Pinocchio

Pinocchio is the 2nd feature-length animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions. The story is based on an Italian children's novel called The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.

## Plot

The film opens with Jiminy Cricket (Cliff Edwards) saying that he is about to tell us a story about a wish that came true. His story begins with Geppetto (Christian Rub), a woodworker, finishing his newest marionette. Geppetto names the marionette Pinocchio (Dickie Jones) and tells his pets, Figaro the cat and Cleo the fish, that it would be nice if Pinocchio was a real boy.

That night, as Jiminy explores the wooden items created by Geppetto, the Blue Fairy (Evelyn Venable) visits and brings Pinocchio to life because Geppetto deserves to have his wish come true. However, Pinocchio is still not a real boy, but the Blue Fairy states that if he proves himself brave, truthful and unselfish, he can become a real boy. To help Pinocchio decide right from wrong, she assigns Jiminy as his conscience.

The next day, Pinoccho plans to have his first day at school. On the way, Honest John the fox (Walter Catlett) and his accomplice Gideon the cat find Pinocchio realise that he will be ideal to perform in Stromboli's (Charles Judels) marionette show. Despite Jiminy's warnings, Pinocchio decides to become an actor and goes to perform for Stromboli. As he is a puppet with no strings, Pinocchio is a very big success for Stromboli, who keeps all the money. However, Stromboli won't let Pinocchio go home as he realises that Pinocchio's father won't be pleased with Pinocchio's situation. Therefore, he locks Pinocchio in a cage and although Jiminy tries to help, he can't escape.

The Blue Fairy comes again to rescue Pinocchio. When she asks why Pinocchio didn't go to school, Jiminy urges Pinocchio to tell the truth, but Pinocchio ignores him. Due to his lies, his nose grows and he is forced to tell the truth. When the Blue Fairy rescues him but says she won't be able to help again, Pinocchio vows to be brave, truthful and unselfish.

However, he is tricked again by Honest John and Gideon. They are acting on a coachman's orders to find foolish boys to go to Pleasure Island. When he gets there, Pleasure Island appears to be the perfect place and he befriends Lampwick (Frankie Darro). With no rules, the boys do whatever they want but Jiminy realises that the island holds a curse: the boys will turn into donkeys. By the time Jiminy comes to rescue Pinocchio, Lampwick is already a donkey. Pinocchio escapes only partially transformed (he has donkey ears and a tail).

Pinocchio and Jiminy go back home to see it deserted. The Blue Fairy sent them a letter saying that Geppetto went looking for Pinocchio and was unfortunately swallowed by a huge whale called Monstro. Without Jiminy's influence, Pinocchio immediately decides to rescue Geppetto.

They travel underwater in search of Geppetto. When they ask the fish where they could find Monstro, they rapidly swim away, scared at even the mention of Monstro's name. Eventually, they find him and Pinocchio gets swallowed by him. Inside Monstro, Pinocchio is reunited with Geppetto, Figaro and Cleo and comes up with a plan to get them all out. He creates a fire from wood on Geppetto's boat and the smoke causes Monstro to sneeze and release them.

Monstro is angry at the fact that Pinocchio lit a fire inside him, so chases them all. Geppetto tells Pinocchio to save himself, but in the end, Pinocchio saves Gepet to. Geppetto, Figaro, Cleo and Jiminy all survive but Pinocchio is lying in a puddle, lifeless.

When they get home, they all mourn around Pinocchio. However, because Pinocchio sacrificed himself for Geppetto, he has proved himself brave, trustworthy and unselfish so the Blue Fairy visits and turns him into a real boy. When Pinocchio wakes up as a real boy, they celebrate and the film ends.

## Characters

### Pinocchio

Pinocchio is a marionette who wants to become a real boy. As he was only bought to life at the start of the film, he doesn't have much experience, which makes him gullible and easy to trick, causing him to fall into traps often. He appears to not know the difference between right and wrong at times, but will always try his best to do what is right. Pinocchio has a very kind heart and cares about his family very much. As stated by the Blue Fairy, he is brave, trustworthy and unselfish, as well as loyal, going to save Geppetto without hesitation despite facing a huge whale along the way.

