I get the feeling that, sometime soon, every genre movie coming out will have Guillermo del Toro involved in some capacity. The latest project (via Deadline) is a stop-motion adaptation of Pinocchio he’s producing that’ll be co-directed by Gris Grimly and based on Grimly unorthodox picture book adaptation of the classic children’s story. With the Henson Company and Pathe involved, as well as Nick Cave being slotted to do the soundtrack, this crazy intersection of diverse talent almost recalls Jodorowsky’s unrealized Dune movie to my mind. That was the one that would’ve starred Salvador Dali and been scored by Pink Floyd.
This won’t be animated by Mirada, del Toro’s newly minted effects FX studio. Instead, it’ll be handled by the same people behind the likes of the Fantastic Mr. Fox and the Corpse Bride. Needless to say then, its tone will be a shade or two darker than the Disney movie.
Doing something closer to Carlo Collodi’s classic novel could be a worthwhile angle - - though I’m reaching to remember if that was the same intention for the Jonathan Taylor Thomas Pinocchio or that bizarre one by Roberto Benigni. Having read the book in high school, my sense is that it’s got more satire and Christian symbolism in it than any modern adaptation would be allowed. Then again, the scene is currently in the wake of the Narnia flicks.
