<P> The idea for The Shape of Water formed during del Toro's breakfast with Daniel Kraus in 2011, with whom he later co-wrote the novel Trollhunters . It shows similarities to the 2015 short film The Space Between Us . It was also primarily inspired by del Toro's childhood memories of seeing Creature from the Black Lagoon and wanting to see the Gill - man and Kay Lawrence (played by Julie Adams) succeed in their romance . When del Toro was in talks with Universal to direct a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon, he tried pitching a version focused more on the creature's perspective, where the Creature ended up together with the female lead, but the studio executives rejected the concept . </P> <P> Del Toro set the film during the 1960s Cold War era to counteract today's heightened tensions, specifying, "if I say once upon a time in 1962, it becomes a fairy tale for troubled times . People can lower their guard a little bit more and listen to the story and listen to the characters and talk about the issues, rather than the circumstances of the issues ." </P> <P> Filming began on August 15, 2016, in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, and wrapped on November 6, 2016 . </P> <P> In an interview with IndieWire about the film, del Toro said, "This movie is a healing movie for me...For nine movies I rephrased the fears of my childhood, the dreams of my childhood, and this is the first time I speak as an adult, about something that worries me as an adult . I speak about trust, otherness, sex, love, where we're going . These are not concerns that I had when I was nine or seven ." </P>

Where was the movie the shape of water made