Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’ Cast Revealed by Netflix

Netflix announced the cast of its upcoming stop-motion animated “Pinocchio” adaptation from director Guillermo Del Toro Wednesday morning.

The film will star unknown actor Gregory Mann voicing the titular puppet, and include a star-studded awards-heavy cast including Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson and Burn Gorman. Previously announced was Ewan McGregor voicing Jiminy Cricket and David Bradley playing Geppetto.

Del Toro will co-direct with Mark Gustafson in his first directorial venture since his 2017 Academy Award winner “The Shape of Water” (for which Del Toro also won a Best Director Oscar). The script is co-written by Del Toro with Patrick McHale (a screenwriter known for his work on various Cartoon Network animated projects).

The film seeks to be true to the Pinocchio character roots from the original 1883 fairy tale children’s novel “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Italian author Carlo Collodi. Following the well-known plot, the movie will follow a wooden puppet brought to life following a magic wish from his maker.

The film will be set in the backdrop of the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy. Del Toro fans will note this is the second historical exploration of fascism from the director, after 2006’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which was set during fascist Francoist Spain during World War II.

The film will be produced by The Jim Henson Company, which will provide creative consulting on the movie’s stop-motion puppet animation.

“Pinocchio” started principal photography last Fall, and production has continued despite the pandemic. The film is expected to be released on Netflix some time next year in 2021.