Deadline.com has posted some new details with the GDT/Gus Grimly/Jim Henson stop-motion PINOCCHIO project, something we have been aware of since November, 2008.

Here are some new things being reported:

• The storyline is provided by Del Toro and his writing partner, Matthew Robbins. Robbins will also be writing the script.
• Australian rock musician and composer Nick Cave has signed on as the music consultant
• The 3D and Puppets will be handled by MacKinnon and Saunders, who also worked on THE CORPSE BRIDE and THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX.
• Some key frame art was provided to Deadline by Del Toro (embedded in this post)
• Apparently, this is still being shopped to the studios

Also, Del Toro spoke of bringing to life some of the “darker” elements to the original 1882 Collodi story:

“the Blue Fairy is really a dead girl’s spirit,” del Toro said. “Pinocchio has strange moments of lucid dreaming bordering on hallucinations, with black rabbits. The sperm whale that swallows Pinocchio was actually a giant dogfish, which allows for more classical scale and design. The many mishaps Pinocchio goes through include several near-death close calls, a lot more harrowing moments. The key with this is not making any of it feel gratuitous, because the story is integrated with moments of comedy and beauty. He’s one of the great characters, whose purity and innocence allows him to survive in this bleak landscape of robbers and thugs, emerging from the darkness with his soul intact.”

If you want to learn EXACTLY how this project came about, read this great entry in Gus Grimly’s blog.  One key excerpt:

In Guillermo’s defense…don’t worry about him taking on too many projects. He is not directing this film. He has mentioned to me plenty of times that he is wearing the producer hat on this project and will participate as much or little as I need him. When Pinocchio gets greenlit, Mark and I will go to Europe to direct it and Guillermo will work on his own projects (Haunted Mansion, Mountains of Madness…etc). Pinocchio is not waiting for anything and will go into production immediately. We are thinking this could happen this summer.

So there you go, fans. Lots to look forward to. 

I asked Guillermo how his stop motion PINOCCHIO will be different from Tim Burton’s successful stop motion films (THE CORPSE BRIDE, NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS). His reply was that PINOCCHIO will not be as sleek, and will be more “gritty” and closer to Jan Svankmajer’s style.

I have embedded a YouTube clip of a Svankmajer work below to give you an idea:

Be patient with this project – GDT and Gris Grimly are still shopping this idea and haven’t found a home for it yet.

BloodyDisgusting reports that Guillermo Del Toro is trying to get a stop-motion version of Gris Grimly’s PINOCCHIO into production, and also has an idea of his own for a puppet movie.

“We are trying to get a full stop-motion version of Gris Grimly’s Pinocchio off the ground, with the Jim Henson Company,” says GDT. “The idea came from Gris, and everybody loves his book about it. The original story is far more perverse and spooky and semi-necrophilia vibe to it in certain aspects. Gris certainly has that vein in him, he wants to do this with that original spookiness in it, we are trying to get it going. The Jim Henson Company is the behind it and we are currently working on the screenplay!”

GDT adds that this won’t be something we see anytime soon, saying it could take up to three years to finish.

Guillermo also mentions that he got an idea to make an original puppet movie of his own after putting together the opening sequence in HELLBOY II.

“I am not at liberty to speak about it right now, but one of the hundred things we are doing is developing a full-scale puppet film of my own as well,” he says.

To learn more about Gris Grimly, you can visit his website at www.madcreator.com.

Also, click here to buy or learn more about Grimly’s book, PINOCCHIO.