Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is finally coming to life as a stop motion animated film, with del Toro writing, producing, and directing a brand new version of the classic children’s tale about a puppet who wants to be a real live boy, based on Gris Grimly‘s designs. Announced this morning, del Toro’s passion project comes to Netflix on December 9, 2022.

A theatrical release date for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio will be announced soon.

As you’d probably expect, del Toro’s Pinocchio will be quite unlike past tellings of the tale – including Carlo Collodi’s original children’s novel and Disney’s animated classic.

Here’s the official synopsis from Netflix: “Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents Carlo Collodi’s classic tale of the wooden marionette who is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto. This whimsical, stop-motion film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.”

Directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, the film features an all-star voice cast with Ewan McGregor as Cricket, David Bradley as Geppetto, and introducing Gregory Mann as Pinocchio. Other cast includes Finn Wolfhard, Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, with Academy Award® winner Christoph Waltz and Academy Award® winner Tilda Swinton.

Pinocchio was written by Guillermo del Toro and Patrick McHale.