It is loosely based on Carlo Collodi's 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, with the title character's design strongly influenced by illustrator Gris Grimly's work.

Set in Fascist Italy during the interwar period, the film stars the voice of Gregory Mann as Pinocchio and David Bradley as Geppetto, alongside Ewan McGregor, Burn Gorman, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton.

A longtime passion project for del Toro, who considers that no other character ever "had as deep of a personal connection to [him]" as Pinocchio, the film is dedicated to the memories of his parents.

The film received widespread critical acclaim for its direction, writing, voice performances, animation, production design, musical numbers, and faithfulness to the source material.

Geppetto arrives to take him back, resulting in a confrontation that causes them to fight over him and ends with Pinocchio being fatally hit by the Podestà's truck.

[12] When he was a child, del Toro saw and liked Walt Disney's 1940 animated film adaptation in Guadalajara, Mexico, partially because he felt it was like a "horror movie" in its own way due to a few intense moments it included.

[21] At one point, Matthew Robbins considered making a 2D-animated version of the film with French artist Joann Sfar to bring the costs down, but del Toro decided that it had to be stop-motion, even if the higher budget made it harder to get it greenlit.

They then gave the animation models to England's Mackinnon & Saunders stop-motion puppet firm, which is considered by del Toro to be the "best in the world", and they fabricated the designs of Pinocchio, Geppetto, Sebastian J. Cricket, Count Volpe, and Spazzatura the Monkey.

Frankenstein partly inspired del Toro to give his Pinocchio a gothic direction, but the film was still crafted to be family friendly.

He sought to make connections across generations, and convey compassion, a value del Toro feels is essential for children faced with the tremendous complexity of today's world.

[8] In del Toro's Pinocchio, the wood used to construct the puppet is carved from a tree that grows over the grave of Carlo, Geppetto's son.

As in the original book, Sebastian is "killed" a number of times over the duration of the film, but always comes back in order to fulfill his character arc.

In the donkey subplot, the Coachman is replaced by the Podestà, a fascist official who, realizing that Pinocchio cannot be killed, strives to recruit him into Italy's military.

[13] Del Toro chose to move away the original book's apparent agenda, which can be interpreted as a moral tale that seeks to repress the spirits of children, encouraging blind obedience to parents and other authority figures.

Del Toro's sought to explore aspects of father-son relationships, such as Geppetto's initial inability to accept Pinocchio as his own being, more than just Carlo's replacement.

Del Toro explicitly rejects this concept, that Pinocchio must physically change in order to be loved by his father and find happiness.

[13] In assembling the film's voice cast, del Toro and Gustafson selected multiple Academy Award winners and gifted performers with past creative ties with the former.

[30] On January 31, 2020, it was announced Ron Perlman, Tilda Swinton, Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz and David Bradley had joined the cast of the film.

[31] Bradley was chiefly cast due to his previous collaborations with del Toro on the television series The Strain and Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia.

He considered his role as Geppetto to be a "real emotion rollercoaster" of a part, feeling it to resemble more King Lear than the Pinocchio story he had heard as a child.

[26] On August 19, 2020, Gregory Mann, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Finn Wolfhard, John Turturro and Burn Gorman were added to the cast.

[13] Mann's vocal performance provided a "silly and sunny" personality for the titular character who longs to learn about the world and meet everyone, but given how he was created with the wood of the tree next to Carlo's grave, his roots are somewhat sad.

[36] The film's production quality was formed through the ornate detail of the sets and characters with their own textures in order to reinterpret Collodi's work in a way that differed from the Disney animated version.

[51] This coincided with a multi-floor exhibition at the MoMa called "Guillermo Del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio", which ran through April 15, 2023 and showcased various aspects of the film's inspiration and production.

The website's consensus reads: "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio delivers fully on its title – which is to say it's a visually stunning adaptation that embraces its source material's darkness.

[56] The Hindu's Gautam Sunder wrote, "Having more in common with del Toro's own Pan's Labyrinth than any Pinocchio adaptation before this, the modern-day Mexican auteur reimagines the children's tale into something much more sinister, serious and politically inclined.

"[57] The BBC's Caryn James said, "You've probably never seen a Pinocchio who dances for Mussolini, but Guillermo del Toro's dark, stirring, yet life-affirming take on the classic tale of the puppet who becomes a real boy has more in common with Pan's Labyrinth and The Shape of Water... than with the familiar Disney version.

"[58] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 3/5 stars, saying it "certainly has its moments of poignancy and sadness and McGregor's droll tones as the longsuffering cricket provide some grace notes of fun.

"[59] Brian Lowry of CNN was more critical, writing, "beyond answering the streaming giant's wish for another marquee attraction carved from a beloved property, any praise comes with a few strings attached, depriving it of the consistent sense of wonder that would qualify as a dream come true.

"[61] In December 2024, Collider ranked the film at number 5 on its list of the "10 Best Fantasy Movies of the 2020s," with Robert Lee III calling it "a story all its own while still adhering to the same magic and strengths of the original novel, creating what can easily be considered one of the best adaptations of the fairy tale.