Guillermo del Toro‘s stop-motion animated musical Pinocchio continues production as Cate Blanchett (The House with a Clock in Its Walls), Tim Blake Nelson (“Watchmen”) and Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things”, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Turning) join the cast, reports THR.

Pinocchio, which has been shooting since fall 2019 at ShadowMachine’s Portland, Oregon-based studio, stars Ewan McGregor (Doctor Sleep) as Cricket and David Bradley as Gepetto, the woodcarver who creates the puppet that comes to life.

Newcomer Gregory Mann will star as Pinocchio with John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Christoph Waltz and Burn Gorman also on the call sheet, along with Tilda Swinton, who is revealed to play the Turquoise Fairy.

“Del Toro is taking a multi-shaded look at the Carlo Collodi tale, originally published in the 1880s. This version of the story is set during the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy and is described as a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father’s expectations.”

Notes the site: Production has continued uninterrupted during the pandemic, with the producers coming up with creative ways to take safety precautions on a stop-motion set.

The plan is for the movie to be released not only on Netflix but in theatres, too.

Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) co-directs with del Toro.

Del Toro and Patrick McHale wrote the script. The song lyrics are by del Toro and Katz, with music by Alexandre Desplat, who is also writing the score. Illustrator Gris Grimly created the original design for the Pinocchio character. The film’s puppets are being built by Mackinnon and Saunders (Corpse Bride).

Pinocchio is being produced by del Toro, The Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson, ShadowMachine’s Alex Bulkley and Corey Campodonico, as well as Exile Entertainment’s Gary Ungar. It is co-produced by Blanca Lista of The Jim Henson Company and Grimly.