Compare_and_Contrast

Tonya Amos LCIE Mondays Kathryn Coker Compare and Contrast Essay A Good Boy Turns Bad Millions of children and adults have been charmed by the story of the naughty puppet Pinocchio that wanted to become a real boy. Pinocchio is carved by Geppetto, then becomes rebellious against his father, disobedient to the good fairy, victimized at the hands of the deceitful cat and fox, changed into a donkey, rescued his father in the whale, and eventually becomes a real boy. Most people do not know that there are two versions of Pinocchio. One is the simplified version that Disney has given us, the version most people are familiar with. The other is the real thing, the original. The character Pinocchio has a different image in the original book by Carlo Collodi. Disney’s Pinocchio is about the mischievous charm of a young boy. Disney has portrayed Pinocchio as childlike throughout the entire book. Even though he gets into mischief, the trouble he causes is not very serious. In the Disney film it is inexperience and bad advice rather than selfishness and disobedience that get Pinocchio into trouble. The original story doesn’t start out as the lovable puppet. Instead he is portrayed as a rebellious puppet in need of some harsh discipline. In Collodi’s original version Pinocchio begins life as a rebellious, inconsiderate, self-centered little boy who disobeys adults and disregards rules, always with dangerous results. Instead of going to school for instance, he sells the schoolbook Geppetto has bought him and buys a ticket to the puppet theater. More examples include when Pinocchio bites off the paw of a cat and spits it out. He also bites off Gepetto's wig causing Gepetto to be arrested. He even kills what appears to be the original Jimminy Cricket early in the story. Another example of Pinocchio’s thoughtless behavior would be when there was nothing to eat in the house but three pears, and Pinocchio thoughtlessly and greedily devours them all leaving Gepetto nothing to eat. Disney’s version shows Pinocchio walking to school with an apple to give to his teacher. In Disney’s version Pinocchio was a sincere boy that was sorry for his actions even though he got into trouble. No examples were given in the Disney version that Pinocchio would act thoughtless against others. In Collodi’s version, Pinocchio becomes a full donkey instead of just gaining donkey ears and a tail which was what happened in Disney’s version. He is transformed back into a wooden boy in Collodi’s version after being tossed in the ocean and the fish eat the donkey fur off his body. In Disney’s version he loses his tail and ears after saving Gepetto from drowning. In the original story, Geppetto and Pinocchio are not swallowed by a whale called “Monstro” but by a shark, which Collodi calls “The Terrible Dogfish.” The pictures of this terrible dogfish are gruesome, not like the simplicity of the whale in Disney’s version. Other characters also take a different personality in the original version. Gepetto is not the kind old man that Disney portrayed. He is described in the original version as hot-tempered and grindingly poor. Pinocchio’s conscience Jiminy is not named Jiminy in the original version. There is a talking cricket, but he is not named. He also doesn't wear a top hat, and he gets squished by Pinocchio when he was trying to give him advice early in the story. Collodi’s original tale includes villains and adversaries left out of the Disney version. The most notable of these may be “The Green Fisherman,” a ogre like creature who coats Pinocchio in flour and attempts to fry and eat him before being saved by one of Pinocchio’s friends, a dog named Alidoro whom Pinocchio had previously saved from drowning. Most Americans think that Pinocchio was an American classic however Pinocchio was first a success in Italy. Pinocchio was first written in Italian. Written by Carlo Lorenzini under the fictious name Carlo Collodi, it dates back to 1883, when it was printed in a newspaper and then published as a book with huge success. There was also an 1892 English version that got published. When describing that Pinocchio was an Italian story one must look at the Northern Italian landscapes and Italian dishes, such as the red mullet with tomato sauce and tripe à la Parmesan that the Fox and the Cat dine on. Disney did not make the Pinocchio movie until 1940. When the Disney version came out it was set in an early American setting, not Italian. The endings of the two versions are different. In Disney’s version, Pinocchio sacrifices himself to save Geppetto and dies, before being brought to life as a “real boy” by the Blue Fairy. In Collodi’s version, Pinocchio and Geppetto escape the shark and go to live with the talking cricket that was resurrected earlier in the story. Pinocchio works as a farmer to support his father but ultimately gives his earnings to his mother the Blue Fairy. She played the bigger role in the original version. At the end of the original version she appears before Pinocchio in a dream and transforms him into a real boy while he is sleeping because of his increased maturity. The Disney version definitely is the simplified child friendly version, but for a slightly more mature audience one would need to read the original version. Regardless of what version of Pinocchio one reads one will find that in the end Pinocchio has matured and received his most desirable wish, to become a real boy.