Guillermo del Toro to direct Stop-Motion Musical ‘Pinocchio’ for Netflix

The Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro has bagged up a Netflix project. He will be writing, directing and producing a new adaptation of Pinocchio for the streaming site. His film The Shape of Water also won the best picture for his creature-feature love story.

The shoot for the project is reported to start from this fall, as many key talent has been roped in. The film’s puppets will be built by Mackinnon & Saunders, who did splendid work on Corpse Bride.

The tale of the puppet boy brought magically to life continues to be a resonating one. As being reported, Del Toro has been trying to mount a take on Pinocchio since the early 2000s.The story is reported to be told as a stop-motion musical and set during the rise of fascism in Italy under Mussolini.

Guillermo has acted as a creative consultant and executive producer over the years on movies such as Megamind, Puss in Boots and Rise of the Guardians and as a producer on Book of Life, but with this film he will be helming for the first time.

Del Toro in a statement, said “No art form has influenced my life and my work more than animation and no single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio. In our story, Pinocchio is an innocent soul with an uncaring father who gets lost in a world he cannot comprehend. He embarks on an extraordinary journey that leaves him with a deep understanding of his father and the real world. I’ve wanted to make this movie for as long as I can remember.”

“After the incredible experience we have had on Trollhunters, I am grateful that the talented team at Netflix is giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to introduce audiences everywhere to my version of this strange puppet-turned-real-boy”, he further added.