Guillermo del Toro's long-awaited Pinocchio reveals first footage with a December premiere

It's been just about 14 years since Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro said he would make his passion project: a stop-motion animated telling of Pinocchio. Now, we finally get a glimpse of what he's been working on all this time.

Netflix released the first footage of Pinocchio, featuring Ewan McGregor as the voice of Sebastian J. Cricket, who lives inside the heart of the titular wooden puppet that magically comes to life. The streamer also revealed that the film is coming to the platform this December.

"I want to tell you a story," McGregor's Cricket says in the teaser trailer. "It's a story you may think you know but you don't, not really. You see, I, Sebastian J. Cricket, was there. In fact, I lived — actually lived — in the heart of the wooden boy."

Character details for the A-list ensemble cast have been largely kept under wraps, but we know newcomer Gregory Mann voices Pinocchio and David Bradley voices wood carver Geppetto.

Cate Blanchett recently revealed that she's voicing the part of Sprezzatura, the monkey. ("I just make monkey noises for two hours," she said.) Other roles will be filled by Finn Wolfhard, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton.

Del Toro, who recently released Nightmare Alley, will co-direct with Fantastic Mr. Fox animation director Mark Gustafson. Composer Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water, The Grand Budapest Hotel) wrote the music.

In a 2012 interview with EW, del Toro compared the classic story of Pinocchio to Frankenstein. "They are both about creatures that are created and then get lost in a world they don't understand," the filmmaker said. "And they are both journeys of understanding, and journeys of evolution of the spirit."

His Pinocchio, as seen in the footage, is visually inspired by the art work of illustrator Gris Grimly, who illustrated a 2002 printing of the story.

By 2018, Netflix had acquired the movie and it was able to continue development through the pandemic while most live-action productions were delayed.

Suffice it to say, it's been a long time coming.

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