More on my Report "Pinocchio:You think you know him?"

I have since been apprised that "The Adventures of Pinocchio", has the greatest number of copies in print, second only to the Bible and the Koran.

I was also suprised to find out about the history of Movies about Pinocchio.

Pinocchio was adopted by one of the pioneers of cinema, Count Giulio Cesare Antamoro, who screened it in 1911 in a hand-coloured silent film lasting no less than 30 minutes .

In 1932 Pinocchio became the protagonist of a film produced in Japan using an experimental technique of animated puppets (the film director was Noburo Ofuji), while in Italy a number of experiments were carried out in the 1930s with full-length films using animated cartoons, partly in colour, all of which were based on the story of the puppet Pinocchio.

The 1940 Walt Disney version also provided an opportunity to experiment with new techniques of animated film. During the same period, a number of versions featuring both animated cartoons and puppets were produced in the Soviet Union, based on Aleksej N. Tolstoj's re-elaboration of Pinocchio, called The Little Golden Key.

Overall, 17 cinematic versions of the story of Pinocchio have been produced, as well as several citations (including the famed "Totò a colori" ("Totò in colour").
Among the most recent film ventures, one may note two that feature character actors : an English production directed by Steve Barron, released in late 1996, and a project still in progress directed by Francis Ford Coppola. (Really?)

Furthermore, a survey of the present scene reveals intense utilization of Pinocchio in the guise of protagonist and "booster" for multimedial products that are being launched into circulation.

These cover the entire range from a simple reproduction of the story of Pinocchio on floppy disk to complex multilingual creations with graphic animation options or hypertext hot spots allowing the reader/viewer to jump from one storyline to another, according to preferences.

Let me also share some Responses from valued friends:
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>From Francesco Castellano, Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts:

Richard, Thanks for sending this, and pointing out that Pinocchio is much more that the bowdlerized Disney version. In Italy children read the original story.

I read the entire story in Italian to my 9 year old daughter when she was about 5-6.
When we went to the park she was afraid to go close to some of the sculptures.:)

We bought the book with the original illustrations in Collodi, the town where the author comes form. There is Pinocchio Park there, but it's not a park with games at all. It's simply represents, with modern sculptures, the salient episodes form the story. There is also a Villa Garzoni, still looks magnificent, although in much need of repair.

By the way, Lorenzini originally ended the story in 1881 with Chapter XVI when Pinocchio dies hanged from the Great Oak. The readers of the magazine where the story " La storia di un burattino" (Story of  a Puppet) as it was called at that point, was serialized complained and wrote many letters of protest.

Lorenzini gave in to their overwhelming demand for a continuation of the story. In 1882 he took up the serialized story again, this time calling it "Le avventure di Pinocchio."He finished the story in January of 1883 and the next month it was published as a single volume.

This the official site for Pinocchio, Collodi and the park. It's in several languages.
http://www.pinocchio.it/home.htm   (Highly Recommended)
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From Bill Dal Cerro, Fra Noi

Richard: Wow! Great story ("the REAL Pinocchio"). I now have one more book to put on my "READ IT SOON" list.

I wonder if this is why Roberto Benigni's live-action "Pinocchio" tanked in the U.S. a few years back. Reportedly, Roberto filmed the "original" story with all of its dark twists and turns. (Alas, perhaps it also failed because Benigni starred in it: A little
bit of him goes a long way!!)

One disagreement with the author: Tom Sawyer's world is MUCH MORE dangerous than Pinocchio's. I just finished teaching "Huck Finn" this past semester, and
even the students were shocked at the casual violence in Twain's tale (Huck is regularly beaten by his drunken dad; other drunken townspeople shoot each in
other cold blood; and so on). And yes, "Huck Finn" pulls no punches...re-read it again!! There's no way anyone can describe the book as "bucolic fun"!)   Thanks,
 

>From Prof. Richard Juliani, Villanova

Richard, I suspect that you will receive many messages pointing out the egregious error by the NY Review of Books writer in regard to "Giovanni" translating as "Joseph". Otherwise, the article is fascinating. Keep up your good efforts.
 

>From Prof. Sante Matteo, University of Miami of Ohio

Richard, in your third paragraph from the end, don't you mean Giuseppe instead of Giovanni (=John)?  Thanks, interesting story.  Sante
 

>From Dominic Tassone, Mobilito:

I saw an old Italian version on RAI a while ago it was quite good.,,must have been from the late 60s or early 70s.  Also, Giovanni is John; Giuseppe is Joseph.
 

From Prof. Ben Lawton, Purdue:

Thanks. One quibble, the old man’s name is not Giovanni (John), but Geppetto, nickname for Giuseppe (Joseph). Ok. I am ----. ;)