A marionette who became a real boy, Pinocchio stars in a Disney animated film of the same name.

Pinocchio was created by his father, a puppeteer named Geppetto. Geppetto wanted to have a real son, and his wish was partially fulfilled when Pinocchio came to life. The puppet boy was still made of wood, however, and had to earn his status as a human being through various adventures.

Three (not four) syllables: pee-NOHK-kyoh, with the accented 'OH' a bit more open toward 'AW' (thanks Gritchka).

the book is better than the movie

The novel The Adventures of Pinocchio novel by Carlo "Collodi" Lorenzini inspired (term used loosely) a Disney animated movie. Collodi originally wrote the novel as a serial in an Italian children's magazine in the 1880s.

  • Official web site: www.pinocchio.it
  • Various artists' renderings of hero: http://www.pinocchio.fr.st/

Part of Project Nodeberg

Because the novel was first published before 1923, it has entered the public domain. Damian Yerrick, starting with a popular public domain translation by Carol Della Chiesa widely available online, has updated the translation, has made a few stylistic changes to update the translation for the 21st century.

  • Search and replace-type changes
    • "Marionette" changed to "puppet" throughout
    • "Mastro" changed to "Mr." throughout
    • "Carabineer" changed to "cop" throughout
    • one instance of "Gab" changed to "Crab"
    • "the Inn of the Red Lobster" changed to "Red Lobster" except in the first paragraph of chapter 13
    • "Lamp-Wick" changed to "Lampwick" or "Candlewick" throughout (I'll have to check)
    • References to Europe changed to "the continent"
  • More involved changes
    • Many references to "A-B-C" changed to Hooked On Phonics; does this story really _have_ to take place in a Latin-1 zone? Cyrillic is A-B-V, Greek is A-B-G, Hebrew is '-B-G, Tengwar is T-P-C, AngloSaxonRunic is F-U-TH...) Note: they're not paying for this plug -- yet. HOOKED ON PHONICS® is a registered trademark of Gateway Learning Corporation.
    • "man" largely changed to "fellow" (except in idioms, adages, etc.). It all started with a bunch of grapes and the number 21...
    • One "man" in chapter 16 replaced with non-sexist "human"

Copyright © 2000 Damian Yerrick; all rights reserved.

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Table of contents (first season)

  1. How it happened that Mr. Cherry, carpenter, found a piece of wood that wept and laughed like a child
  2. Mr. Cherry gives the piece of wood to his friend Geppetto, who takes it to make himself a puppet that will dance, fence, and turn somersaults
  3. As soon as he gets home, Geppetto fashions the puppet and calls it Pinocchio. The first pranks of the puppet
  4. The story of Pinocchio and the Talking Cricket, in which one sees that bad children do not like to be corrected by those who know more than they do
  5. Pinocchio is hungry and looks for an egg to cook himself an omelet; but, to his surprise, the omelet flies out of the window
  6. Pinocchio falls asleep with his feet on a foot warmer, and awakens the next day with his feet all burned off
  7. Geppetto returns home and gives his own breakfast to the puppet
  8. Geppetto makes Pinocchio a new pair of feet, and sells his coat to buy him an alphabet book
  9. Pinocchio sells his book to pay his way into the puppet theater
  10. The puppets recognize their brother Pinocchio, and greet him with loud cheers; but the Director, Fire Eater, happens along and poor Pinocchio almost loses his life
  11. Fire Eater sneezes and forgives Pinocchio, who saves his friend, Harlequin, from death
  12. Fire Eater gives Pinocchio five gold pieces for his father, Geppetto; but the puppet meets a Fox and a Cat and follows them
  13. Red Lobster (isn't that a seafood restaurant chain?)
  14. Pinocchio, not having listened to the good advice of the Talking Cricket, falls into the hands of the Assassins
  15. The Assassins chase Pinocchio, catch him, and hang him to the branch of a giant oak tree

Collodi originally dropped the series after chapter 15, leaving both Pinocchio and readers hanging. A couple years later, he continued the series.

