Guillermo del Toro has long been developing a stop-motion version of Pinocchio – as in, it was first announced almost a decade ago – and now the cast has finally been announced. Newcomer Gregory Mann will star as the titular character, with Ewan McGregor as his companion, “Cricket”, and David Bradley as Geppetto.
Also slated to appear in the film are Tilda Swinton and Christoph Waltz, who will both star in Wes Anderson’s upcoming film The French Dispatch (though the release has been indefinitely postponed).
Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Tuturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and Ron Perlman will also lend their voices to the Pinocchio adaptation – though their particular roles are yet to be confirmed – which will be set during the rise of Fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, according to Netflix’s announcement.
Alexandre Desplat is additionally confirmed to be scoring the film, with Mark Gustafson – animation director for Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox – co-directing.
“We have spent a long time curating a remarkable cast and crew,” says del Toro. “We all love and practice animation with great passion and believe it to be the ideal medium to retell this classic story in a completely new way.” Given the director’s back catalogue, that “completely new way” is likely to be a pretty creepy one.
Read Netflix’s recent announcement of the cast below, and revisit the films and books Guillermo del Toro has been enjoying in isolation here.