10 Animated Disney Films That Made Big Changes To The Source Material

7. Pinocchio

Based Upon: 'The Adventures of Pinocchio' by Carlo Collodi Pinocchio is unique in this list, it is only the beginning of his story that is different. Rather than being given the gift of life by the Blue Fairy, he begins as a talking piece of wood given to Geppetto by a neighbour. Unlike the naive innocence presented by Disney, Collodi's Pinocchio is a more rebellious troublemaker. His mischief starts as soon as he gains the ability to walk. He gets Geppetto arrested for suspected abuse when he runs away from home. When he returns, he encounters a talking cricket who warns him the dangers of disobedience and giving in to pleasures (sound familiar?). Anyone expecting this cricket to develop into Jiminy will be disappointed, as Pinocchio accidentally kills his would-be sidekick. Although he does appear to him later in ghost form. When Geppetto is released from jail he insists on Pinocchio going to school. But Pinocchio trades his books for tickets to the Great Marionette Theatre. On his way home he encounters a fox and a cat who use him for his money before robbing him. They are unsuccessful and attempt to hang him, but he is rescued by a dead Fairy. In the Disney version, they convince him to join the show where he becomes a star attraction. From there on out the tale is much the same, the book even has him sold to a circus later on. The original however had a much longer "adventure" between the Great Marionette and the giant whale.