a long time, enduring delays and more to finally bring one of The Shape of Water director’s favorite characters to life. Co-directed by Mark Gustafson with help on the scripts from Patrick McHale, the film is del Toro’s unique take on the 1883 classic novel by Carlo Collodi with some apparent inspirations from Frankenstein in there for good measure. Set in Mussolini’s Italy, it follows the titular marionette as he tries to find his place in the world and help the grief-stricken Gepetto. It’ll be the first time del Toro has ever directed a musical film.
Making up the voice cast for the stop-motion film is Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, and Burn Gorman. We already received a brief glance at McGregor’s Sebastian J. Cricket, but the upcoming first look will likely give a look at more of the cast in action including Mann’s Pinocchio and Bradley’s Gepetto. The Jim Henson Company partnered with del Toro for the film way back when, with Lisa Henson on to produce with Alex Bulkley, Corey Campodonico, and Gary Ungar.
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While del Toro’s film will be the main draw for the streamer at the international festival, Netflix has other plans in line for Annecy outside of Pinocchio. For one, The Sea Beast, an adventure film from the mind of Big Hero 6 Oscar winner Chris Williams with a solid voice cast led by Karl Urban and Dan Stevens, will make its world premiere at the festival, as will a work-in-progress look at My Father’s Dragon. Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi‘s upcoming animation with Kenya Barris, Entergalactic, is also set for an exclusive look at the fest.
Rounding out Netflix’s animation showcase are masterclasses and a string of conversations about upcoming projects including Henry Selick’s Wendell & Wild, Wendy Rogers’ The Magician’s Elephant, Nick Bruno and Troy Quane’s Nimona, and Nee and Karissa Valencia’s Spirit Rangers, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the David Fincher-directed “Bad Traveling” from Love, Death + Robots. Netflix is also set to compete with The Cuphead Show!, Arcane, and Human Resources among their entries.
Pinocchio is due out this December with a first look at Del Toro’s passion project coming at some point during the Annecy festival.
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