Guillermo del Torohas been trying to get his stop-motionPinocchioproject off the ground for some time. Back in 2012, there was news that acclaimed musician and recent meme sensationNick Cavewas beingsought to produce and compose the soundtrackfor the film; he seemed to be on board as long as the script was the same and del Toro was still involved. Then, in 2015,the financing for the film dried up, essentially shelving it. But del Toro, ever the optimist, continues to push forward on the project even while he’s involved in so many others.
In talking to the Oscar-nominated writer about his most recent success, that of the original animated seriesTrollhunterswhich is on track to become the most-watched kids original series ever on Netflix, we learned that he’s quite keen on continuing his efforts in animation. For starters, he aiming to parlay his years of experience as a producer on DreamWorks Animation films into his first animated feature film as a director. And, not forgettingPinocchio, del Toro has also landed a new co-writer on that project:Over the Garden Wallcreator,Patrick McHale.
Here’s what del Toro had to say about continuing his career and working in some more animation alongside his live-action work:
There are a lot of things that are still percolating, but as far as I’m concerned, I am still planning to do my first animated feature as a director. 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 ofPuss in Boots, Kung Fu Panda 3and 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 certainly has horror/magical fantasy films locked down, but I truly think that animation could be del Toro’s signature medium. The relatively limitless potential of animation in cinema fits perfectly well with del Toro’s infinitely expansive imagination; the only restriction he might face is trying to dotoomuch. But in the meantime, his stop-motion animated projectPinocchioadds some Emmy-winning talent:
I’m preparing, also, my first stop-motion animation feature withPinocchio, which I’ve been trying to get off the ground for a while, but I haven’t been able yet. But the last news onPinocchio, 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 fromOver the Garden Wallis going to co-write the new draft of the screenplay with me.
That’s fantastic news for a number of reasons. Firstly, it means thatPinocchiocould still happen in the near future, even though it’s still in the scripting stage. Secondly, McHale’s particular brand of quirky characters, oddball humor, and inclusion of plenty of heart in his stories seems like a perfect fit for this project. And if you happened to missOver the Garden Wall, you probably know McHale from his writing on the Emmy-winning seriesAdventure Time. (And still others might know him as the voice theHectorgonfromGravity Falls.) This should have fans of GDT, McHale,Pinocchio, and animation in generalveryexcited!
Keep an eye out for more from our chat with del Toro on all thingsTrollhunterslater!
