10 Fascinating Facts About Disney's Pinocchio
4. Figaro The Cat Was Walt Disney's Favourite Character
Before creating Pinocchio, Geppetto didn’t live alone in his toy shop. He had himself a very prim and proper goldfish called Cleo who loved getting attention. He also had a small black and white cat called Figaro who becomes annoyed and jealous of Pinocchio at first but soon takes a liking to the puppet. Loyal to Geppetto to a fault, Figaro follows his master in his search of Pinocchio even into the belly of Monstro the whale.
After the release of the film, Walt Disney made it known that Figaro was his favourite of all Disney characters. He apparently pushed hard to have the feisty feline in as much of the film as possible, and even after Pinocchio came out, he wanted Figaro in as many other projects as he could manage. He therefore made the choice to include him in the series of Minnie Mouse short films, making him the official pet of Minnie, replacing her former Cocker Spaniel, Fifi. He also made a brief appearance in Alice In Wonderland as a caterpillar
Even after Disney’s death, Figaro continued to be used in many other projects, though his personality would be changed to being more malicious (probably because he was owned by mice that he couldn’t physically eat). He still remained a good friend of Pluto, except in the House Of Mouse episode Pluto Vs. Figaro, where he is put in the position of Pluto’s assistant.