Guillermo Del Toro's Next Animated Film Is An Adaptation Of Kazuo Ishiguro's 'The Buried Giant'

Guillermo del Toro has to be excited by the reception his new stop-motion ‘Pinocchio’ adaptation has received since its debut on Netflix. Not only are film fans loving his new take on the classic fairy tale, but he’s earned numerous award nominations, including the Best Animated Feature nom for this year’s Oscars. And while his next film will be a live-action feature, it appears del Toro is far from done with stop-motion animation. 

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Speaking in an interview with The Telegraph, Guillermo del Toro teased what’s next on his docket in terms of animation. Again, we shouldn’t expect a new stop-motion animated film from the director anytime soon, as the process is really long and he will be doing a live-action film in the meantime. But del Toro does know what his next animated film will be, and he is ready to share some details.

“The next stop-motion film I’m making is an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’sThe Buried Giant,’ which I’m currently co-writing with Dennis Kelly, and we start the design process in two months,” said del Toro. “I’m shooting a live-action feature first. But in the meantime, we’re developing a look-book, and in about two years if everything goes well, we’ll start production.”

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“The Buried Giant” is the 2015 novel from Ishiguro, who is best known for his novel, “Never Let Me Go,” which was also adapted as a feature film. The story follows a couple living in a fantasy world where long-term memories are no more. When they suddenly realize that they must have had a son previously, the couple travels the land to seek out their long-lost child. 

Obviously, that sort of story isn’t a Disney-fied tale that will appeal to young children. And that’s by choice, as del Toro explained that he isn’t interested in using animation to strictly appeal to a younger audience.

“Animation has given us so many indelible images over the years, but in many ways the industry wants to keep it at the children’s table,” he said. “So I want to keep pushing the medium into areas that demonstrate its capacity.”

The unknown live-action film that del Toro is said to be working on next is rumored to be an adaptation of “Frankenstein” starring Oscar Isaac. We have yet to get a real confirmation that this is what he’s working on next, but that’s the general consensus. So, it appears that “The Buried Giant” is still years away. But at least we do know what the filmmaker’s next animated venture will be. 

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” is available now on Netflix.