Starfinancer

Pinocchio how Frankestein: two “monstrous” beings created by human hands that come to life and, at first, scare, but then turn out to be better than many “normal” ones. That is how Guillermo del Toro sees the character, coming up Netflix in December.

Vanity Fair published the first images accompanied by the words of the director who underlined that he had decided to reinvent the story, starting from the setting, and revealed that he had conceived a film that is very different from the Disney version. In fact, the stop-motion opera will not take place in a fantasy world, but will be set in Italy during the rise of fascism.

And as the director himself explained, the character created by Carlo Collodi in 1883 will have a story very similar to that of the monster born from the fantasy of Mary Shelley in 1818: both shivering, as happens in Geppetto when he first meets the cheerful wooden boy screaming loudly in his workshop.

A hallmark of del Toro’s narrative, from Labyrinth of the Faunto Hellboy up to what is considered his best film, the award-winning The shape of water: Beings initially seen as bizarre, or frightening or unnatural, are often even more humane and understanding than apparently normal people who fear or despise them. “I’ve always been very intrigued by the links between Pinocchio and Frankenstein – said the director – They both speak of a child who is thrown into the world. They are both created by a father who then expects them to understand what is good, what is bad, ethics, morals, love, life, all by themselves. I think it was, for me, childhood. You had to understand everything with your very limited experience. ”

The approach to this story is a significant departure from what audiences have previously seen in puppet films craving to be a real boy. “For me, it’s essential to counter the idea that you have to turn into a real baby to be a real human being,” del Toro says. “All you need to be human is to really act like one, you know? I never believed the transformation [dovrebbe] to be required to obtain love “.

The film represents the culmination of a dream that has fascinated Guillermo Del Toro for a lifetime. “I have always professed my love and my great admiration for Disney, but this is an impulse that leads me to distance myself from it” commented the director, underlining that “this film will be about finding yourself and finding your own way in world, not simply by obeying commands given to you, but by understanding whether they are okay or not. In various situations it seemed to me that the fable pushed for obedience and for the domestication of the soul. Blind obedience is not a virtue. The virtue of Pinocchio is disobedience. In an age where everyone else behaves like puppets, he doesn’t. “

Del Toro shares Pinocchio’s direction with Mark Gustafsonwho was the animation director of Fantastic Mr. Fox from Wes Anderson. The use of real stop-motion puppets makes the film unique among the many adaptations of Collodi’s book. The film will debut atAnnecy International Animation Festival in France this week, to then have its world premiere on Netflix in December.

The main challenge of the film is that three Pinocchio’s are making their debut this year. The 1940 Disney animated film remains a definitive classic even 82 years after its release and, in September, Disney + will release a faithful live-action remake directed by Robert Zemeckis and performed by Tom Hanks in the role of Geppetto. Earlier this year, Lionsgate He released Pinocchio: A true storydigitally animated, but received very negative reviews.

While the film by Matteo Garrone who received 15 nominations at the 2020 edition of the David di Donatello, winning in five categories: Best Set Designer, Best Makeup Artist, Best Costume Designer, Best Hairstylist and Best Visual Special Effects. He also received 2 Academy Award nominations in the Best Costume and Best Makeup categories.

The ‘voice’ cast of the Netflix movie includes David Bradley how Geppetto, Gregory Mann how Pinocchio, Ewan McGregor how Sebastian J. Cricket, Christoph Waltz how Count Volpe, Ron Perlman how Fire Eaters And Finn Wolfhard how Candlewick.