Pinocchio (character)

Pinocchio is the titular protagonist of Disney's 1940 animated feature film of the same name. He is a wooden puppet created by the kindly woodcarver Geppetto. As per Geppetto's wish to have a son, Pinocchio was brought to life by the Blue Fairy. With Jiminy Cricket as his conscience, Pinocchio must prove himself brave, truthful, and unselfish, in order to fulfill his dream of becoming a real boy.
==Background==
===Development===
In the original Italian book by Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio was purposely portrayed as a bit more misbehaved and obnoxious. The filmmakers stayed true to this once production on their adaptation began, resulting in a character that was wise-cracking and brazen, a drastically different interpretation of the final product. Walt Disney disliked this version of the character, both in terms of his personality and appearance; he was initially designed to resemble an actual puppet with a geometrical shape. Walt felt the character looked too lifeless, despite the accuracy. Animator Milt Kahl was also dissatisfied with the version of Pinocchio and did test animation of his own that featured a design much closer to what's in the final film. According to Kahl, the design came from the mindset that he was animating an actual little boy, rather than a puppet. Walt approved, and after further development, the look of Disney's Pinocchio was finalized.
Additionally, Pinocchio's personality was greatly reworked to portray that of a believable and innocent child. This shift was meant to make the character more likable to audiences, thus enhancing the overall appeal of the film, itself. Around the same time of this shift, Walt felt the story lacked "warmth" and "love"; to remedy this, he took a minor character from the Collodi stories (the "Talking Cricket") and developed him into a comedic, sidekick-character known as Jiminy Cricket, to act as Pinocchio's friend throughout the journey. The relationship between Pinocchio and Jiminy would thus play a major role in the story's events and overall heart.
===Personality===
Once he is given life by the Blue Fairy, Pinocchio acts his age; he is very whimsical, childlike, and impressionable. Because of his youthful ignorance, he can be seen as rather mischievous, pretty gullible, and over-trusting, which often lands himself into trouble, albeit unintentionally. This is seen several times throughout the film, and the trait, unfortunately, makes Pinocchio an easy pawn in the schemes or motivations of various antagonists and deceivers and even was once deceived into not going to school. Even so, as the film progresses, Pinocchio notably learns from experiences and takes them into account; eventually becoming selfless, sensible, brave, and obtaining impressive leadership qualities and even learns to not lie and how to tell the truth later in the film. This is finally put into the forefront once the film nears its climax, as Pinocchio is faced with the task of rescuing his father from the jaws of the deadly whale, Monstro, which he proceeds in carrying out by entirely using his own intelligence and craft. Pinocchio's daring decision to risk his life for his loved ones ultimately grants him his wish of becoming a real boy.
===Physical appearance===
Pinocchio is a slender marionette that is made to look like a cute little boy with a round, chubby face and long nose. He has big, bright blue eyes and a fringe of thick jet-black hair adorned with a yellow hat with a red feather under a blue band wrapped around it. Like most animated characters in the day, he has four-fingered hands with white gloves. He wears bright red cotton fabric short overalls with yellow buttons and gold and light blue details at the sides over a light yellow shirt with a white collar. He also has a black vest with gold lining, big blue bow tie, and brown wooden shoes. When he was almost transformed into a donkey, Pinocchio has long donkey ears with gray fur and a matching gray tail with a black hairy tip that that has ripped through his pants.
As a real boy when he was revived by the Blue Fairy and reversing his donkey transformation due to risking his life to save his loved ones from Monstro and finally grants his wish, Pinocchio appears with fair skin, his nose is a small, rounded shape, and hands become five-fingered and no longer wear white gloves. He retains wearing his outfit while he was still a marionette, but is not seen wearing his black vest and his brown shoes are no longer wooden.
===Powers and abilities===
*Invulnerability (formerly): As a living puppet, Pinocchio is invulnerable to bodily harm to an extent and feels no pain. Early in the film, he lit his finger on fire without flinching, then later fell down some steps and got up unharmed.
*Limited shapeshifting (formerly): Whenever Pinocchio tells a lie, as a puppet his nose grows longer than usual. Only when Pinocchio tells the truth will his nose return to its normal size.
*Aquatic adaptation (formerly): As a puppet, Pinocchio does not require air and can survive and speak underwater. Being made of wood, however, he must use a stone to weigh his body down.
*Strategist: Over the course of the film, Pinocchio develops a degree of strategy and cunning, tying a stone to his tail (which he gets from Pleasure Island) to travel underwater, then starting a fire inside Monstro's belly in order to escape from the whale. He was also the only boy at Pleasure Island who was smart enough to flee before his transformation could be completed, as Jiminy implied this could work, as Pinocchio realizes he's thinking what he's thinking.