### Geppetto

Geppetto is an elderly woodworker with a clear passion for woodworking. He is a kind man and has done many good things in the world. Although he has Figaro and Cleo, he is lonely as he wishes for Pinocchio to be a real boy. Like Pinocchio, he is also brave and selfless because he goes out looking for Pinocchio. It is clear that he loves Pinocchio very much, as he is really upset about his death and was prepared to sacrifice himself for him.

### Jiminy Cricket

Jiminy is a cricket who narrates the film. Ever since being assigned as Pinocchio's conscience, he shows wisdom and calmness in stressful situations. His advise and instincts are usually correct. He is shown to care about Pinocchio when he rescues him from Pleasure Island, tries to rescue him from the cage and even wants to go inside Monstro to save him. At the end, Jiminy is very pleased to have received a star, making him an official conscience.

### The Blue Fairy

The Blue Fairy is thought to come from the bright star shown in the film. She is probably very powerful, as she brings Pinocchio to life and rescues him from the cage, and she uses this power for good causes only. It seems that her powers could be limited, as she says that she can't help Pinocchio again. However, the explanation could be that she can't help him again if he does something wrong, as in the end, she brings him back to life. This adds mystery to the character as we don't really know where she came from or what rules she had to follow regarding Pinocchio.

### Figaro

Figaro is Geppetto's cat. He likes to dance with Geppetto and when it is time to go to bed. Because he has been spoilt by Geppetto, he wants all the attention, so he is unsure about Pinocchio at first. However, he quickly warms to Pinocchio.

### Cleo

Cleo is Geppetto's goldfish. She lives in a goldfish bowl and sleeps in a castle inside the bowl. She is happy when Geppetto is happy and upset when Geppetto is upset.

### Stromboli

Stromboli is a puppeteer, and travels around in a van to show his puppet show across the country. His ambition is to get as much money as possible. At first, Stromboli seems ordinary with a bit of a temper, however, when Pinocchio wants to go home, he reveals his cruel nature; he will get as much money as he can no matter what damage it causes to others. He has no remorse for locking Pinocchio in a cage. Stromboli is also very stingy as he gives Pinocchio none of his money and only gives Honest John and Gideon one bag of coins for finding Pinocchio, when he had a large stack of them in his van.

### Honest John

Honest John is a fox who gets money by tricking people to go to certain places. He is presented as sly, persuasive and lazy as he has chosen not to have an education (he can barely read or write). Although he is very cruel and is prepared to kill people for money, the cruelty does have a limit because he questions the boys being turned into donkeys and being used as slaves.

### Gideon

Gideon is Honest John's sidekick. He tricks people for money too, but relies on Honest John because he isn't smart enough to be able to trick people. In fact, he often almost ruins Honest Johns' plans. He is shown as more violent than Honest John as he constantly wants to hit Pinocchio, only to have Honest John stop him. Gideon is mute, but does hiccup occasionally.

### The Coachman

The coachman is a very cruel man. To get the money he wants, he sends boys to Pleasure Island and then transforms them into donkeys to sell to the salt mines. He shows no remorse of his actions, and his crimes go unpunished. He possibly uses dark magic too, to transform the boys into donkeys.

### Lampwick

Lampwick is Pinocchio's friends from Pleasure Island. He doesn't care about his education or future and instead cares about what is happening in the present. At Pleasure Island, he takes advantage of the fact that there are no rules and encurages Pinocchio to do the same: he is a bad influence on Pinocchio. He gets turned into a donkey and his fate is unknown.

### Monstro

Monstro is a gigantic whale that lives in the ocean near Pinocchio's village. All the fish in the sea are scared at the mention of his name. Monstro has a lot of physical strength, which allows him to eat many fish and swallow Geppetto's boat. He is also angered very easily as he chases Pinocchio after he escapes.

## Songs

* When You Wish Upon A Star
* Give A Little Whistle
* Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee
* I've Got No Strings

## Rides in Disney Theme Parks

There is a Pinocchio ride in Disneyland California, Disneyland Paris and Disneyland Tokyo. It is located in fantasyland.

## Trivia

* Pinocchio is set in 19th century Italy
* In Aladdin, the Genie's head is replaced by Pinocchio's for a few seconds
* A Pinocchio puppet makes an appearance in Tangled at The Snuggly Duckling
* There is a theory that the star in Pinocchio (The Blue Fairy) is actually Evangeline from The Princess and the Frog, and that Evangeline created Neverland because of a wish Peter Pan made, which connects to The Lion King too as it shows that some stars really are just fireflies stuck in the sky

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