TIL that the author of Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi, originally intended the story to be a tragedy. The first version of the story concluded with the puppet's execution.
By grandcamera
Every good story has to end with a puppet getting executed, somehow.
Reader discussion: The Adventures of Pinocchio
Public reader discussion about The Adventures of Pinocchio in the WeRead Catalog by Carlo Collodi.
Best English translation of The Adventures of Pinocchio?
By lunar-trail12
Can someone share what they think about this? I’m trying to find the version that feels the closest to the original—like, as accurate as possible, keeps most of the same wording, and still sounds natural in English, not full of weird phrases that don’t really work.
Was reading the Wiki page on The Adventures Of Pinocchio, al the references Lies of P makes to this story are really neat. I also found this page of the story, where the human Pinocchio bears a strong resemblance to design to P with clothes and hair. Found that pretty cool
By Drizzle-Deep61
I’m not totally sure what I’m looking at from this pic, but it doesn’t make me feel great.
The Adventures of Pinocchio / Carlo Collodi / Carol Della / Chapter 01/Read Aloud Books
By Superuser
Well, here we go—welcome to the “read together” channel for reading/writing and chatting about books. Just a reminder to keep things civil. Also, big heads up: RPAN is apparently ending on Nov 15. It looks like you’ll have until Dec 3 to try to pull up your old streams before they’re gone. Not totally sure how that’ll work, but yeah. And of course I’m just a bot, so if there are questions or problems you’d have to reach out to the mods.
Question about Pinocchio
By bottle
Can someone spell out what parts of the Disney Pinocchio stuff are actually covered by copyright—like in both the animated and the live-action versions? Either specific examples or just the general line of what you’re allowed to use and what you’re not. Also, please don’t bring up DreamWorks’ Pinocchio—I’ve already seen Shrek a bunch of times.
Lies of P was never about Pinocchio
By laurelNeedle5
I’m pretty sure the full title of Lies of P is “Lies of Paracelsus”. Yeah, there are definitely Pinocchio vibes, but I’m guessing that’s mostly because the original story is old enough to be public domain now, so it can be used without any licensing stuff. Either way, I think it’s neat they built a game off such a classic. And the “Plus” part just feels like misdirection to keep things confusing in a good way. In the game itself, “Pinocchio” doesn’t get said even once, at least that I’ve seen. It only starts with that line about honoring Carlo Collodi, and that’s it. Also when I checked the bookshelf behind the piano in Hotel Krat, even the thing Gemini says doesn’t really mention Pinocchio—just that it reminds them of some fairy tale… but I can’t remember what name they said. And then at the end, when Giangio’s real identity shows as Paracelsus, it kind of confirms he’d been lying about who he was the whole time. I also feel like the loading screens are basically Paracelsus’s notes from his side, like he’s keeping tabs on the Krat mess like a detective. Overall it feels like you’re just a puppet who’s solving things for him without realizing it, and the ending kind of points at the bigger picture but doesn’t spell it out.
Pinochio is jewish
By teacupbridge
Walt Disney comes off as an outspoken antisemite to me. And then Pinocchio’s nose getting bigger—like, that’s a pretty common stereotype about Jewish people having big noses, so it feels like Disney might’ve been trying to link that to lying. I don’t know, it just seems too coincidental for me to just brush off as nothing.
Theory about Gemini's past
By aquapanda
Not really a spoiler, but I slapped the light spoiler tag on just in case. I feel like I might’ve accidentally figured out Gemini’s “human” side in that part where we get out of the submarine and cross the desert, and all those Pinocchio past memories show up. There’s one memory where someone named Lampwick introduces himself to Carlo. And since Gemini is kind of linked to the lamp on Pinocchio’s belt, does it actually make sense that Gemini could be the puppet version of who Lampwick used to be?
What would Carlo Collodi think of Lies of P?
By Bucket-Bridge69
Not sure he’d even reach parade master.
The original "Adventures of Pinnochio" is WILD
By nebula-horse6
Just finished reading the original “Adventures of Pinnochio” by C. Carlodi (free on Project Gutenberg) and wow—yeah the Disney one is dark, but this one is like, way past that. It’s basically this brand-new, sentient wooden puppet constantly getting thrown into near-death stuff (fried for dinner, roasted for firewood, hanged by some gang, etc.), and somehow the book keeps acting like he totally deserves it and that it’s all his fault. I know fairy tales are supposed to be bleak, but this feels extra rough. Also… Geppetto doesn’t exactly come off as a great guy. Like, right at the start he’s beating up the carpenter who gives him the wood. And then when Pinnochio is “made,” Geppetto doesn’t really handle things gently at all—Pinnochio bolts into the street and the townspeople are basically like, “yeah, he’s probably gonna beat him mercilessly,” and that Geppetto is a tyrant with boys. I’ll give him maybe one small “change of heart,” but overall? It’s a lot. Anyway, Pinnochio goes through a ridiculous list of disasters. I’m not even exaggerating: - almost burned for firewood by the puppet show guy - nearly burned again by assasins - hung and basically dying until the blue fairy saves him - gets punished for refusing medicine (undertaker rabbits, somehow) - caught in a bear trap and used as a watchdog - blue fairy pretends to be dead to guilt him - bullied at school nonstop, like the “good kid” thing doesn’t matter - helps get injured/bad stuff handled and then gets arrested AGAIN because everyone thinks he attacked the bully - a fisherman tries to fry him for dinner - turned into a donkey - Geppetto’s not even subtle about wanting him used like drum skin - jumps into the sea and gets eaten by a shark - then he’s basically tricked by the cat and fox into burying money to “double it,” and the whole time the book reads like we’re supposed to hate him for being dumb And when he finally goes to the police after getting robbed, guess what—he gets thrown in jail because he’s “stupid.” Like… what kind of message is that for kids? Even when the blue fairy kind of tries to steer him, it’s still always framed as Pinnochio being the worst person ever. At one point he goes looking for Geppetto and finds out Geppetto got washed out to sea, and instead of the book being like “wow that’s tragic,” it keeps going on about how terrible Pinnochio is. Then later Pinnochio ends up on an island and is actually one of the best students, but even that is treated like a joke—he’s still bullied and talked about like he’s a nerd, not like the situation is unfair. Finally he gives in to his bullies and gets turned into a donkey again, sold off, and ends up in a whole nightmare situation where he’s “made into a drum.” And then the donkey stuff gets extra creepy with how he’s “still” inside it, and then there’s sharks again, and somehow he ends up back home and becomes a real boy. So yeah. It’s dark, it’s brutal, and it’s weirdly determined to blame the kid for everything even when he’s literally just trying to survive.
