You may think you know the story of a wooden puppet who wished to be a real boy, but Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro is bringing the classic story to life in an all-new way. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is an inspired stop-motion retelling of the famous Carlo Collodi fairy tale that features a star-studded voice cast of some familiar and new actors.
The upcoming Netflix film premiered at the London Film Festival on Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Royal Festival Hall where Cate Blanchett and the rest of the cast walked the red carpet. Newcomer Gregory Mann, who plays the titular Pinocchio, was not only celebrating the premiere of his first major film, but also his birthday!
“I was only nine when [production] started – it was about four years ago. I turned 13 today,” Mann told Netflix on the red carpet. “When I was told I got the role of Pinocchio, it was incredible, I was overwhelmed. I would say a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity but hopefully, it’s not. And just looking around, it’s going to be a day I remember for the rest of my life.”
Mann was joined on the carpet by renowned actor David Bradley who plays Geppetto, a carpenter and grieving father who builds the wooden puppet Pinocchio after the death of his son.
“I was just so honored to be asked to play this iconic character,” Bradley said. “And it’s such a rich character that every father, I’m sure, can relate to because what we expect from our children and what we get from them is often sometimes different. And it’s reconciling those two things which [Geppetto] has to learn how to love this wild creature that he’s created.”
Guillermo del Toro, the Academy Award–winning director and writer of the film, made an appearance at the premiere alongside his cast and crew where he met with fans and remarked on how much he was anticipating showing his long-awaited animated work to an audience for the first time.
“You’re always nervous the day that you show [a movie] for the first time, but I know how I feel about it,” del Toro told Netflix. “I’m incredibly proud. It completely hit me in the dead center, in the emotional core of who I am, and I think it’s a movie that people will be surprised at how warm and how much emotion it has.”
The emotions at the core of the retelling may seem a bit heavy, but Christoph Waltz, the film’s Count Volpe, thinks the darker elements of the story are essential to understanding its original intent.
“Household fairy tales have a sometimes dark aspect, they’re dark stories. That has a purpose for children or even grown-ups to deal with inner conflict,” Waltz shared. “You remove that darkness, you rob everyone of the opportunity to deal with themselves. Del Toro understands that. In all of his films, he actually exposes us as an audience to very uncomfortable insights. And why shouldn’t his Pinocchio be any different?”
The film’s writer and director believes this version of Pinocchio has something for everyone.
“Movies for kids can be strong and promote a dialogue with the parents and promote a beautiful experience of common sharing, they don’t have to be sanitized, they don’t have to be pasteurized, they can exist in a place that helps them understand the world,” del Toro said.
You can watch for yourself and see what lessons you learn from this fairy tale when Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio comes to theaters in November, and streams on Netflix on Dec. 9. In the meantime, see the cast and crew behind the story at the film’s London premiere in the red carpet gallery below.
