Guillermo del Toro/Henson Co. to remake Pinocchio

[lowercasegods]

Del Toro is overrated anyway. Pinocchio goes Horror.... well then...

You're entitled to your opinion, and honestly, until I saw Hellboy I felt the same. Del Toro's work on the Blade movies didn't do much for me. But Hellboy was grand, as was Pan's Labyrinth, and I totally recommend Hellboy II. It's such a cool movie, and visually it's the best film I've experienced in years. I haven't seen such original and well employed animatronic creatures since Labyrinth.

Pinocchio was originally a much darker story than Disney re-imagined in the 40's (though I'd say Disney's was still appropriately dark on its own). In the original serialized stories Pinocchio crushes the cricket underfoot and is at one point hung by the neck. So Gris Grimley and Del Toro would be well suited for this project, I believe.

I could do with some cinematic interpretations of lesser used fairy tales, however. We've had plenty of re-imaginings of The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and Pinocchio (I think Steve Barron and the Hensons did a great job with the character in the 90's movie). I wish filmmakers would explore older, less familiar folk tales for their movies sometimes...

 

[RedPiggy]

Yeah, Grimm's Fairy Tales alone has enough messed-up plots to last forever.

 

[Laszlo]

I wish filmmakers would explore older, less familiar folk tales for their movies sometimes...

I wish that too. Im still waiting for a good HANSEL AND GRETEL movie...

 

[The 11th UrRu]

Well, tastes are different. I havent seen a Del Toro Pic which really amazed me. Pans Labyrinth was disappointing. Its much easier to put scary and bloody images on screen than create wonderfull fantasy worlds like Henson and Froud did. I may have to see Hellboy2 ?

Thing is he wasnt going for a henson fantasy world. frogboys pretty much dead on the money in his reply.

I understand how some might not like the content, despite what seems like a decent story line I wont see the Saw movies for this reason, but Pans Laybrinth is absolutley incredible. From the imagary, to the story, to the soundtrack... Id say its a darn near flawless work.

 

[lowercasegods]

I wish that too. Im still waiting for a good HANSEL AND GRETEL movie...

Man, how cool would that be? If the Hensons wanted to do something really sweet, they'd call up Steve Barron and make a full length feature of Jim Henson's Storyteller with all new material. It's not like there's no new material to work from!

 

[lowercasegods]

Yeah, Grimm's Fairy Tales alone has enough messed-up plots to last forever.

That's the truth! I'd love to see a movie interpretation of The Robber Bridegroom. No singing princesses or talking candlesticks in that one, but plenty of dark and horrific storytelling. Del Toro would do wonders with that material!

 

[Wiseman]

Strange

Didn't henson already do Pinocchio? It has potential as a horror film and I'm all for recycling, but in the end when the DVD comes out the company will be competing against itself as fans choose which of his versions they liked better to either buy or rent.

 

[frogboy4]

Didn't henson already do Pinocchio? It has potential as a horror film and I'm all for recycling, but in the end when the DVD comes out the company will be competing against itself as fans choose which of his versions they liked better to either buy or rent.

You bring up an interesting point. There was much dissatisfaction with that live action, puppetry and CG mixed telling of Pinocchio a full twelve years ago. Henson Co just made the puppets. Francis Ford Coppola originally wanted to create with the Jim Henson Company, but it hit many snags in development that gave us the eventual "Adventures of Pinocchio" panned by audiences and critics alike. I think this is a good idea for Henson Co and stop-motion puppetry is a different approach than the one before. There's not much competition. Nobody's been clamoring to buy the 1996 DVD.

Getting a puppet version of Pinocchio to the screen is something Jim Henson himself tried to do with Disney in the 80s, but they were not interested. I feel this is coming full circle.

 

[Wiseman]

I liked it

I actually liked it. In fact as a true collector I bought the trading cadrds that promoted the movie and I had the entire set until my infant son got to them and made pinocchio confetti out of some of them. BTW I al;ways found the scene where Pinocchio turns into a donkey somewhst scarey even in the Disney version.

 

[frogboy4]

I actually liked it. In fact as a true collector I bought the trading cadrds that promoted the movie and I had the entire set until my infant son got to them and made pinocchio confetti out of some of them. BTW I al;ways found the scene where Pinocchio turns into a donkey somewhst scarey even in the Disney version.

I liked bits of it, yet wanted more from both the Henson Co related version as well as the Disney version. Both are fairly creepy in parts yet fall short in certain areas of either pacing or playing it safe. Both beat Roberto Benigni's version by leaps and bounds. Still, Disney's telling is the one to beat IMHO.

The Adventures of Pinocchio just didn't relate to most audiences (a 15 M box office take is pretty dismal and hardly recoups the budget). Money isn't always an indicator of quality, but the picture didn't garner enough critical acclaim to gain cult status. There are some fine moments in the picture, but I think it's safe to say the version doesn't have a competitive legacy that was the initial cause of concern voiced earlier. I don't think a new version will take away from the past picture's following either. Fans are dedicated regardless of external factors.

I am so glad that this new del Toro/Henson/Grimley version is going dark. Also, this stop motion puppet form is probably the most fitting for the subject matter. And Grimley’s artistic imagery is unique and attractive.