60 Fun Facts About Pinocchio

Which Italian author wrote The Adventures of Pinocchio?

Collodi was a pen name; Carlo Lorenzini took it from the Tuscan town where his mother was born.

In the novel, what nickname do the neighbourhood children give Geppetto because of his yellow wig?

It refers to polenta, the cornmeal mush his wig resembles, and it annoys him greatly.

What happens to Pinocchio's nose when he lies?

In the book the Fairy summons a flock of woodpeckers to peck it back down to size.

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

He is dressed like a 19th-century gentleman, right down to spats and Mickey Mouse-style gloves.

What job does the Blue Fairy give Jiminy Cricket?

At the end of the film she rewards him with a solid gold badge certifying him as an official conscience.

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

He earns it by diving into the sea to rescue Geppetto from the whale.

What are the names of Geppetto's pet cat and goldfish in the Disney film?

Neither pet exists in the novel; Disney's team invented both, and Figaro went on to become Minnie Mouse's cat.

What is the name of the con-artist fox who leads Pinocchio astray in the Disney film?

His full name is J. Worthington Foulfellow, and his silent partner Gideon the Cat was meant to be voiced by Mel Blanc.

Which puppeteer locks Pinocchio in a birdcage after making him the star of his show?

He plans to use Pinocchio as firewood once he gets too old to perform; his voice actor Charles Judels also voiced the Coachman.

What is the name of the place where naughty boys are turned into donkeys in the Disney film?

In Collodi's original it is the Land of Toys, and the boys spend five months there before sprouting ears.

What is the name of the delinquent boy Pinocchio befriends on the way to the island?

Pinocchio watches him turn fully into a donkey while shooting pool; the book calls him Candlewick, or Lucignolo.

What is the name of the whale that swallows Geppetto?

He is a sperm whale voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft, later the voice of Tony the Tiger; the book's monster is a giant dogfish.

How does Pinocchio get himself and Geppetto out of the whale?

The whale then smashes their raft and chases them to a cove, where Pinocchio seemingly drowns saving his father.

In what year was Disney's animated Pinocchio released?

It premiered at New York's Center Theatre on February 7 and went wide on February 23, three years after Snow White.

Which Oscar-winning song from the film became the Walt Disney Company's signature tune?

Disney Cruise Line ships sound its first seven notes as their horn signal.

How many competitive Academy Awards did Pinocchio win, the first for any animated feature?

Best Original Score and Best Original Song; Snow White had only received an honorary award.

Why was Pinocchio a box-office disappointment on its first release?

It cost $2.6 million, twice as much as Snow White, and only turned a profit after the 1945 reissue.

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

Pinocchio was the first animated film to use celebrity voice actors, and Edwards kept voicing Jiminy into the 1960s.

How old was Dickie Jones, the boy Walt Disney cast to voice Pinocchio?

Disney insisted on a real child rather than an adult, and Jones had just appeared in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Which Looney Tunes voice legend recorded Gideon the Cat, only for the character to be made mute?

All that survived of sixteen days of recording was a single hiccup, heard three times.

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

He described his creation as a little man with an egg head and no ears.

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

The cricket returns as a ghost to keep nagging him, which is a long way from Disney's top-hatted sidekick.

In the novel, what does Pinocchio sell to buy a ticket to the marionette theatre?

Geppetto had sold his only coat to buy that spelling book, which is the point.

In the book, the Fox and the Cat convince Pinocchio to bury his gold coins where?

They dig the coins up while he waits, and a gorilla judge then jails him for four months for the crime of foolishness.

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

Disney turned la Fata dai capelli turchini into the Blue Fairy, and the Fairy also appears in the book as a little goat with the same hair.

What kind of sea creature swallows Geppetto in the original book?

Pescecane literally means dogfish but is the everyday Italian word for shark; it is described as a mile long and five storeys high.

How was the story originally published between 1881 and 1883?

It ran in the Giornale per i bambini as The Story of a Puppet before the 1883 book edition.

How did Collodi originally end the serial at Chapter 15, before readers demanded more?

The Fox and the Cat leave him hanging from the Great Oak; the editor's request brought him back with the Fairy's rescue.

