The cast of "Pinocchio" has been replenished with new star names

The cast of the film "Pinocchio" directed by Igor Voloshin has been replenished with new star names — Nikolai Drozdov, Anton Shastun and Vanya Dmitrienko will voice three cockroaches in the most anticipated New Year's tale.

Alessandro, Anton and Giovanni cockroaches from Carlo's closet are original animated characters from the script of an old new fairy tale written by Andrey Zolotarev, Aksinya Borisova and Alina Tyazhlova. They will become guides to the story of Pinocchio, whom they have known since the hero was born.

Vanya Dmitrienko became Giovanni's youngest and most fashionable cockroach.

"It was interesting for me to work on the character and with the film itself. Everything is conducive to this. This is a great cool movie with so much humor and love, and at the same time an amazing fairy tale where everyone will find something for themselves. The new "Pinocchio" turned out to be large-scale, bright and magical. I must admit, I feel a great responsibility towards future viewers. My hero Giovanni, which means Ivan in Russian, is a cockroach. And there is a lot of irony and self–irony in this, because in this fairy tale cockroaches are cool, funny and positive characters. I even developed a kind of tenderness for these creatures because of Giovanni. He's so sweet that it's impossible not to love him. I'm afraid my family won't appreciate my affection," Dmitrienko said.

Comedian and presenter Anton Shastun gave his voice and character to his namesake, Anton the cockroach, who accidentally came to Italy, but did not forget his roots.

"I'm voicing an amazing character! He's a real tough guy! His name is Anton! This is an important character, it holds both the plot and the humor. I never thought cockroaches were so cool! Oh, by the way, yes, Anton is a cockroach. It's amazing how carefully the character has been worked out, how everyone feels about the film. Director Igor Voloshin recorded a video specifically to help voice actors, where he showed exactly how the characters should speak, what to do, what they are like. I've already dubbed cartoons before, but this is my first time in films of this level. I liked it very much. I hope this will not be the last time we cooperate," said Shastun.

In addition, Alessandro, the most mature and wise cockroach, will be voiced by Nikolai Drozdov, a scientist and presenter of the TV show "In the World of Animals."

The fairy tale "Pinocchio" will be released on January 1, 2026, exactly 50 years after the premiere of the beloved television movie "The Adventures of Pinocchio".

The new Pinocchio will be turned into a movie by young Russian film star Vitaly Kornienko using motion capture computer technology, Papa Carlo is played by Alexander Yatsenko, Malvina is played by Anastasia Talyzina, Artemon is Mark Eidelstein, Stepan Belozerov is the lyrical Pierrot, Ruzil Minekaev is the merry Harlequin.

The main villain of Karabas is Fyodor Bondarchuk, and his accomplice Duremar is Lev Zulkarnaev.

The director of the new "Pinocchio" is Igor Voloshin ("The Wizard of Oz. The Yellow Brick Road", "Lord of the Wind"), cinematographer Maxim Zhukov, who this year received the NIKA Award from the Russian Academy of Cinematographic Arts for best cinematography for the film "The Master and Margarita".

The film will also feature legendary melodies by People's Artist of Russia Alexei Rybnikov, the creator of the original soundtrack for the 1975 TV movie. In addition, he is also working on the musical design of the new Pinocchio.

The new "Pinocchio" is based on Alexei Tolstoy's fairy tale "The Golden Key, or The Adventures of Pinocchio" and is inspired by the legendary Soviet TV movie.

He is recognized everywhere: the new Pinocchio trailer has been released

It has more graphics than the first one, and more scenes with the main character.

On September 12, the international content forum ended in St. Petersburg, where, among other things, the film "Pinocchio" was presented. Then Mikhail Vrubel, the general producer of the film, noted that Alexey Rybnikov's music, which became the symbol of this picture, remains familiar to every generation of viewers.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.