One of the filmmaker's passion projects finally finds a home, with production set to begin this fall.

Guillermo del Toro, who won Oscars for best director and best picture for his creature-feature love story The Shape of Water, has finally settled on his next movie. The filmmaker will write, direct and produce a new adaptation of Pinocchio, setting up his long-in-the works project at Netflix, which made the announcement Monday. Pinocchio will finally put del Toro in the belly of the animation whale, so to speak. The Mexico-born filmmaker has acted as a creative consultant and executive producer over the years on movies such as Megamind, Puss in Boots and Rise of the Guardians and as a producer on Book of Life, but he has never helmed one.

The story will be told as a stop-motion musical and set during the rise of fascism in Italy under Mussolini. “No art form has influenced my life and my work more than animation and no single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio,” del Toro said in a statement. “In our story, Pinocchio is 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.” Production is set to begin this fall, as del Toro has already assembled many key below-the-line talent.