Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

In Italy, woodcarver Geppetto loses his son Carlo to an aerial bombardment by Austro-Hungarian forces during World War I. Twenty years later, he uses the pine wood planted in Carlo's grave to create a puppet in drunken despair. The Wood Sprite appears in the middle of the night and brings it to life, christening him Pinocchio due to the puppet being made of pine, and assigns Sebastian J. Cricket, who formerly lived inside the pine wood, to guide him morally, promising him a wish in exchange. Geppetto wakes up and is frightened by Pinocchio exploring and destroying his home. He becomes fed up with Pinocchio's antics due to his newborn lack of self-control, and he is told by the town that he must send the boy to school to teach him discipline. He gifts Pinocchio a schoolbook that used to belong to Carlo. On his way, Pinocchio is intercepted by showman Count Volpe and his monkey Spazzatura, who bring Pinocchio to their circus to perform. 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. In the afterlife, he meets the Wood Sprite's sister, Death, who explains that he is immortal and revives when an hourglass empties, cautioning that each time he dies, he will spend longer in the afterlife before returning to life. After Pinocchio comes back to life, an army officer hears about him and meets up with Geppetto. The officer tells Geppetto that Pinocchio may be a distraction by others and should be sent to military youth camp by law. Geppetto is conflicted over sending Pinocchio to youth camp or sending him to perform in the circus. Seeing Geppetto upset, Pinocchio decides to earn money for him by performing in the circus, and to avoid being conscripted into the Army by the Podestà, who thinks his immortality makes him the ideal soldier. A jealous Spazzatura, the former star, reveals to Pinocchio that Volpe has been lying to him about sending half their profits to Geppetto. Hearing this, Volpe viciously beats Spazzatura as a result, upsetting Pinocchio, who performs a song ridiculing Benito Mussolini while he is in attendance. Mussolini has Pinocchio executed and the circus burned down. Once revived, Pinocchio is taken by the Podestà to military recruit training, where other boys are trained for war. He befriends the Podestà's mistreated son, Candlewick. At a training game, Pinocchio and Candlewick win in a tie; the Podestà orders Candlewick to shoot Pinocchio, but he refuses and finally stands up to his father. The training camp is then bombed by Allied aircraft, killing the Podestà, while the boys flee. Pinocchio is captured by Volpe, who tries to burn him to death as revenge for ruining his career. Spazzatura saves Pinocchio and attacks Volpe, resulting in all three falling off a seaside cliff, which kills Volpe. Lost at sea, Pinocchio and Spazzatura are swallowed by the Terrible Dogfish. Inside its belly, Pinocchio and Spazzatura find Geppetto and Sebastian, who were also swallowed during their search for Pinocchio. Sebastian realizes they can escape the dogfish by climbing out of its blowhole. Pinocchio lies to make his nose grow into a large branch, forming a bridge leading out of the monster's blowhole. As the dogfish attempts to eat them again, Pinocchio sacrifices himself by detonating a naval mine inside the dogfish, killing them both. Upon meeting Death again, Pinocchio demands to be sent back early to save Geppetto from drowning. Aware that it will make him mortal, Pinocchio breaks the hourglass to return and dies saving his father. The Wood Sprite reappears to a mourning Geppetto and Sebastian, who uses his wish to make her revive Pinocchio. Pinocchio, Geppetto, Sebastian, and Spazzatura return home to live together as a family. After outliving all of them, Pinocchio decides to travel the world and find his own place in life.