Roughly how many languages has The Adventures of Pinocchio been translated into?

It is often called the most translated Italian book and, after the Bible, the most widely read.

The man who wrote Pinocchio under the pen name Collodi had what real surname?

He was born in Florence in 1826 and took his pen name from his mother's home town of Collodi.

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

An alternative reading builds it from pino (pine) and occhio (eye); del Toro's film has the Wood Sprite name him for his pine wood.

In the novel, what does Master Antonio intend to make from the talking log?

The log cries out "Please be careful!", which frightens Antonio into handing it over.

In the book, what happens to Pinocchio's feet when he falls asleep by the stove?

Geppetto, fresh out of prison, carves him a new pair and feeds him three pears.

In the novel, what animal is the judge who sentences Pinocchio to prison in Catchfools?

He wears glasses missing a lens and jails Pinocchio for being foolish enough to be robbed.

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

Pinocchio ends up performing a song mocking Mussolini to his face and is sent to a military youth camp.

In del Toro's film, Geppetto carves Pinocchio from wood grown where?

Carlo is killed in a World War I bombing raid and is named after Carlo Collodi.

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

David Bradley is Geppetto, Waltz is the villainous Count Volpe and Perlman is the fascist Podestà.

Which Oscar-winning actress voices Spazzatura, Count Volpe's monkey, in del Toro's film?

The character can only speak through the puppets he operates; his name means "trash" in Italian.

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

Death explains that Pinocchio is immortal and returns to life each time an hourglass runs out.

Del Toro's Pinocchio won which Academy Award?

It swept the category at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards too, after Netflix rescued it from development hell.

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

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?

He passed on the project once, then rejoined in 2020 to work with Robert Zemeckis for the fourth time.

Who directed the 2022 live-action Disney remake?

Sam Mendes and Paul King were both considered before Zemeckis signed on in January 2020.

Who plays the Blue Fairy in the 2022 live-action remake?

She also performs the film's version of the famous wishing song.

Which actor voices Jiminy Cricket in the 2022 live-action film?

Keegan-Michael Key voices Honest John and Luke Evans plays the Coachman on screen.

How was the 2022 live-action Pinocchio released?

It went out on Disney+ Day and later won the Razzie for Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel.

Where has the Pinocchio wishing song become a Christmas standard, sung about the Star of Bethlehem?

Disney's 1958 special From All of Us to All of You still airs every Christmas Eve across Scandinavia.

Where did the AFI rank the Pinocchio wishing song on its list of the 100 greatest film songs?

It was the highest of only four Disney animated songs on the list, ahead of Someday My Prince Will Come at 19.

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

Spielberg has said the melody shaped the whole tone of his 1977 film.

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

The English dub gave Pinocchio the voice of Breckin Meyer.

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

He turns up in all four Shrek films and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, nose still growing.

In the novel, what does the Fairy give Pinocchio the morning he wakes up as a real boy?

He had given all his savings to the Snail to help the sick Fairy the night before, and finds his old puppet body slumped on a chair.

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

It also holds a rare 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

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

He later fronted educational shorts on The Mickey Mouse Club and played the Ghost of Christmas Past in Mickey's Christmas Carol.

Which studio distributed Disney's 1940 Pinocchio in cinemas?

RKO also handled the film's first two reissues in 1945 and 1954 before Disney took over its own distribution.

What was the negative cost of Disney's Pinocchio, about twice that of Snow White?

Disney had recouped only $1 million by late 1940; the film only turned a profit after its 1945 re-release.

Who wrote the lyrics to the songs in Disney's Pinocchio, with music by Leigh Harline?

Harline and Paul J. Smith composed the incidental score, with Edward H. Plumb co-writing the Whale Chase.

At which New York venue did Disney's Pinocchio premiere on February 7, 1940?

General release followed on February 23, 1940.

In Collodi's novel, who leads Pinocchio to the Land of Toys, where they both become donkeys?

Disney renamed the character Lampwick and the destination Pleasure Island.

In the original novel, how does the Fairy fix Pinocchio's lie-lengthened nose?

The nose actually grows only a couple of times in the book; it is far more central in the Disney film.