Brand-new images from Guillermo del Toro's upcoming film, Pinocchio, offer fans a first look at the beloved Pinocchio and his creator, Geppetto. This is not to be confused with Disney's live-action remake of their iconic 1940 cartoon film of the same name.

Del Toro is a director who is known to push the boundaries, instilled with an abundance of brilliant creativity and an imagination as wide and expansive as a child’s. His version of the film is inspired by Gus Grimley's eccentric visual design of the character from his 2002 illustrated version of the original 1883 Carlo Collodi novel. Netflix's Pinocchio is also set to be a stop-motion animated picture. The movie will be taking on del Toro's classic noir, dark approach to filmmaking that he is known and praised for most. Pinocchio is a distorted retelling of the famous Italian fairy tale that has managed to be adapted into numerous theatrical and television projects - spanning 100 years of this same story being passed down and told. The highly anticipated film is set in 1930's Fascist Italy, where the country at the time was under the rule of Benito Mussolini.

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Now, Vanity Fair has recently sat down with director del Toro to chat about his tale on Pinocchio. Following the interview, Netflix also went ahead and released some new images from the film that will give fans a clue as to what artistic style and vision the director is going for. From the looks of the images, the stop-motion animation seems to naturally be taking inspiration from Tim Burton's (Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas) gothic, grotesque taste.

Pinocchio is centered around a wooden puppet that miraculously comes to life, leading him into a false sense of boyhood. Pinocchio begins to fully indulge in his newfound sense of life, as he begins to plot and par-take in mischievous schemes and plain trickery. The Oscar-award-winning director has summed up the film as simply a “story of love.” Actor Gregory Mann will star as the main lead, Pinocchio, alongside Ewan McGregor, who will be portraying Sebastian J. Cricket. Joining the two leads are cast members David Bradley as Geppetto, Tilda Swinton as the Fairy, Christoph Waltz as the Fox, Finn Wolfhard as Lampwick, Cate Blanchett as Sprezzatura the Monkey, Ron Perlman as Mangiafuoco, and John Turturro as Master Cherry.

Burton is known for his use of exaggeration of facial features and size, as well as his use of manipulating proportions. For example, most of his most iconic characters have gigantic, hollowed-out eyes, with tiny bodies to match. Yet, in these new first-look images, Pinocchio appears to be wearing a smile proudly in nearly every single one. This may suggest a switch-up in a tone that fans may not see coming, especially from del Toro, who is renowned for gravitating toward more sombre energies within characters.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is geared up for a December 2022 release date on Netflix.

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Source: Vanity Fair