Guillermo del Toro’s PINOCCHIO Plays at the ANIMATION IS FILM Festival

If there was ever a gateway film into horror that our parents saw as safe, it was Pinocchio. At its root, it was a morality tale liken to Hostel, except with donkey transformations. I’m stretching it a bit I know, but there’s no doubt that Pinocchio had some of the first horror nuances that we ever saw. It makes it all the more fitting that it’s in Guillermo del Toro’s wheelhouse. His animated version get the big screen treatment at the Animation is Film Festival.

From the official press release:

ANIMATION IS FILM (AIF), whose mission is to champion animation as a cinematic artform on par with live action, announced its Closing Night film: GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO. The closing night will be held at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater and will host the multi-award-winning director, Guillermo del Toro on Saturday, October 29. Also, the festival will screen the World Premiere of the English-language dub of ONE PIECE FILM RED as the Centerpiece of the festival, on Saturday, October 22, ahead of its North American theatrical release on November 4.

The announcement of this year’s Closing and Centerpiece films comes on the heels of last week’s announcement of the Opening Night Selection – Henry Selick’s Wendell & Wild, as well as Competition Section titles, including the North American Premiere of Nora Twomey and Cartoon Saloon’s My Father’s Dragon and Annecy’s Cristal Award-winning Little Nicolas. In addition to these titles, Luck, Turning Redand Aurora’s Sunrise are also in the awards race. The festival is a one-stop shop for films vying for Oscar contention this award season!

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 wood carver 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 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.

“In both spirit and action, Guillermo del Toro exemplifies the Animation Is Film mission — a filmmaker of the highest order embracing animation as a cinematic artform of the highest order. Bringing Pinocchio to life has been the filmmaker’s passion and labor for over 20 years. We are honored and humbled beyond words that he has chosen to unveil it to US audiences at Animation Is Film. Thank you Guillermo!!!!” stated Festival’s founder Eric Beckman.

Check out the trailer for this year’s Animation is Film festival.