The director of this movie, Del Toro said that he thinks the story to be a fable, influenced by fairy tales, and that it focuses on and continues themes related to his earlier movie "The Devil's Backbone", a spiritual sequel, though not an actual sequel. The original Spanish title refers to the mythological fauns of Roman mythology, while the English title refers specifically to the faun-like Greek god Pan (intended to help English-speakers differentiate the title from the term fawn). However, Del Toro has stated that the faun in the movie is not Pan.