Guillermo Del Toro has retained a fascination with the fantasy genre dating back to his early childhood in Mexico City. Del Toro addressed his youth in an interview with USA Today: “I have been collecting fairy tales since I was a kid," he adds, "I have a couple of hundred volumes” (p. 04d). The environment that Del Toro grew up in, coupled with his innate fascination with fantasy and horror films during his teen years made the writing and directing of Pan’s Labyrinth come naturally to him. Del Toro draws upon his childhood experiences with fantasy and mirrors it perfectly with Spain’s real struggle to establish freedom from the fascist regime that dominated the 1944 post-civil war. Growing up in Mexico, Del Toro was a first hand witness to the lightness as well as the darkness of humanity. His knowledge of the factual history of Spain’s civil war, and his experiences growing up in an unstable Mexican capital make his interpretation of the political unrest in Pan’s Labyrinth seem very tangible.

Wloszczyna, Susan. "Suprises Lurk Inside 'Pan's Labyrinth'." USA Today 3 Jan. 2007. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. Oklahoma State University Library.12 Mar. 2008.