==Appearances==
===Pinocchio===
In the film, Pinocchio is first introduced as a lifeless puppet. When it is time for bed, Geppetto catches sight of a wishing star and wishes for Pinocchio to become a real boy. Once Geppetto falls asleep, his home is visited by the Blue Fairy, who brings Pinocchio to life and appoints Jiminy Cricket as his official conscience to tell him right from wrong, for if Pinocchio proves himself brave, truthful, and unselfish, he will be transformed into a real boy. Geppetto discovers his puppet is alive and celebrates along with Figaro the kitten and Cleo the goldfish. As of that night, Pinocchio's journey to boyhood has begun.
The next morning, Pinocchio is on his way to school, but is stopped by a pair of shady con artists: a sly fox named J. Worthington Foulfellow (a.k.a. "Honest John") and his mute sidekick and partner, Gideon, who trick him into working for Stromboli, a puppeteer, explaining to Pinocchio that being rich and famous is the only way to live. Pinocchio listens, believes, and ends up following the wrong path. Jiminy tries to stop him but is unsuccessful, so he chases after him.
Pinocchio immediately becomes the star of Stromboli's marionette show, and Stromboli is paid beyond his wildest dreams for Pinocchio's magnificent performance. After the show, Pinocchio and Stromboli are dining and Stromboli's true nature is revealed as parsimonious, evil, and rotten. He locks Pinocchio in a birdcage and threatens to chop him into firewood if he refuses to cooperate. Pinocchio tries to tell the Blue Fairy the truth, but he does not know how. Eventually, Pinocchio manages to escape and flee with the help of Jiminy and the Blue Fairy.
Pinocchio and Jiminy race home, but Pinocchio is stopped once again by Foulfellow and Gideon. They tell Pinocchio that he is sick, "allergic", and the only cure is a vacation on Pleasure Island as they both lied to him. Pinocchio refuses to go at first, but they insist because "his health comes first". Foulfellow gives Pinocchio his "ticket" (a simple Ace of Spades playing card) to convince him and the two take the wooden boy to the Coachman, with many other boys from different places on his coach, including a boy named Lampwick, who Pinocchio quickly befriends.
Once the place is torn apart, everyone has vanished, except for Lampwick and Pinocchio, who are smoking and drinking while playing pool (the former of which has made him briefly nauseous). Once Jiminy confronts the two, he is so upset he storms out. Soon, Jiminy discovers the plan: Pleasure Island has the terrifying power to transform bad boys into donkeys, which the Coachman sells into slavery, and rushes back to get Pinocchio, who, in the meantime, sees some strange and things happening to Lampwick: He grows donkey ears then a tail then his head becomes a furry donkey head. Lampwick asks if he looks like a jackass, to which Pinocchio replies “You sure do!” and laughs with a bray. Lampwick then tells Pinocchio that he laughed like a donkey, then he too laughs with a bray. 
Lampwick then asks Pinocchio if that bray came out of him and Pinocchio panically nods. Lampwick then feels his face, noticing it feels different, then notices he has long ears and starts panicking. He then rushes to the mirror and sees he partly transformed into a donkey prompting him to run around panicking. He grabs Pinocchio by pulling the straps of his overalls and pleads him for help briefly before his hands turn into hooves, much to Pinocchio's horror. Pinocchio stands quietly but nervously while watching Lampwick finish transforming into a donkey, lose his voice and run around in a great panic, destroying the pool hall and kicking his clothes off. 
Pinocchio then grows donkey ears and a tail himself and starts panicking, wondering what to do. Jiminy then returns to Pinocchio, and he frantically begs him for help. Jiminy then explains to Pinocchio that the boys are all donkeys, sees he's part donkey too, and tells him to come with him quickly before he could get any worse. He runs out of the pool hall with Jiminy and they hurry down a small rock path (which is the only way out of Pleasure Island). They successfully reach the edge of the island and jump into the water to swim back to their homeland before Pinocchio's donkey transformation could go any further and before the Coachman and his minions could catch sight of him.
The two finally reach home, only to discover that the house is empty. As Pinocchio and Jiminy sit and wait for everyone to return, the Blue Fairy comes in the shape of a dove and gives them a letter which tells them Geppetto was swallowed by Monstro the whale while searching for Pinocchio. The pair searches the ocean for Monstro with very little luck. When they ask for help from sea creatures, such as fish, clams, and seahorses, they all swim and hide in fear at the mention of Monstro's name. Meanwhile, after a nap, Monstro awakens and begins a feeding frenzy. Everything in his path is either devoured or destroyed (including Pinocchio). 
