Ewan McGregor confirms he will be voicing the iconic character Jiminy Cricket in Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming adaptation of Pinocchio.
The actor who is best known for his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels – a role he’s set to reprise in the forthcoming Disney+ series- was most recently seen on Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), as villain Black Mask. In an interview with ACE Universe, McGregor has confirmed that he was in the process of recording lines for del Toro’s Pinocchio, the development of which had been stalled for many years before being picked up by Netflix in 2018, before the COVID-19 lockdown.
Del Toro’s passion project will be stop-motion animation, and McGregor’s casting was revealed earlier this year by David Bradley, who is voicing Gepetto, with speculation being that the 49-year-old Golden Globe winner would be voicing the titular Pinocchio given his star status. But it’s now been confirmed that he will be essaying Jiminy Cricket, another character central to the plot of the Disney classic. What will be interesting to see is if McGregor will end up singing the iconic song “When You Wish Upon A Star” in this adaption.
In his 2018 announcement of the film after it was picked up by Netflix, del Toro described his version of the story as a little darker than the Disney original. He said, “ It is the story of an innocent soul with an uncaring father who gets lost in a world he cannot comprehend. He embarks on an extraordinary journey that leaves him with a deep understanding of his father and the real world “I’ve wanted to make this movie for as long as I can remember to introduce audiences everywhere to my version of this strange puppet-turned-real-boy.”
Although no release date has been confirmed yet, the film with Mark Gustafson co-directing and Patrick McHale co-writing with del Toro is expected to hit Netflix in 2021.