Table of contents (second season)

  1. The Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair sends for the poor puppet, puts him to bed, and calls three Doctors to tell her if Pinocchio is dead or alive
  2. Pinocchio eats sugar, but refuses to take medicine. When the undertakers come for him, he drinks the medicine and feels better. Afterwards he tells a lie and, in punishment, his nose grows longer and longer
  3. Pinocchio finds the Fox and the Cat again, and goes with them to sow the gold pieces in the Field of Wonders
  4. Pinocchio is robbed of his gold pieces and, in punishment, is sentenced to four months in prison
  5. Freed from prison, Pinocchio sets out to return to the Fairy; but on the way he meets a Serpent and later is caught in a trap
  6. Pinocchio is caught by a Farmer, who uses him as a watchdog for his chicken coop
  7. Pinocchio discovers the thieves and, as a reward for faithfulness, he regains his liberty
  8. Pinocchio weeps upon learning that the Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair is dead. He meets a Pigeon, who carries him to the seashore. He throws himself into the sea to go to the aid of his father
  9. Pinocchio reaches the Island of the Busy Bees and finds the Fairy once more
  10. Pinocchio promises the Fairy to be good and to study, as he is growing tired of being a puppet, and wishes to become a real boy
  11. Pinocchio goes to the seashore with his friends to see the Terrible Shark
  12. The great battle between Pinocchio and his playmates. One is wounded. Pinocchio is arrested
  13. Pinocchio runs the danger of being fried in a pan like a fish
  14. Pinocchio returns to the Fairy's house and she promises him that, on the morrow, he will cease to be a puppet and become a boy. A wonderful party of coffee-and-milk to celebrate the great event
  15. Pinocchio, instead of becoming a boy, runs away to the Land of Toys with his friend, Candlewick
  16. After five months of play, Pinocchio wakes up one fine morning and finds a great surprise awaiting him
  17. Pinocchio's ears become like those of a Donkey. In a little while he changes into a real Donkey and begins to bray
  18. Pinocchio, having become a Donkey, is bought by the owner of a Circus, who wants to teach him to do tricks. The Donkey becomes lame and is sold to a man who wants to use his skin for a drumhead
  19. Pinocchio is thrown into the sea, eaten by fishes, and becomes a puppet once more. As he swims to land, he is swallowed by the Terrible Shark
  20. In the Shark's body Pinocchio finds...
  21. Pinocchio finally ceases to be a puppet and becomes a boy, or so he thinks

Sequels?

Nodes about Pinocchio

Greets

crazy stuff: http://www.eyrie.org/~pi/Stories/pinocchio.txt
anotherone bites the dust:
yerricde says Obsessed? Hardly. I only have seven different versions of the Pinocchio story on videotape, and I only have eight different retellings in book form (including three translations of the real thing) not counting Project Nodeberg.
anotherone says The whole story always freaked me out... why did Geppetto want a kid anyway? The freudian implications of the whole thing are staggering. Carving a little boy doll out of wood... eww
yerricde says Because Geppetto had reproductive dysfunction and lived in a story set before the introduction of sildenafil citrate, he could not father a child in the normal way. His only friends were his puppets.
yerricde says That is, if it wasn't all a dream.
If you were looking for the writeup with the highest reputation, you'll have to go fishing in the toilet.
Disney Animated Features
<< Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Fantasia >>

Release Date: 7 February 1940

The second full-length animated feature film ever. After the wild success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, beyond even Walt Disney's expectations, he knew he could continue to make these works of art. This time, he selected an Italian novel about a little wooden boy.

Pinocchio is often considered the best of Disney's animated films, although that is by no means universal. The visuals were beyond anything ever done in animation to that point, from a panoramic view of an Italian village to the terrifying size and movements of Monstro, the giant whale. The story is timeless and simple, and the music was as good as that in live-action musicals.

The story: An aging wood carver, Geppetto, one day crafts a beautiful marionette in the shape of a young boy. Seeing the boy's face, he is overcome with emotion and wishes on a star that he had a son rather than just a puppet. The Blue Fairy grants the wish, partially, animating the puppet, but leaving him wooden. Under the guidance of the Blue Fairy and his appointed conscience, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio must learn responsibility and caring before becoming a real boy.

The film was the first of many Disney features to win Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score and Best Music, Song (for "When You Wish Upon a Star," which has become Disney's unofficial theme song).

Although a resounding critical success, the film did not do nearly as well at the box office as its predecessor. Although discouraged, Disney fortunately continued making animated features, knowing they would eventually find popular success.

Information for the Disney Animated Features series of nodes comes from the IMDb (www.imdb.com), Frank's Disney Page (http://www.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de/~fp/Disney/), and the dark recesses of my own memory.

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