#Prepare For A New Twist On A Familiar Tale

“I want to tell you a story. It’s a story you may think you know, but … you don’t. Not really.”

Meet Sebastian J. Cricket, the character who appears to be the narrator throughout this new story. Gone are the familiar trappings of Jiminy Cricket and all other hints of Disney’s pervasive take on the tale, confidently replaced with Guillermo del Toro’s much different-looking approach. The altogether too-brief footage doesn’t give us much to go on, but consider our appetites thoroughly and properly whetted in advance of the stop-motion animated film’s release at the tail-end of this year. The trailer comes courtesy of Netflix, who posted the teaser on Twitter earlier today.

Everyone will recognize Ewan McGregor’s voice as the cricket, himself no stranger to the animated realm after starring in 2018’s excellent “Christopher Robin.” He’s joined by an absolutely stacked cast the includes big names such as Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, David Bradley as Geppetto, and Gregory Mann’s very first role as the eponymous Pinocchio. Netflix also released a brief synopsis for the film, which reads as follows:

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reimagines the classic Italian tale of PINOCCHIO in a stop-motion musical adventure. Follow the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.

For those looking for even more information on what sets this film apart from the Disney one, del Toro previously discussed his intent to go even deeper in using the famous puppet to explore themes about heart and humanity, with the setting of fascist Italy at the onset of World War II as an evocative backdrop.

Expect the film to premiere on Netflix in December of 2022.