There are clear influences that place it in the mainstream of art. There is nothing shallow about the way it is conceived. If the exhuberant violence comes as a surprise, so too does the depth and resonance of the story. Only half way through the book, it seems that our puppet has been left dangling, and is dead : a not entirely unjust punishment for disobeying his loving, generous and good father at every possible turn.

He falls in with some ruthless bandits who hang him from a tree. Pinocchio is very nearly burned on the fire by a cruel puppet master. After a handful of chapters, Pinocchio's father, Geppetto, has been arrested and carted off to jail, and Pinocchio himself has killed the Talking Cricket by throwing a hammer at him. The action keeps on coming thick and fast. Then and there they gave each other a sound thrashing. On hearing himself called Polendina for the third time, Geppetto lost his head with rage and threw himself upon the carpenter. вЂњGeppetto, do not insult me or I shall call you Polendina.вЂќ Near the beginning two old men almost come to blows. In actual fact, if we do turn to the original text by Carlo Collodi (published between 18), we are in for some surprises - shocks even. It was all very well to watch it when we were four years old, but we probably are not going to pick up the book. But the impression we get from Disney's Pinocchio is of a cute story for little children. People enjoy the movies but still turn to the original texts. Other children's classics, such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, seem to have survived the Hollywood treatment. But has it done any favours to the original Pinocchio, the character in the book? Pinocchio was the master animator's second feature-length film, and is widely seen as a technical triumph and a landmark in the history of cinema. In short, Pinocchio has become synonymous with Disney's creation released in 1940. Like all kids, he is charmingly naughty, but unlike real children, his nose has a tendency to grow whenever he tells a childish fib. He has friend, the avuncular Jiminy Cricket, who plays the part of his conscience, and who sings a schmaltzy song about wishing upon a star. He looks a lot like a cute child, and only a little like a wooden puppet. What image does the name Pinocchio conjure up in our minds? We can't help but think of the little boy-puppet drawn by Disney. Storynory's audio narration of all the chapters of Pinocchio can be found here. The Real Pinocchio and the Disney Pinocchio

Pinocchio story by