It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything on Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion animated adaptation of Pinocchio, but during an interview with Collider the fan favourite filmmaker has revealed that he’s still working on the project, and has enlisted Emmy winner Patrick McHale to help pen the script.
“I’m preparing my first stop-motion animation feature with Pinocchio, which I’ve been trying to get off the ground for a while, but I haven’t been able yet,” said del Toro. “But the last news on Pinocchio, which was very, very useful for me, was that I was looking for a co-writer who could be a great partner for me on this, and I’m happy to say that Patrick McHale from Over the Garden Wall is going to co-write the new draft of the screenplay with me.”
Del Toro also revealed that he’d like to further explore the world of animation, alongside his live-action output: “It’s been an apprenticeship with DreamWorks the last seven years with Jeffrey [Katzenberg]. I was as close to him as I could and I was on the production of Puss in Boots, Kung Fu Panda 3 and so forth because I’m preparing to, more and more, direct animation. The normal route is that animation directors want to go live-action, I want to be able to transit both mediums, live-action and animation.”
Del Toro’s new film, the fantasy adventure The Shape of Water, is slated for release later this year, while last week he suggested that he could also be gearing up for another stab at Hellboy 3.
Originally published January 24, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
