Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema

Geppetto loses his son Carlo when an Austro-Hungarian aerial bombardment hits his Italian town during World War I. The tragedy leaves him hollow and consumed by grief, shaping his later decisions.

Two decades pass and Geppetto, still grieving, carves a puppet from the pine planted on Carlo's grave. The act is an attempt to keep Carlo's memory alive through a living reminder.

The Wood Sprite appears at night and breathes life into the wood, christening the puppet Pinocchio because he is made of pine. She assigns Sebastian J. Cricket to guide him morally and promises him a wish.

Geppetto wakes to Pinocchio's mischief and resolves the boy must learn self-control through schooling. He gifts Pinocchio Carlo's old schoolbook as a symbol of that path.

Pinocchio is intercepted by Count Volpe and his monkey Spazzatura and dragged to perform in a circus. The arrangement ignites a conflict with Geppetto who comes to reclaim him.

During the clash to reclaim Pinocchio, the Podestà's truck fatally strikes him. Geppetto and Volpe's crew witness the sudden tragedy that follows their skirmish.

In the afterlife, Pinocchio meets Death, the Wood Sprite's sister, who explains his immortality and that he will revive when the hourglass empties. She cautions that each death will trap him longer in the afterlife.

An army officer learns of Pinocchio's condition and warns Geppetto that he could be used as a distraction and conscripted into a military youth camp. Pinocchio, sensing Geppetto's worry, chooses to earn money by performing in the circus instead of going to camp.

Pinocchio performs a song ridiculing Benito Mussolini in the presence of the crowd. Enraged, Mussolini has Pinocchio executed and the circus burned to the ground.

Revived again, Pinocchio is taken to the Podestà's military recruit training where other boys are prepared for war. He befriends Candlewick, the Podestà's mistreated son, and their bond deepens.

During a training game, Pinocchio and Candlewick win, but the Podestà orders Candlewick to shoot Pinocchio; Candlewick refuses, choosing to stand up to his father instead.

The training camp is bombed by Allied aircraft, killing the Podestà and forcing the boys to scatter into the countryside. Pinocchio survives and remains determined to protect his friends.

Pinocchio is captured by Volpe, who attempts to burn him alive as revenge. Spazzatura intervenes and Volpe is killed when all three fall from a seaside cliff.

Lost at sea, Pinocchio and Spazzatura are swallowed by the Terrible Dogfish. Inside, Geppetto and Sebastian are found, and they escape by climbing out of the blowhole; Pinocchio forms a bridge with his growing nose and detonates a mine to kill the creature.

Pinocchio pleads to return early to save Geppetto, breaks the hourglass, and dies to save his father. Death returns, and Sebastian's wish revives Pinocchio. Geppetto, Sebastian, Spazzatura, and Pinocchio return home to live as a family, and, after outliving them all, Pinocchio travels the world to find his place in life.