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Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Casts Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton & More
Netflix officially announced the cast of Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio film, listing Academy Award winners Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, and Christoph Waltz, among many other popular actors, in the stop-motion animated musical set to release in 2021. This project is different from the upcoming Disney remake of the animated classic, a live-action movie directed by Robert Zemeckis, potentially starring Tom Hanks. Del Toro is a veteran animated filmmaker, having directed DreamWorks features Puss in Boots and Kung Fu Panda 3.
Now, del Toro and his co-director, Mark Gustafson of Fantastic Mr. Fox, will be recreating the iconic Pinocchio story. Although previous cast discussions were mere speculation, Netflix has now confirmed that Ewan McGregor will take on The Cricket, and David Bradley (Game of Thrones) will play Geppetto. Gregory Mann—a complete newcomer—is playing Pinocchio. Although not yet confirmed by Netflix, Tilda Swinton will likely lend her skills to The Fairy with Turquoise Hair, Christoph Waltz will play The Fox and The Cat, and Ron Perlman will be Mangiafuoco. The other announced actors have not yet been linked with any particular characters. So far, Cate Blanchett, Finn Wolfhard, Tim Blake Nelson, Enola Holmes' Burn Gorman, and John Turturro have all signed on.
If some of the character names previously mentioned sound a little off to you, that's because Disney's 1941 animated film changed some elements from the original story. The movie is based on an 1883 Italian children's book called The Adventures of Pinocchio. To make things more palatable for audiences, Disney took some creative liberties and updated elements of the story. The live-action film will likely uphold those changes.
Del Toro's film, on the other hand, will follow the original book more closely. The commitment to the original character names already demonstrates this plan. However, del Toro is making one significant change by adding a specific time frame to the movie. This story will take place in the 1930s, during Italy's fascist regime. Del Toro is known for making innovative and often dark pictures, and his upcoming Pinocchio is bound to be an interesting spin on the classic.
