The story of a puppeteer who crafts a wooden boy named Pinocchio is a classic tale. We grew up watching it and love the story between Geppetto and his real son. And who can forget Jiminy Cricket being a funny heartbeat in the Disney animated film? However, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is putting his trademark spin on the tale, which is quite evident in the film’s new trailer. It brings together magic, wonder, heartbreak, and a tinge of darkness for something truly unique.
We first hear from that talking cricket himself in this Pinocchio trailer. Jiminy Cricket looks a lot scarier than he did before. But rest assured, he’s simply a good-hearted cricket who wants to tell us a new version of this story. Throughout the clip, we see Pinocchio come to a heartbreaking realization. He’s being treated terribly by the people around him, who dismiss him as a puppet and not real.
We watch him build a father-son relationship until he acknowledges that he’s causing discord. Technically it is the terrible townspeople (we know that lot well) that are stirring up drama because they won’t mind their business. Sadly, the wooden boy with the borrowed soul leaves home, and the Pinocchio trailer takes quite the whimsical turn. He goes beyond a world that we can imagine, learning new things about himself. There are some truly quotable lines and it is an aesthetic delight. It is quite the year for stop-motion animation with this film following on the heels of Henry Selick’s incredible Wendell & Wild. And we cannot wait to see the spin that del Toro puts on Pinocchio’s adventurous life.
The Pinocchio trailer is just enough to hold us over for another month. That’s right, the film will make its grand debut on Netflix on December 9. And it will also head to select theaters for people to enjoy during the holiday season. We can never get enough of this very real—and wonderfully magical—real boy.