The story of the puppet Pinocchio has been brought to the screen in several films, the most famous being the Disney animated film (1940), the Italian film by Roberto Benigni (2002), the film by Robert Zemeckis (2022) with actor Tom Hanks and the animated film by Guillermo del Toro (2022).
But do you know the original story of Pinocchio, written by Italian author Carlo Collodi, which appeared in a weekly newspaper for children in 1881 and was published as a novel in 1883?
If you haven’t read the book yet, we suggest you do it: in Italian, in simplified Italian, in your mother tongue, as a comic strip, for children or adults. Find the version of Pinocchio that you like the most.
We’ll tell you 10 interesting things about the original story of Pinocchio that you probably don’t know. Attention: Spoiler!
10 things about Pinocchio you (probably) didn't know yet
1. The sea monster is not a whale
In the original story, the sea monster is not a whale as we know it from the Disney cartoon, but a giant shark that is “taller than a five-story house and in whose mouth fits a train.” The decision to change the monster from a shark into a whale was influenced by Moby Dick, which is very present in the collective imagination. Also, Disney made the monster scene particularly dramatic, which is not the case in the book.
2. Pinocchio kills the cricket
Pinocchio actually had no intention of actually killing the cricket. When the cricket first appears in the kitchen and tries to give him wise advice, Pinocchio gets angry and throws a hammer at it, killing it in the process. However, the cricket returns several times and keeps trying to give Pinocchio advice, which he does not listen to (at least until the end, when he becomes ‘good’).
3. Geppetto is a very poor man
At the beginning of the story, Geppetto goes to a friend, the carpenter Mastro Ciliegia, to ask him for a piece of wood for a puppet. With the puppet he wants to travel the world and earn money, because he is very poor. To get Pinocchio a book for school, he sells his only jacket and stays in his shirt, even though it is winter and snowing! Later, when the puppeteer Stromboli asks Pinocchio what his father does for a living, Pinocchio replies: “The poor man.”
4. Thousand adventures
Pinocchio really has countless adventures: he follows the cat and the fox to the Field of Miracles, where he thinks he can sow a money plant, is almost killed, ends up in prison, is chained to a doghouse and has to work as a guard dog, flies on a pigeon, ends up in Playland where he turns into a donkey, ends up in the belly of the shark to save his father, and much more. Not for nothing is the original title “The Adventures of Pinocchio”!
5. Beatings and killings
Pinocchio does not lack somewhat harder and macabre scenes. As mentioned before, Pinocchio kills the poor cricket with a hammer. At the very beginning, Geppetto and Mastro Ciliegia fight because Geppetto thinks his friend has insulted him, but it was Pinocchio.
On the way to the fairy, Pinocchio meets a snake that dies of laughter (literally). In another scene, Pinocchio bites off the cat’s paw because he and the fox tried to rob Pinocchio. But since the two fail to open Pinocchio’s mouth where he hides the coins, they hang him from an oak tree, where he almost dies.
He almost died other times: he was almost eaten by a green and ugly fisherman, he was almost drowned as a donkey for his skin, and he almost drowned in the sea because of fatigue.
6. Pinocchio should have actually died
The story of Pinocchio appeared in several episodes in a children’s newspaper. Collodi had originally planned the story up to chapter 15, that is, until the death of Pinocchio, who was hanged from an oak tree by the cat and the fox.
However, the children and young people of the time were so astonished by this macabre ending that they wrote en masse to the publishers asking Collodi to change and continue his story. Collodi then satisfied his fans, changed the ending and made Pinocchio a real boy who rescues his father Geppetto and the Blue Fairy.
7. The fairy has many faces
The fairy, who unlike the Disney version has neither wings nor a magic wand, but blue hair, has the ability to transform. At the first meeting, the fairy has the appearance of a blue-haired little girl. She proposes Pinocchio to live with her and become his sister. However, it doesn’t work out because Pinocchio is tricked again by the fox and the cat.
Later Pinocchio meets her as a blue-haired woman. He lives with her for a while and she becomes his mother. The fairy can also transform into animals, for example, she turns into a blue goat.
8. Not only cat and fox
In the course of the story many animals appear: In addition to the very familiar cat and fox and cricket, there is also the snail who is the fairy’s maid, the rabbits who carry Pinocchio’s coffin, the dog who drives a carriage, the police dog Alidoro, known for his speed, the tuna who saves Pinocchio and his father, and many others.
9. The long nose of Pinocchio
The nose that gets longer when he lies is Pinocchio’s most famous feature.
The first time this happens is when he was saved by the fairy. “How do you know I lied?” pinocchio asks her. She replies, “Lies, my boy, can be recognized immediately! Because there are two kinds: there are lies that have short legs and lies that have long noses. Yours is indeed one of those with a long nose.”
But it is also interesting to know that when Geppetto builds the wooden doll, its nose already grows by itself and becomes very long. So Pinocchio always has a pretty long nose!
10. Pinocchio is very naughty
Pinocchio is very naughty and impudent: he runs away from Geppetto, because of him Geppetto even goes to jail, instead of going to school he goes to the theater, he sells the book his father bought for him in exchange for his jacket and more. In the course of the story, however, Pinocchio learns from his mistakes and tries to be a good boy. Pinocchio is indeed a novel of development, the story of how a mischievous wooden puppet becomes a good and hardworking child.
Extra: La Fata Turchina - What color is she?
For those learning Italian, it may be interesting to know that the Blue Fairy is originally called Fata Turchina. But what color is turchino? No, it’s not turquoise.
First about the word: nowadays the word turchino is hardly used; it is used almost exclusively in connection with fata turchina. The terms blu, azzurro, turchese and celeste are used for different shades of blue.
So what color is turchino? Turchino is the old, Italian word for the more current, French-derived word blu. That is, turchino is a dark shade of blue.
However, the similarity of the word to turchese and the appearance of the Disney fairy wearing a light blue dress has led most people today to think turchino and turchese are the same color.
More on the topic here
Read Pinocchio!
If you haven’t read the book yet, we suggest you do it: in Italian, in simplified Italian, in your mother tongue, as a comic strip, for children or adults. Find the version of Pinocchio that you like the most.
Our tips: If you are learning Italian, we recommend the simplified version Pinocchio (A1/A2) from Bello Books. Or if your knowledge of Italian is advanced, you can try reading the story in the original, for example the book “Le avventure di Pinocchio” by Feltrinelli.
Carlo Collodi: Le avventure di Pinocchio A2
11,70 €The world’s most popular and translated Italian masterpiece as a reading for learners by ELI.
Pinocchio. La storia illustrata e a fumetti ispirata al capolavoro di Carlo Collodi
14,50 €Un volume dedicato alle straordinarie avventure del burattino bambino più amato nel mondo.
Carlo Collodi: Le avventure di Pinocchio (A2)
9,80 €Pinocchio is a puppet made of wood, but he can talk and walk like a real child. Unfortunately, he is quite naive, but still has to cope with the odds of life.
