Pinocchio first official teaser: Ewan McGregor voices Jiminy Cricket for Guillermo del Toro's musical adaptation slated for a December release

The first official teaser for the Netflix musical Pinocchio, directed by Guillermo del Toro, was released on Monday. 

While the visionary director, 57, and star-studded cast have kept details of the project largely under wraps, the streaming site finally gave a release date for the film, which will hit theaters this December. 

In the brief preview, Ewan McGregor voices Jiminy Cricket, the lovable insect that typically serves as the title character's conscience.  

'I want to tell you a story,' the Scottish actor, 50, narrated as his character lit a match and opened a notebook to a drawing of a pinecone.  

As he placed a coffee cup by his side and wrote with a quill pen, he continued: 'It's a story you make think you know, but you don't.' 

'Not really. You see, I, Sebastian J. Cricket, was there,' the cricket explains. 'As a matter of fact, I lived, actually lived, in the heart of the wooden boy.' 

Del Toro first announced that he would be adapting the tale into a stop-motion animated film in 2008, but encountered difficulties in getting the project off the ground over the next decade.

Although many studios turned the filmmaker down, Netflix ultimately picked up the movie in 2018.

Del Toro's version of Pinocchio will offer a darker interpretation of the story and will take place in pre-World War II Italy.

Confirmed cast members include McGregor, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton and the director's longtime collaborator Ron Perlman.

In June, 2020, McGregor confirmed that he joined Netflix's Pinocchio film, which will face off against a remake starring Tom Hanks and directed by Robert Zemeckis.

The performer talked about playing Jiminy Cricket in the iconic adaptation of the 1940 film when speaking with ACE Universe in a Zoom interview. 

Ewan shared: 'I'm playing Jiminy Cricket in Guillermo del Toro's version of Pinocchio. That I had started working on before I left for New York, so some of that is recorded.'

He continued: 'Of course it's stop-motion animated so it's going to take them a great long time to make that film. 

'But my first part, which is recording his dialogue, is sort of done. There may or may not be a song that has to be recorded. I'm not sure I'm at liberty to discuss that.'

According to Netflix, the idea for the film was first conceived in 2010 and will be based on the grim story found in a 2002 book illustrated by Gris Grimly.