Pinocchio is one of the greatest fairy tales in all of the fictional world. Though Disney’s 1940 version is the standard for most people, Guillermo del Toro has been trying to get a stop-motion animated version off the ground for years. Last we heard, the project had been shelved but it’s sounding like it’s getting some new life thanks to a very talented writer.
Patrick McHale has joined the project as a co-writer. McHale created the fantastic Over the Garden Wall, a cartoon miniseries that should become yearly viewing. McHale has a natural talent for translating the feeling of folklore to the screen while never sacrificing some of the darker foundations those tales are built upon. Plus, del Toro will remain as the other writer on this new draft and we know del Toro has dark fairy tales down to a science.
A Match Made in Heaven
This sounds like a perfect blend of talent and material. And the fact that this is intended to be a stop-motion animated film is even more encouraging. Recently, Kubo and the Two Strings proved that the classic art form is still alive and well. It also demonstrated that there are still innovations to be made with stop-motion. If anyone is going to bring something unique to the style, it’s del Toro. And McHale’s quirky sense of humor is a perfect fit for the often charming animation technique.
This would be del toro’s first feature animated film – he just finished up the hugely successful Trollhunters series on Netflix – and we couldn’t be more excited. A del Toro project is always something to look forward to. And seeing him stretch his imagination with the stop-motion format is an experiment we have to see.
No news on when this version of Pinocchio will hit theaters but we’ll certainly be keeping our eyes and ears open for more news. In the meantime, watch the original short film that inspired Over the Garden Wall. It’s a genuine treat.
