Impact on Italian Culture:
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As an immortalizing and modern-day element of Pinocchio's impact on Italian culture, "Pinocchio Park" in Collodi, Italy includes metal sculptures and topiary that depict scenes and characters from Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio. "Pinocchio Park" is a large outdoor garden dedicated to Carlo Collodi and his story of Pinocchio. Opened in 1956, the park includes bronze sculptures and representations of the characters from the novel. Guests can even enter the shark! According to tourist webmarketer, Christina Romeo, "The park’s magic is due, in my opinion, to the same charm of the tale of Pinocchio, still alive in the hearts, memories and imagination of all children and adult." Several images of the park are provided below.
Once the Wooden Puppet Crossed International Borders:
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The digital age even provides a unique means of insight into Pinocchio's effect on today's culture. Something as simple as a Google image search for "Pinocchio" reveals the extent to which Disney's version of Pinocchio still overshadows Collodi's original, as Google yields search results based on item popularity. In the screenshot below, only one image (second one down on the right-hand side) acknowledges the existence of Collodi's original, with it being one of Enrico Mazzanti's original illustrations for the first publication. Therefore, it seems that ever since 1940, a censored, sugarcoated, and domesticated version of Pinocchio has dominated North American culture and our mental imagery of the wooden puppet.
As discussed above, the 1940 Disney adaptation of Collodi's Pinocchio eclipsed the darker original in North American culture. That Americanization of the Italian puppet, however, did not doom the puppet to short-lived fame. Due to how prevalent Pinocchio is in modern day and how he is still being re-imaged and re-adapted, West (2002) called Pinocchio the "persistent puppet." The wooden icon has assumed many roles across genres, like horror (Pinocchio's Revenge), fantasy (Once Upon a Time), comedy (Shrek), and educational (Veggie Tales). And, when Pinocchio appeared in The Simpsons's "Itchy and Scratchy" show and an episode of Family Guy, the tale was even taken to an inappropriate level. Many of cinematic adaptations - like the ones in 1996 and 2002 as pictured below - perpetuate Disney's sugarcoated, innocent distortion.
However, with the Immediate Medium's drama production of The Assassin's Chase Pinocchio in 2011 and the currently up-in-the-air status of Gris Grimly & Guillermo del Toro collaborative stop-motion animated movie of the tale (Stephens, 2013), there does seem to be a rejuvenated interest in recent years to bring back Collodi's tale and present it as originally intended. Therefore, those two projects are beckons of hope for the overdue overthrow of Disney's cheery Pinocchio. Or at least, worthy complements to the Disney version. Additionally, in line with the boom of science fiction in recent years, some cinematic adaptations of the tale - like Steven Spielberg's A.I., the Japanese manga's Astro Boy, and the Candadian animation, Pinocchio 3000 - have taken a futuristic turn, which almost seems to be a natural development in light of the supernatural, shape-shifting Fairy that bore hints of the science fiction genre already.
However, with the Immediate Medium's drama production of The Assassin's Chase Pinocchio in 2011 and the currently up-in-the-air status of Gris Grimly & Guillermo del Toro collaborative stop-motion animated movie of the tale (Stephens, 2013), there does seem to be a rejuvenated interest in recent years to bring back Collodi's tale and present it as originally intended. Therefore, those two projects are beckons of hope for the overdue overthrow of Disney's cheery Pinocchio. Or at least, worthy complements to the Disney version. Additionally, in line with the boom of science fiction in recent years, some cinematic adaptations of the tale - like Steven Spielberg's A.I., the Japanese manga's Astro Boy, and the Candadian animation, Pinocchio 3000 - have taken a futuristic turn, which almost seems to be a natural development in light of the supernatural, shape-shifting Fairy that bore hints of the science fiction genre already.
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Political Cartoons
From President Barack Obama's policies to North Carolina's racist voting laws and the apocalyptic Mayan calendar, political cartoons have capitalized on Pinocchio's most symbolic facial feature and the truthful stereotype of the lying politician. Contributors to the abundance of political cartoons with Pinocchio allusions include syndicated political cartoonists Nate Beeler (The Columbus Dispatch), Bill Day, Glen McCoy, Adam Zyglis (The Buffalo News) and Michael Ramirez. Luo Jie (China Daily), Olle Johansson, and Osama Hajjaj account for the international political use of Pinocchio. See below for a slideshow of their work. It is important to note that many don't just allude to Pinocchio; they specifically allude to the American, Disney-based version of the puppet. |
Newspaper comic strips, like Rhymes with Orange and Fox Trot, have experimented with Pinocchio, alluding to the tale’s most iconic features: “real” boyhood and long noses.
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Wil is a 12 year-old boy with autism whose artwork is featured in Jil Mullin's Drawing Autism. His grandmother explains the allusion to Pinocchio in Wil's work to the left: "The key in understanding 'Pals' is the brown rimmed off-white donkey ear. Four facial expressions depict the bad boys turning into donkeys in the movie Pinocchio: purple-faced Pinocchio is stunned by his new ear and considering what to do; it’s too late for the horrified yellow face; the green trapezoid is oblivious to his pending fate; the blue head is looking away hoping he’s not included.” Wil's collage speaks to children's awareness of Pinocchio today.
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