E2English [600 parole]
1The story of Pinocchio has been written now more than a centuryago. The character
2of Pinocchio, both a child and a puppet, has proved to be a companion for many
3decades in spite of all geographical and cultural divisions, migrating from one form of
4expression to another without losing the specificity that makes him recognizable and
5lovable in the eyes of children (and ex children)throughout the world. Thisenduring
6fascination is testified by activities built upin overforty years by the National
7Foundation "Carlo Collodi", founded to promoteknowledge of the work of Carlo
8Lorenzini/Collodi.
9July 7th 1881saw the publication of the opening chapter of The Story of a Puppetby
10Carlo Collodi, which appeared in the "Children's Magazine", one of the first Italian
11weeklies for children. The story broke off abruptly several months later at Chapter
12XVI,leaving Pinocchio dangling from a branch of the Great Oak, possibly hanged
13 anddying. But such was the outcry from the readers that the publication
14continued on 16th February 1882, under the title Pinocchio's Adventures,
15which took the story right up to its definite ending, published in January 1883.
16Immediately after the appearance of the last chapter, Pinocchio's Adventures
17came out in book form. By 1890, the year of Carlo Collodi's death, it had reached
18the fifth edition.
19From that moment on, the increasing popularity of Pinocchio has made it a
20classic. In 1891 it came out in Great Britain, with illustrations by Mazzanti,
21and was given an enthusiastic write-up - by no means an insignificant accomplishment
22in the homeland of children's books. Its first appearance in the USA dates from 1898, 23 but it was not until 1904 that the first United States edition genuinely translated and
24illustrated by Americans was published, thanks to the work of W. S. Cramp and Ch.
25Copeland. Ever since then - long before the huge international success of Walt
26Disney's Pinocchio - the puppet's adventures have been one of America's
27best-loved children's stories.
28Together, the American and British editions would subsequently contribute to
29popularizing Pinocchio even in countries whose cultures differed strikingly from the 30 Italian model, such as Iceland or numerous Asian countries. In 1905 the story was
31published in Germany by O. J. Bierbaum, who reworked the Adventures into a story
32called Zapfelkerns Abenteuer ("Pine Nut's Adventures"). Meanwhile, the first French 33 edition had been published in 1902. Between 1911 and the Second World War,
34Collodi's book was translated into all the European languages and also a number of
35the languages of Asia, Africa and Oceania.
36Pinocchio has been eagerly used by all those who used new means of communication:
37the character was adopted by one of the pioneers of cinema, Count G.C. Antamoro,
38who made in 1911 a hand-coloured silent film lasting no less than30 minutes.
39This film has recently been rediscovered in an almost completeversion.
40In 1932 Pinocchio became the protagonist of a film produced in Japan using an
41experimental technique of animated puppets (the film director was Noburo Ofuji),
42while in Italy a number of experiments were carried out in the 1930s with full-length 43 films using animated cartoons, that were partly in colour. The 1940 Walt Disney
44version also provided an opportunity to experiment with new techniques of
45animated film. …
46In total, 17 cinematic versions of the story of Pinocchio have been produced.