54 Fun Facts About Pinocchio

Which song does Disney's Pinocchio sing on stage as the star of a travelling puppet show?

I've Got No Strings is his first and only performance: that night the puppet master locks his money-spinning star in a cage rather than let him go home.

In Collodi's Pinocchio, which nickname mocks Geppetto for a yellow wig the colour of cornmeal porridge?

Polendina means polenta, the cornmeal mush his wig resembles; when the talking log shouts it, a furious Geppetto blames Master Antonio and the two old men come to blows.

In Disney's Pinocchio, what appears at the end of his nose as his lies to the Blue Fairy pile up?

A bird's nest crowns the leafy branch his nose becomes as the lies mount; the Blue Fairy shrinks it back and frees him from the cage, warning that this is the last time she can help.

Along with his blue top hat, what does Disney's Jiminy Cricket characteristically carry?

An umbrella is Jiminy Cricket's constant prop: he opens it to float down like a parachute, and the Blue Fairy swaps his tramp's rags for a top hat, tailcoat and a smarter umbrella.

What job does the Blue Fairy give Jiminy Cricket?

Pinocchio's conscience is the job, and Jiminy at once asks for a badge to prove it; the Blue Fairy says only "we'll see", then awards him a solid gold one in the film's final scene.

What three qualities must Disney's Pinocchio prove to become a real boy?

The Blue Fairy tells Pinocchio to prove himself brave, truthful and unselfish; he does so by braving the whale to rescue Geppetto, dying in the attempt before she revives him.

In Disney's Pinocchio, what are the names of Geppetto's pet cat and goldfish?

Figaro and Cleo were invented by Disney's team, and neither exists in the novel; Figaro went on to become Minnie Mouse's cat.

In Disney's Pinocchio, what is the name of the con-artist fox who leads Pinocchio astray?

Honest John, formally J. Worthington Foulfellow, has a sidekick who was meant to talk: Mel Blanc recorded Gideon's lines, but the studio made the cat mute and kept only a hiccup.

In Disney's Pinocchio, which puppeteer locks Pinocchio in a birdcage after making him the star of his show?

Stromboli cages Pinocchio after his stage debut and promises to chop him into firewood once he grows too old to draw a crowd.

In Disney's Pinocchio, what is the name of the place where naughty boys are turned into donkeys?

Pleasure Island is where the Coachman's boys turn into donkeys; in Collodi's original it is the Land of Toys, where Pinocchio spends five months before sprouting ears.

In Disney's film, which delinquent boy does Pinocchio befriend on the way to the island?

Lampwick is the cocky boy who turns fully into a donkey while shooting pool on the island; Collodi's original calls him Lucignolo, which English editions render as Candlewick or Lamp-Wick.

In Disney's Pinocchio, what is the name of the whale that swallows Geppetto?

Monstro swallows Geppetto, boat and all, while the old man is at sea searching for Pinocchio; a message from the Blue Fairy tells the puppet where his father has gone.

In Disney's Pinocchio, how does Pinocchio get himself and Geppetto out of the whale?

He makes it sneeze by lighting a smoky fire inside its belly, but the furious whale smashes their raft and chases them to a cove, where Pinocchio is found lifeless after saving his father.

Which Disney animated feature followed Pinocchio into cinemas later in 1940?

Fantasia premiered in New York in November 1940, nine months after Pinocchio; its Fantasound stereo needed specially equipped cinemas, so at first it could play in only a few of them.

Pinocchio was the first animated feature to win competitive Oscars: one for its song and which other award?

Best Original Score completed a musical double at the 1941 ceremony; Snow White had brought Walt Disney only an honorary Oscar, so these were the first competitive wins for an animated feature.

Why did Disney's Pinocchio flop at the box office in 1940?

The war closed its overseas markets in Europe and Asia just as Disney released a film that had cost $2.6 million; it earned its money back only through reissues, the first in 1945.

Which singer, known as "Ukulele Ike", voiced Jiminy Cricket?

Cliff Edwards got the nickname from a waiter who could never remember his real name, and it stuck through his years as a 1920s recording star; he went on voicing Jiminy Cricket for Disney long after the film.

What did Walt Disney insist on when casting the voice of Pinocchio, leading him to choose Dickie Jones?

A real child, not an adult: Disney heard grown actors trying to sound like kids and said no, so he hired Dickie Jones, a boy who was already a Hollywood veteran.

