Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio is a story that seems to endlessly inspire creators. Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion adaptation of the tale just won an Oscar. But today, we have a peek inside Pinocchio as you’ve never seen it before. Beehive Books is releasing an illustrated and annotated edition of Collodi’s Pinocchio with some showstopping talent. Mike Mignola, Dave Stewart, and Lemony Snicket are joining forces for Pinocchio: The Illuminated Edition, launching on Kickstarter today. Nerdist has an exclusive look at two pieces of Mignola’s striking, unique illustrations for the book.
This hardcover edition features a stack of Mignola’s work. The Hellboy creator’s style gorgeously fits the tale of Pinocchio. Mignola and Stewart accentuate all of the story’s wildest and weirdest aspects. Pinocchio: The Illuminated Edition also includes more than 100 full text annotations from Snicket. Snicket shared with Nerdist, “All great literature is strange. To read weird things is to be reminded that a desire for normalcy is merely a desperate coping mechanism for the inherent bewilderment of being alive. The theme that the universe is a parade of cruelty occasionally punctuated by startling bouts of kindness or peace which proceed utterly independently from one’s own behavior is a theme which is either regularly and deeply resonating with me or I have had too much tea.”
Now, let’s take a look at a couple of Mignola’s Pinocchio illustrations. First, the Fairy with Azure Hair:
Mignola told Nerdist, “My favorite character to illustrate was the Fairy with the Azure Hair. Coming up with my own look for her was a challenge but I really like what I ended up with. And, of course, that giant with seaweed hair. I could have drawn him all day long.”
We also have a peek at one of his spot illustrations.
Mignola said, “I didn’t go through a lot of sketches to get the look of the characters for the Beehive Books’ Illuminated Edition, but I did spend months thinking about them before I tried drawing them.”
We look forward to seeing all of these illustrations in the finished book! You can preorder your copy of Pinocchio: The Illuminated Edition by supporting the project on Kickstarter.
