• “It’s not made for kids but kids can watch it if their parents talk to them,” he said.
• He explained that his version of Pinocchio is neither as dark.
• Nor as saccharine as the Disney adaptation.

Guillermo del Toro does not want parents to think of his “Pinocchio” remake as a children’s film.

“People ask us if it is for kids [and] we say, ‘It’s not made for kids but kids can watch it if their parents talk to them.’ It’s not a babysitter movie, it’s a movie that will have kids ask questions,” the Oscar-winning director told earlier this week at the film’s New York premiere.

Del Toro, 58, had always wanted to put his own spin on the Italian classic, which has been adapted numerous times since it was first created in 1883 by Carlo Collodi, most notably by Walt Disney in 1940.

The director of “Mimic” explained that his version of the puppet boy — whose nose grows when he lies and who has always wished to be a real boy — is neither as dark as the original nor as saccharine as the Disney adaptation.

“The important thing for me is that it can stand thematically side to side with ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ or ‘The Devil’s Backbone,’ that was the idea,” he explained. “It took us this long to make it, amongst other things, because we wanted it to be thematically relevant.”

Del Toro went on to say that the themes he wanted to explore in the film were obedience, integrity, and being true to oneself, which is why he set it in Mussolini’s fascist Italy.

“Obedience to me is when you are told to follow something whether, on a religious level or social level, that you don’t understand, that is a big mistake. Disobedience with consciousness is always the beginning of thought, of soul and self,” he shared.

“When I was a practicing Catholic, not lapsed as I am now, I used to think about where the human soul lies — it lies in the freedom of choice. The choice is to be human,” Del Toro added.

The exhibition “Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio” is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and it provides an inside look at production art, props, and the various stages of puppet-making that went into the film.

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