Which animator designed Jiminy Cricket after nearly quitting Disney when his Snow White scenes were cut?

Ward Kimball went through 12 or 14 designs, cutting away the insect parts until he had a little man with no ears; audiences accept him as a cricket, he said, because the other characters say he is.

In Collodi's original novel, what does Pinocchio do to the Talking Cricket?

Kills it with a hammer: in Chapter 4 Pinocchio hurls a wooden mallet at the cricket, which returns as a ghost to keep nagging him, a long way from Disney's top-hatted sidekick.

In Collodi's Pinocchio, what does the puppet sell to buy a ticket to the marionette theatre?

His school book, a brand-new ABC primer, goes for the four-penny price of a ticket; Geppetto had sold his only coat on a cold day to buy it.

In Collodi's Pinocchio, where do the Fox and the Cat convince the puppet to bury his gold coins?

The Fox and the Cat send Pinocchio to the Field of Miracles near the town of Catchfools, where buried coins supposedly grow into a money tree; they dig the coins up themselves while he waits.

What colour is the Fairy's hair in Collodi's novel?

Collodi's Fairy has turquoise hair, la Fata dai capelli turchini; Disney made her the Blue Fairy, and in the novel she also appears as a little goat with the same coloured coat.

In Collodi's Pinocchio, what kind of sea creature swallows Geppetto?

A giant dogfish, il Terribile Pescecane, though pescecane is also the everyday Italian word for shark; a dolphin warns Pinocchio it is bigger than a five-storey building, with a mouth a train could drive into.

How was Collodi's Pinocchio first published between 1881 and 1883?

As a serial in a children's newspaper, the Giornale per i bambini: Collodi sent its editor the first chapters as a "bit of foolishness", asking only to be paid well enough to feel like carrying on.

How did Collodi first end Pinocchio's story at Chapter 15, before readers demanded more?

Pinocchio is hanged from a tree, a great oak, by two robbers who turn out to be the Fox and the Cat; readers protested, Collodi was pressed to go on, and the story resumed months later with the Fairy's rescue.

The name Pinocchio is thought to come from a Tuscan word for what?

Pine nut is what pinocchio means in old Tuscan speech, though the origin of the name is not certain; del Toro's film has the Wood Sprite name the puppet for the wood he is carved from.

In Collodi's Pinocchio, what does Master Antonio intend to make from the talking log?

Master Antonio, nicknamed Cherry for his red nose, planned to turn the log into a table leg; when it cries "Don't hit me so hard!" he is terrified and gladly hands it to Geppetto.

In Collodi's Pinocchio, what happens to the puppet's feet when he falls asleep trying to dry them?

Pinocchio falls asleep with his feet on the brazier and they burn off; Geppetto, just released from prison, carves him a new pair and gives up his own breakfast of three pears.

In Collodi's Pinocchio, what animal is the judge who sentences the puppet to prison in Catchfools?

The judge in Catchfools is a gorilla, an old ape with a white beard and gold spectacles without lenses; he jails Pinocchio for being foolish enough to get robbed.

Guillermo del Toro's 2022 stop-motion Pinocchio is set in which period?

Fascist Italy between the wars suited del Toro because, he said, its citizens behaved with puppet-like obedience; his puppet is the one who refuses, mocking Mussolini to his face in a song.

In del Toro's Pinocchio, where did the wood for Geppetto's puppet grow?

On the grave of his dead son Carlo grew the tree Geppetto fells in drunken grief, years after a wartime bomb killed the boy; a cricket had just made its home in the trunk.

Which actor voices Sebastian J. Cricket in del Toro's Pinocchio?

Ewan McGregor voices Sebastian J. Cricket, the narrator: a well-travelled cricket who has just made his home in a tree when Geppetto fells it, so he goes on living inside Pinocchio.

Which actress voices Spazzatura, Count Volpe's monkey, in del Toro's Pinocchio?

Cate Blanchett voices Spazzatura, the monkey who works Count Volpe's marionettes and worships him despite the beatings, until he turns on his master to save Pinocchio.

Tilda Swinton voices two sisters in del Toro's Pinocchio: the Wood Sprite and who?

Death meets Pinocchio in the afterlife each time he is killed and explains that he cannot stay dead, though every return to life will take longer than the last.

Del Toro's Pinocchio won which Academy Award?

Best Animated Feature at the 2023 Oscars followed matching wins at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs; del Toro spent the season insisting that animation is cinema, a medium and not a genre for kids.