Once inside Monstro, Pinocchio reunites with Geppetto, Figaro, and Cleo. Pinocchio soon thinks of a plan to escape Monstro by lighting a bonfire, creating enough smoke to make him sneeze. Once Pinocchio is able to get Monstro to sneeze, the enraged whale chases after him and his father. The whale destroys the raft with his tail, sending Pinocchio and Geppetto into the water. After witnessing his father almost drowning, Pinocchio grabs him and attempts to swim to a nearby sea cave, but it's too late. 
Even before he gets there, Monstro slams into the rocks surrounding the cave, sending Pinocchio and his father gushing through to the shore. While Geppetto, Figaro, Cleo, and Jiminy survive, Jiminy looks for Pinocchio and makes a very heartbreaking discovery: Pinocchio is lying face down in a large puddle, dead on impact. Geppetto, Figaro, Cleo, and Jiminy return home and mourn the loss of Pinocchio. Then, the Blue Fairy revives Pinocchio and transforms him into a real human boy because he has now proved himself brave, truthful, and unselfish, also reverts the effects of Pleasure Island on him, much to the joy of the others. Jiminy is then awarded a certified 18-karat conscience badge as thanks for his duty as Pinocchio's conscience from the Blue Fairy.
===House of Mouse===
Pinocchio, in his puppet form, made numerous cameo appearances in the television series House of Mouse.
His most prominent appearance on the show was in the episode "Jiminy Cricket", in which Pain and Panic convince him to hang out with them and ditch Jiminy. He is sad when he finds out that Jiminy is now Mickey Mouse's conscience instead of his, so he leaves with Pain and Panic. In the end, however, Pinocchio and Jiminy are reunited.
In "Goofy's Menu Magic", Pinocchio and Geppetto can be briefly seen sailing on their raft in a sea of Goofy's stew.
In Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse Pinocchio is seen onscreen telling Mickey what he wants for Christmas: no strings to hold him down.
===Other appearances===
In All Together, a wartime cartoon, Pinocchio (in his puppet form) is seen with other characters from his film during the parade.
Pinocchio, in his puppet form, makes a cameo appearance at the end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, among the group of toons wondering what sort of Toon that Judge Doom really was. Pinocchio suggests that he could not have been a little wooden boy. Peter Westy voiced Pinocchio in the film.
In Aladdin, the Genie briefly transformed his face into Pinocchio when he thinks Aladdin is lying about using his third wish to set him free.
In one episode of the Aladdin TV series, Genie briefly transformed into Geppetto and was seen controlling Pinocchio.
Pinocchio made a cameo appearance at the beginning of the Teacher's Pet film. During the opening sequence, Spot Helperman has a dream where he watches Pinocchio.
Pinocchio makes two interesting cameos in Phineas and Ferb. The first is in the episode "Unfair Science Fair". A human boy bearing a great resemblance to him is shown to be Heinz Doofenshmirtz, who lost his first science fair. His other cameo is in "Wizard of Odd", where he's shown to be among the many people, including Santa Claus, that Good Witch Isabella says to take the yellow brick road. This cameo notably depicts Pinocchio bearing more resemblance to a typical puppet and looks quite different from his usual design in Disney productions.
In Tangled, Pinocchio had a cameo inside the Snuggly Duckling during the song "I've Got a Dream".
Pinocchio makes a cameo appearance alongside Geppetto in the Mickey Mouse episode "Wonders of the Deep". Here, he speaks in a proper Italian accent, as opposed to the American accent heard in most media.
In Once Upon a Studio, Pinocchio peaked out of his cel when Tiana calls out to the characters near her that it was picture time and Pinocchio asked her if the event was tonight, to which she answers is happening now and they watch Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde come out of their cel with Louis nearly landing on top of them while coming out of his. Pinocchio then joins all the characters singing "When You Wish Upon a Star", while being held by his father, with the Blue Fairy, Stromboli, Honest John, and Gideon standing alongside as the group photo is taken successfully for Disney's 100th anniversary.
In Wish, Pinocchio was among the Disney animated characters that appeared during the credits.
==Live-action appearances==
===The Mouse Factory===
Pinocchio made recurring appearances in the live-action wrap-around skits alongside the other costumed characters and celebrity guests.
===Geppetto===
Pinocchio appears in the 2000 TV film Geppetto portrayed by Seth Adkins (in his first project performing the role for Disney). While it is heavily implied that Pinocchio is having the same adventure he had in the 1940 film, he is more of a side-character in this iteration, as it follows his father, as the title would suggest, and his pursuit of Pinocchio, and in doing so learning lessons on what it takes to be an actual parent. It is thus Geppetto's actions that make Pinocchio a human being, as the Blue Fairy reveals that Pinocchio could not be a real boy without a real father to raise him.
