The latest trailer for Pinocchio further teases the eerie vision of celebrated visionary director and Academy Award winner Guillermo del Toro. Due for release on Netflix, del Toro’s retelling of the beloved children’s classic will bring with it the other-worldly atmosphere that the filmmaker is so well-renowned for. And all thanks to the use of stunning stop-motion. You can check out the newly released trailer and poster for Netflix’s Pinocchio below.

From The Shape of Water and Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro comes Pinocchio, a dark and twisted retelling of the famous Carlo Collodi fairy tale about a wooden puppet who comes to life and dreams of becoming a real boy. This version of the story will make some changes, transporting the titular wooden boy to 1930s Fascist Italy, as well as introducing a Pinocchio who, when he comes to life, turns out not to be a nice boy, causing mischief and playing mean tricks.

However, despite the grim, nightmarish eye of Guillermo del Toro, Pinocchio will nonetheless remain a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father's expectations.

Newcomer Gregory Mann will make his debut as the title character, with del Toro bringing together a stellar supporting cast alongside him. Ewan McGregor will star in Pinocchio as Sebastian J. Cricket, with David Bradley as Master Geppetto, Christoph Waltz as Count Volpe, Tilda Swinton as the Fairy with Turquoise Hair, Finn Wolfhard as Candlewick, Ron Perlman as the Podestà, and Cate Blanchett as Sprezzatura the Monkey, as well as Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, and John Turturro.

Guillermo del Toro Has Compared His Pinocchio to Frankenstein’s Monster

If the differences between the treasured 1940 Disney animated out and what Guillermo del Toro has in mind for Pinocchio were not already pretty evident, the director has compared his version of the sentient wooden puppet with a classic movie monster, no less. That of Frankenstein’s monster.

"To me, they're not exactly the same, but they're similar. They are both creatures that are created and thrown into a world that they have to figure out on their own,” del Toro said of the project back in 2020. “They both have a moral, spiritual journey. I thought Pinocchio could be a great opportunity to talk about disobedience. Obedience isn't a virtue, it's a burden. Disobedience is the seed of reason - it's a desirable way to gain your own soul. I thought this could be an interesting background for Pinocchio, if we set it during the rise of Mussolini - an interesting time for a puppet that refuses to obey."

Directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson and based on Gris Grimly's design from the 2002 edition of the original 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, the project marks the animated directorial debut of del Toro and promises to be another wonderfully warped fantasy from the award-winning filmmaker.

Pinocchio has not been given a specific release date but is expected to premiere on Netflix sometime in December 2022.