words by Gabi Logan
Last week in an interview with Variety, Guillermo del Toro announced that he will direct a 3D, stop-motion animated version of “Pinocchio” based on Gris Grimly’s 2002 illustration of Carlo Collodi’s classic tale. The Jim Henson Company, known for The Muppets, will produce the film.
Unlike the 1940 Disney film, which removed many of the gruesome and morbid aspects of Collodi’s original The Adventures of Pinocchio, Del Toro’s version will bring back many of Collodi’s darker, spookier storylines. The action of the film will take place between World War I and World War II, shifting from the 19th-century setting of the original, which allegorically approached social issues of the new Italian nation.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, as the film will be called, takes its visual inspiration from the Pinocchio images of Gris Grimly, an illustrator who takes after Edward Gorey in style and themes. Grimly is best known for his illustrated versions of Edgar Allen Poe’s stories and has also illustrated The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Frankenstein, and Wicked Nursery Rhymes.
Grimly was originally set to direct the project, but Del Toro will now direct the film in collaboration with Mark Gustafson, the head of animation for the recent Fantastic Mr. Fox film. Though Del Toro has recently worked on Puss in Boots, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Megamind, Pinocchio will mark the first time he directs an animated film.
Del Toro took on the project because of his personal connection with the Pinocchio tale, which inspired him in his youth to begin collecting puppets. He also owns original art from the 1940 Disney version.
No actors are currently attached to the project, though Del Toro is considering Tom Waits for the role of Geppetto and Donald Sutherland for the Fox. According to Del Toro, creating a full puppet universe for a stop-motion film is a three-year project. The film will begin shooting in the summer of 2013 and take nearly one year to shoot.