==Video games==
===Pinocchio===
In the video game adaptation of the film, Pinocchio lives out (mostly) the same role as the film, traveling through the world filled with temptations and battling various forces.
===Disney's Villains' Revenge===
Pinocchio makes a cameo at the beginning of the game. His image is the first of the Disney heroes to be found on the door to the storybook. However, unlike the other characters, his world is not featured anywhere in the game other than his friend Jiminy Cricket and the Blue Fairy helping the player throughout the game.
===Kingdom Hearts series===
Pinocchio is a recurring character in the popular series.
In the original Kingdom Hearts, Pinocchio's world was destroyed by the Heartless, separating his family. Jiminy ends up in Disney Castle, a world ruled by Mickey and Minnie Mouse, whilst Geppetto's whereabouts remain unknown. As for Pinocchio, he finds himself in Traverse Town, eventually bumping into Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy. Jiminy is able to set him straight after learning the wooden boy has been misbehaving without his conscience by his side. Pinocchio then explains his troubles in trying to find Geppetto, to which Jiminy replies by offering to have Sora and company search whilst Pinocchio stays in Traverse Town where it's safe.
Later on, after the heroes are eaten by a wandering Monstro the Whale while traveling in their Gummi Ship, they find Pinocchio trapped inside as well, along with Geppetto, who's revealed to have been trapped within the monstrous whale the whole time. The reunion is short-lived as Pinocchio soon runs into Riku and is captured by the Parasite Cage Heartless in Monstro's Bowels after wandering off from Riku. Sora and company travel through the creature's body to rescue him, but after the Parasite Cage spits Pinocchio out, Riku takes him hostage in the hopes his heart could revive Kairi, despite pleas by Geppetto to give Pinocchio back. Sora and the others chase Riku to Monstro's Stomach to rescue Pinocchio, eventually succeeding when Riku retreats as the Parasite Cage returns for another fight and is defeated for good, as Pinocchio fled to give Sora and the others a chance to face the Heartless without him being caught in the crossfire. After being freed from the whale, Geppetto and Pinocchio take residence in Traverse Town, along with other characters who have unfortunately lost their worlds, being provided a house by Leon, and supplying Sora with Gummi Ship blueprints over time as he defeats more Heartless. After the primary antagonist of the story is defeated and the worlds are restored, it can be assumed Pinocchio and Geppetto returned to their rightful home. The end credits show Pinocchio having been made a real boy and celebrating as Geppetto laughs with pride.
Pinocchio also appears in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as a figment of Sora's memories and in Kingdom Hearts II during a flashback at the early stages of the game.
A larger role for the puppet comes to fruition in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, where Pinocchio's world, Prankster's Paradise, is revealed for the first time.
===Kinect: Disneyland Adventures===
Pinocchio appears as a meet-and-greet character next to Dumbo the Flying Elephant in Fantasyland and has several quests for the player, one of which includes getting some toffee apples for him and his school friends. At one point in the game, Pinocchio's school books are eaten by Monstro. Pinocchio and the player then use some pepper pots to make Monstro sneeze, thus returning the books. For a school assignment, Pinocchio asks the player to take a few pictures so that he can complete some of his books. Later on, Pinocchio is playing by the lake and accidentally loses Geppetto's lamp. To retrieve the lamp, the player uses the fishing pole given to them by Stinky Pete.
===Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion===
Pinocchio is featured as one of the many iconic Disney characters kidnapped by the evil witch, Mizrabel in her plot to dominate their world. He's imprisoned alongside Genie in the Cave of Wonders until eventually being rescued by Mickey Mouse.
==Disney Parks==
===Disneyland Resort===
Pinocchio appears as an audio-animatronic in the dark ride, Pinocchio's Daring Journey where he plays the same role as he did in the film.
In the Disneyland version of Fantasmic!, Pinocchio has a small bit where he appears dancing alongside female puppets. For a few years, he also appeared on the Mark Twain riverboat, though he was removed in 2008 but returned in 2018. Despite his segment omitted and replaced with Genie in 2017, he still makes a cameo with Jiminy who is on his way to find him.
In the Disneyland version of It's a Small World, he appeared with Jiminy Cricket in the Italy scene since 2009, when the ride was upgraded to add some Disney characters in every scenes, similar to Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland versions.
In the 2015 version of World of Color, Pinocchio makes a cameo appearance during the segment celebrating animated feature films.
