Del Toro Will Now Co-Direct Stop-Mo PINOCCHIO!
Over a year ago we reported that Guillermo Del Toro would produce a stop animated feature of Pinnochio with the Jim Henson Company. News this morning is that he has now decided to co-direct the project along with Mark Gustafson, animation director of Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Story will be set in Italy between WWI and WWII. "It was when everyone was behaving like a puppet, except for puppets," Del Toro said... Del Toro said Wednesday that he has gradually come around to the idea of co-directing due to the complexity of the project -- which will require a year to shoot. He's currently in post-production on "Pacific Rim" for Warner Bros. and is planning to work on a re-design for "Pinocchio."... "Little by little, I realized that I should direct," he added, noting that the story has had a profound influence on him -- to the point of collecting puppets along with original art from Disney's 1940 "Pinocchio."
Nick Cave is still attached as musical consultant and though no casting decisions have been made yet Del Toro has said that he would consider Tom Waits in the role of Pinnochio's father and Donald Sutherland for the role of the fox.
