After several adaptations that had made the story family-friendly, director Matteo Garrone wanted this movie to go back to the grim atmosphere and satirical tone of Carlo Collodi's original novel, complete with depictions of cruelty and extreme poverty. Garrone said that much of the criticisms of the film's violent content came from adults, while children in the test audience were quite relaxed about that aspect.
Director Matteo Garrone said that the scenes in Toyland were a disaster to film. Dozens of children extras were let loose on the set, but instead of happily playing with each other, most of them were starting fights over who could play with what. Garrone stated that it initially looked more like a battlefield than a playground.
Roberto Benigni plays Geppetto. He wrote, directed and starred as the title character in Pinocho (2002).
Pinocchio's make up took 3 hours to be applied
The Director paid 113K euros of his own money to have this filmed dubbed into English. He used Italian actors because he wanted it the film to stay with its source material. He's proud of the results.