===Walt Disney World===
Pinocchio has his own spell card known as "Pinocchio's Sawdust Blast" in the attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.
In the Hollywood Studios version of Fantasmic!, Pinocchio appears in the bubble montage and is later seen riding Steamboat Willie during the finale.
In the Magic Kingdom park, Pinocchio can be seen, daily, during the Festival of Fantasy Parade's final unit. In the same park, Pinocchio's likeness is featured inside the Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant. He also appears in the Once Upon a Time castle show.
===Tokyo Disney Resort===
In the Tokyo DisneySea version of Fantasmic!, Pinocchio appears during the finale with Geppetto and Jiminy Cricket. In the same park, Pinocchio can often be found for meet-and-greets along the World Bazaar area, and others.
In One Man's Dream II: The Magic Lives On, Pinocchio is seen in the opening dance number and later during the show's finale, seem arriving in Hollywood with Jiminy and a cast of Disney characters.
He makes a quick appearance in Once Upon a Time as part of the opening montage, being brought to life by the Blue Fairy.
Pinocchio was well-known for his first appeared in the Tokyo Disneyland version of It's a Small World as a toy that hold by a doll in the Finale room since the park was opened in 1983https://wanderdisney.com/disney-character-easter-eggs/. Later also in It's a Small World, he appeared with Jiminy Cricket in the Italy scene since 2018, when the ride was upgraded to add more than 40 Disney characters in every scenes, similar to Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland versions.
===Disney Cruise Line===
Pinocchio appears in his own segment during the musical, Wishes, aboard the Disney Fantasy cruise ship. Here, he performs an updated version of "I've Got No Strings".
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*In the original novel, Pinocchio is not brought to life by the Blue Fairy: it's his own wood to be already magical and alive, even if by unknown reasons.
*Pinocchio's name means "Pine-Eye" in Italian. This means that he is definitely made of pine wood, and the Blue Fairy also called him "little puppet made of pine" before bringing him to life. In the book, however, his wood type is never revealed and Geppetto named him after a family he once knew.
**"Pino" is also an abbreviation for Giuseppino, the diminutive for Giuseppe (the Italian form of Joseph).
*Strangely, Pinocchio appears as one of the heroes of the storybook in Disney's Villains' Revenge, despite the fact that none of the villains from the film appear in the game; Jiminy and the Blue Fairy, however, have a central role in the game.
*For the revised versions of the You and Your series of shorts, Pinocchio was portrayed by a real-life boy, Elijah Wood; he appeared only in the live action segments of the new versions which were filmed in the 1990s.
*Pinocchio dying and then being brought back to life is the first instance of the Disney Death, a cliché/trope of Disney films where it appears a major protagonist appears to be killed, but is then revived or revealed to have never been dead.
*Ted Sears, Jackie Cooper, Tommy Bond, Scotty Beckett, Terry Kilburn, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Jerry Tucker, Tommy Bupp, and Freddie Bartholomew were all considered to voice Pinocchio.
*To promote the TV movie Geppetto, Seth Adkins appeared in character on The Drew Carey Show in the episode entitled "What's Wrong with This Episode III".
*The people at Pickwick Publications created a two-part musical story called "The Story of Pinocchio. In this two-part story, Pinocchio sells his coat and is left out in the freezing cold. The Blue Fairy takes him in and calls Dr. Crow and Dr. Owl for him (The puppet is quite sick, I think/He's hovering right on the Brink./But if he's not sick as hell,/l tell you that he's very well!" says Dr. Crow). Chirpy Cricket then speaks last ("Please don't listen to those two,/Chirpy Cricket knows what to do./It's just that he's not very smart,/ And his papa's home with a broken heart!"). In Part Two, while looking for his father, Pinocchio goes to The Land of Boobies, where he turns into a donkey. A dip in the sea returns him to normal, and he's swallowed by a whale, in the belly of which he finds his father ("I'm here, my father, gonna rescue you,/Back to our home l'm taking you./We'll build a raft and sail/Right outta this great big whale!") They do manage to escape, and the next day Pinocchio wakes to discover he's now a real live boy. As the ending of the story would suggest, it's an unofficial adaptation of the film; the person who played Pinocchio is unknown.
==References==
==Variants==
*Pinocchio (Geppetto)
*August Booth
*Pinocchio (Pinocchio 2022)
==External links==
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ar:بينوكيو (شخصية)
da:Pinocchio (karakter)
es:Pinocho (personaje)
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it:Pinocchio (personaggio)
pl:Pinokio (postać)
pt-br:Pinóquio (personagem)
ru:Пиноккио (персонаж)
zh:匹诺曹
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