Guillermo del Toro’s 3D stop-motion Pinocchio doesn’t start filming till next summer, but that hasn’t stopped Entertainment Weekly from releasing an exclusive first look at the film.
The images are dark, twisted and gorgeous. The look of the film is based on Gris Grimly’s illustrations of the famous wooden puppet. Del Toro, who is co-directoring the film with Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox), commented on the stylistic difference from Disney’s Pinocchio: ”If I thought it would be similar I would be very afraid. You cannot top Disney.”
Del Toro also talked about the reasons why he wanted to make his own Pinocchio adaptation:
In a strange way, two of the stories that fascinate me the most are kind of related, which is Frankenstein and Pinocchio. They are both about creatures that are created and then get lost in a world they don’t understand. And they are both journeys of understanding, and journeys of evolution of the spirit. When we started working on Pinocchio we knew very clearly that we wanted to make it different in the sense that it is not just a fairy tale but a fairy tale that actually moves you and emotionally affects you. It deals with ideas that are relevant to everyone, to all mankind in a way.
It’ll be years until we see this film in theaters, but these images have gotten us pumped! Check out the images below. How do you feel about the style of the film?
Scans via Dread Central.