Was Pinocchio a real name, before the story / Disney movie? Is there anyone alive actually names Pinocchio?
By moonTender80
I can’t believe how difficult this is to find on Google.
The 'Gift of Life' in the Adventures of Pinocchio - is it an aberration? Are there similar stories? Did I just misread it?
By badgerpages1987
I’ve been throwing together a little essay on “made” beings—mostly modern sci-fi, but I also wanted to try a weird family-tree thing and trace the ideas back. A lot of what I’m looking at ties the creation to a specific moment, where life basically gets handed over: like Zeus/that whole Nephele angle, or Weyland’s David in the newer Alien movies. Even in stuff like Frankenstein, it’s that instant—lightning hits, boom, life. Same with the Golem stuff, or Disney’s version of Pinocchio: the Blue Fairy shows up and brings the puppet to life, and it feels very clear what the “why/how” is. But Collodi’s Pinocchio throws me. In that version, it’s just a piece of wood found, and then it’s immediately screaming—so the life force is obviously there, but I don’t remember it saying the fairy (or anyone) actually causes it in a direct, purposeful way. I might be missing it because I skimmed, but it doesn’t seem spelled out. Geppetto is called Pinocchio’s father, sure, but the Fairy is more like his sister, which makes her feel less directly involved in creating him. Since Pinocchio ends up being a big anchor for a bunch of other stuff I’m looking at (A.I., Astro Boy, etc.), I’m really trying to figure out what’s going on. So… why is Pinocchio alive? How does it happen, and why? And if it’s supposed to be a mystery, are there other works that do the same kind of “discovery of life” moment that Collodi might’ve taken inspiration from?
Opinions on my daughter’s Pinocchio obsession
By desert-volume
After we lost our family dog back in November, my daughter kinda latched onto Pinocchio. Since then we’ve watched a bunch of different versions—like the live-action one with Geppetto (Drew Carey), the theater episode with Paul Reubens, plus tons of animated takes, and even that On Cinema Oscar special tribute. At this point I’ve seen so many I’m honestly thinking about making a YouTube video about the whole thing, just my experience. But it really feels like she’s not just into Pinocchio costumes—she seems more connected to Geppetto. She keeps asking for a real boy of her own, which is what got me thinking. And when I finished this Valentine box for her preschool party, she hugged me and was like, “That’s my son!”
(Theory) Dorothy will give Carlo “Pinocchio” as a nickname
By Bottle66
If Carlo’s in the next game (which he pretty much has to be), I’ve got this theory that Dorothy will start calling him “Pinocchio.” We never really heard that name in the first game, and since Lies of P is based on The Adventures of Pinocchio, it feels like we’ll need a nickname at some point. We already had Geppetto and Gemini (even if the spelling’s different), so maybe Carlo’s the next one. I don’t know, it might sound dumb, but it just popped into my head.
He removed the Pinocchio “Coming Soon” shot at the end of Iceman Episode 2 🤨
By ivory-lynx67
You reached out to Disney’s people to try to get them to sue me and take that stuff off.
TIL that in the original draft of Pinocchio, the puppet died a gruesome death,hanged for his innumerable faults. At the request of his editor, the author altered the ending, making the story more suitable for children
By luckywindow1990
If they hung him by his nose, he probably could’ve kept on lying until he ended up with his feet touching the ground again. The more you know, I guess.
Italian Books?
By draft_ribbon
Hey everyone, first time posting! I’m trying to find some Italian books that won’t be too hard for me. I’m around B1 and I’d like to keep practicing over the summer without signing up for classes. Any kind of book is fine—kids stuff, adult, mysteries, fiction, whatever. Grazie!
The Story so far
By focus_basket
I just stumbled on this game and it really pulled me in, so I’m pretty excited for the release now. I’m a total lore nerd and I love all the little hints and the theories people are coming up with. What theories do you all have?
1939 - The Adventures of Pinocchio by Charles Collodi - What would "Firstly published in this edition in 1939" mean in this case? (can be seen on image no 7) - Is that 1st Edition with this illustrations?
By secret-orchid
Yeah, in this one it kinda looks like Hudson was working as an in-house illustrator for Collins, probably starting in the late ’30s and going at least into the mid ’40s.