Pinocchio

Baby Gonzo as Pinocchio

Pinocchio, as interviewed by Kermit as a "Sesame Street News Flash".

Elmo as "Pinocchielmo"

The Sesame Street Storytime Calendar 1982

"The Great Muppet Cartoon Show."

The Adventures of Pinocchio is a classic children's book by Italian author Carlo Collodi. Originally serialized, it was published as a novel in 1883.

The story is about a woodcarver named Geppetto and his marionette, Pinocchio, who magically comes to life. Geppetto becomes a father figure to the little wooden boy, but Pinocchio eventually leaves his home. Over the course of his adventures, he is reunited with Geppetto and eventually turned into a real boy by the Blue Fairy who brought him to life in the first place.

The Adventures of Pinocchio has been adapted many times, but the version that modern audiences are most familar with is Walt Disney's 1940 animated feature film Pinocchio.

Both the story and its title character have been adapted and referenced in several Muppet and Creature Shop productions.

The Muppets

• In The Muppet Show episode 508, a Muppet Pinocchio sings "Puppet Man" with Pops as Geppetto. Pinocchio also appears in the episode's Veterinarian's Hospital sketch.

• Two songs from the Disney film were performed on The Muppet Show:

• "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life for Me)" on episode 301 (reused as the UK Spot on episode 305).
• "When You Wish Upon a Star" on episode 417.

• In The Muppets Go Hollywood, Paul Williams recalls the process of writing music for The Muppet Movie with Kenny Ascher. He cites Jiminy Cricket singing "When You Wish Upon a Star" to open Pinocchio, and hoped to create something similar for Kermit.

• The Summer 1985 issue of Muppet Magazine features a comic entitled "Punkocchio" starring Gonzo as the main character.

• In a Twitter posting on January 26, 2012, as part of the Ask Kermit promotion for the United Kingdom premiere of The Muppets, when asked if his favorite Disney movie was The Princess and the Frog, Kermit replied, "Pinnocchio because I love when Jiminy Cricket sings "When You Wish Upon a Star"."

Sesame Street

• Kermit interviews a Lavender Anything Muppet version of Pinocchio (performed by Frank Oz) in a Sesame Street News Flash sketch.

• Ernie takes the lead role in a version of the story in the 2004 Sesame Street coloring book, Big Bird's Favorite Fairy Tales. Big Bird plays the role of Geppetto.

• An episode of Sesame Street features Andrea Martin as a fairy, whom Telly believes is going to turn him from a puppet into a real boy.

• In the Elmo's World episode "Noses," an Anything Muppet version of Geppetto appears alongside Elmo as Pinocchielmo.

• On an episode of Abby's Flying Fairy School, Blögg gets turned into a wooden puppet and must undergo the "Pinocchio Process" to become normal again. (EKA: Episode 4188)

Muppet Babies

• A photo puppet of Baby Gonzo as Pinocchio (in a costume modeled after the Disney animated version) appears in the Muppet Babies Storybook Calendar 1990. The same photograph appears in the book Muppet Babies' Classic Children's Tales.

• Baby Piggy appears as Pinocchio, Baby Gonzo as the Blue Fairy, and Baby Kermit as Jiminy Cricket in the episode "The Great Muppet Cartoon Show".

Henson

• Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided the effects and CG animation for the title character and his cricket companion for the 1996 film adaptation The Adventures of Pinocchio.

• In 2008, it was announced that the the Jim Henson Company was producing a stop-motion animation adaptation, with Guillermo del Toro executive producing. Project stills were released in 2011.

Connections

• Paul Reubens played Pinocchio in the "Faerie Tale Theatre" episode.
• Will Smith voiced Pinocchio in the 'Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child' episode.
• Mel Blanc provided the vocal effects of Gideon the Cat in the 1940 Disney film and voiced Pinocchio in the 1953 radio adaptation.
• Mickey Rooney played Pinocchio in the 1957 TV adaptation.
• Danny Kaye played Gepetto in the 1976 TV adaptation.