Which streaming service released del Toro's Pinocchio in December 2022?

Netflix released del Toro's Pinocchio on 9 December 2022 after a short cinema run; the project had been announced in 2008 and stalled for a decade because no studio would finance it.

Who plays Geppetto in Disney's 2022 live-action remake of Pinocchio?

Tom Hanks plays Geppetto; Disney had approached him years earlier under another director, but no deal was made until he read the new script and contacted the director himself.

Who directed Disney's 2022 live-action remake of Pinocchio?

Robert Zemeckis was confirmed in January 2020 after two earlier directors, Sam Mendes and then Paddington's Paul King, had each been attached to the remake and left.

Who plays the Blue Fairy in Disney's 2022 live-action remake of Pinocchio?

Cynthia Erivo plays the Blue Fairy and takes over the story's most famous song: the wishing ballad Jiminy Cricket sang in 1940 is hers in the remake, and her version fronted the first trailer.

Which actor voices Jiminy Cricket in Disney's 2022 live-action Pinocchio?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt voices Jiminy Cricket, who gets the remake's last word: his closing narration leaves open whether Pinocchio ever became a real boy, where the 1940 film shows the change.

How was the 2022 live-action Pinocchio released?

Streaming on Disney+ Day, 8 September 2022, replaced the cinema release Disney had first planned; the remake went on to win the Razzie for Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel.

In which country does the Pinocchio wishing song close a Donald Duck special watched by millions every Christmas Eve?

Sweden has watched the 1958 Disney special Kalle Anka every Christmas Eve for more than 60 years; it ends with Jiminy Cricket singing the tune in Swedish by candlelight, so Swedes hear it as a Christmas song.

In Collodi's Pinocchio, what does the puppet refuse to do until four black rabbits arrive carrying a small coffin?

Take his medicine: Pinocchio flatly refuses the Fairy's bitter cup, then gulps it down the moment the undertaker rabbits come for him, and they leave grumbling at a wasted trip.

Which composer quoted the Pinocchio wishing song in his score for Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

John Williams quoted the melody near the end of the 1977 film at Steven Spielberg's request; Spielberg said he had hung his whole story on the mood the song created.

Which Italian actor-director played Pinocchio himself in a 2002 film version?

Roberto Benigni directed and starred as Pinocchio in his 2002 film; the US release dubbed him with Breckin Meyer's voice, and Benigni won the Razzie for Worst Actor.

In which animated film franchise is Pinocchio a recurring supporting character voiced by Cody Cameron?

Shrek's Pinocchio, voiced by story artist Cody Cameron, briefly gets his wish in Shrek 2: in the fight over the Fairy Godmother's wand he is turned into a real boy, then moments later back into wood.

In Collodi's Pinocchio, what does the newly human boy find in the pocket of his new suit?

A purse of gold coins, with a note from the Fairy: she is repaying, in gold, the copper pennies he gave up for her when she lay ill instead of buying himself new clothes.

In 1994 Disney's Pinocchio was selected for preservation by which body?

The US National Film Registry took in Pinocchio in 1994, 54 years after it flopped on release; the Library of Congress adds 25 films a year that it judges culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.

Jiminy Cricket returned in 1947 as the host of which Disney package film?

Fun and Fancy Free (1947) opens with Jiminy Cricket singing I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow, a number written and recorded for Pinocchio but cut before release; he then introduces the film's two stories.

Which studio distributed Disney's 1940 Pinocchio in cinemas?

RKO Radio Pictures released Disney's features from Snow White in 1937 until 1954; by then Walt Disney had founded his own distributor, Buena Vista, and no longer needed an outside studio.

In Collodi's novel, what does the Cat pretend to be while the Fox pretends to be lame?

Blind is the Cat's act, kept up beside the limping Fox to coax Pinocchio's gold coins from him; by the end of the book the pretence has come true and the Cat really has gone blind.

In the novel, what does the buyer of donkey Pinocchio plan to make from his skin?

A drum for his village band is the buyer's plan; he ties a stone to the lame donkey and throws him into the sea to drown, but fish eat the donkey flesh away and leave the wooden puppet.

In Collodi's original novel, how does the Fairy fix Pinocchio's nose?

She summons woodpeckers to peck it: a thousand fly in through the window at a clap of her hands, but only after she has let him wail for a while to teach him a lesson.