Yonas Kibreab, who lends his voice to the titular character in Disney's latest film Elio, is set to voice the titular character and serve as an executive producer in Pinocchio and the Water of Life. Victor Lakisov is directing the animation film from Ryan Rowe and Mark DeCarlo's screenplay, based on author Carlo Collodi's characters. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it is a "steampunk-inspired" iteration of Collodi's 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, which follows the misadventures of a mischievous wooden puppet on a journey to become a real boy.

According to the official logline, Pinocchio and the Water of Life centres on “Pinocchio and his sidekick Coot as they try to save his puppet friends from the villainous Faustino—who livestreams their destruction in nightly pay-per-view events.”

Speaking about the film, Kibreab stated, "I loved voicing Pinocchio. The animation is incredible—like nothing I’ve ever seen. Victor is a true artist, and being an executive producer on this project has been such an honour."

The voice cast also includes James Hong, Rob Paulsen, Fred Tatasciore, Tom Kenny, Maurice LaMarche, Candi Milo, Yeni Alvarez, and Phil LaMarr. Production on the film has been wrapped, and the makers are planning to release it later this year.