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Titular Character
Pinocchio
Voiced by: Gregory Mann (main), Alfie Tempest (additional dialogue)Foreign VAs
- Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Pinocchio playfully reveals himself to Geppetto by moving towards him unnaturally like Kayako Saeki, which understandably freaks him out.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: While his book counterpart is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, this version is an innocent, naive but hyperactive child who gets into troubles mostly because he doesn't know any better, and his actions are mostly motivated by his love for his father.
- Adaptational Ugliness: Pinocchio is re-imagined here as a spindly, somewhat incomplete being with visible nails in his back and a face almost like a jack-o-lantern. To be fair, Geppetto made him while he was drunk.
- All of the Other Reindeer: He’s initially ostracized both by the townsfolk for being a living wooden puppet and by Geppetto for being an imperfect copy of his dead son, Carlo. He’s only accepted by society when they realize that he could be exploited for their own selfish benefits (Count Volpe as his Meal Ticket, and the Podestà as the perfect soldier, due to Pinocchio’s immortality) and by Geppetto as his son with his own personality.
- Ambiguous Situation: Since he lived a quiet life after their adventures, it's unclear if Sebastian's wish restored his immortality. Sebastian says he believes he'll die one day, but it's only a guess. That said, given how Death states that if Pinocchio tries to resurrect sooner than the limbo dictates he automatically loses his immortality, if Pinocchio gets tired of being immortal, all he has to do is break his resurrection cycle and he can be allowed to die for good to join his loved ones in the afterlife.
- Artificial Family Member: Like past iterations, he was carved out of wood by Geppetto. However, while Pinocchio instantly saw Geppetto as a father, it took longer for Geppetto to truly see Pinocchio as a son. Pinocchio also falls in the "failed Replacement Goldfish" with Geppetto trying to force Pinocchio to be more like Carlo, his dead son.
- Become a Real Boy: Averted. He never wished to become one like in most versions of the story, so he stays as a wooden puppet for the rest of the story. Although, according to both the Wood Sprite and Death he becomes metaphorically speaking "a real boy" the moment he willingly chooses to become mortal.
- Blessed with Suck: He's an immortal wooden puppet, who can resurrect himself after spending a specific period of time in the afterlife. But, as Death explains, this means that he would eventually outlive everyone he loved, which he did.
- Body Horror: Because Geppetto made him in a drunken fit of rage, his body is very distorted, with nails in his back and a single ear in his head. His nose also grows out in a very crooked way with crunching and cracking sounds.
- Bratty Half-Pint: A less malicious type. Pinocchio means well and wants to be loved by Geppetto, but he has issues with some stubbornness at following even simple, non-Blind Obedience requests and can be clumsy, petulant and irresponsible, as he decides to ditch school to go enjoy carnival food at Count Volpe's fair and lies to the point of angrily denying to be lying to Geppetto when he's confronted.
- Cheerful Child: He's almost always exploding with optimism and curiosity, though this often makes him oblivious to what others think of him.
- Classical Anti-Hero: He's bratty, impulsive, and insecure, but he's deeply compassionate and hardly a bad person. For all his flaws, all he wants to do is make friends and please Geppetto.
- Constantly Curious: He's always eager to learn everything new he comes across.
- Creepy Asymmetry: His design sports some of this with him missing his left ear and his right hand being rudely carved unlike his finished left hand.
- Expy: Of the Frankenstein's Monster. Both of them are artificial humanoid beings created by a human in a nightmarish sequence, only to be disowned by their creators for not living up their expectations (Geppetto for Pinocchio not being like his dead son Carlo, and Frankenstein for the creature having eyes with a strange color) and are both rejected by society for being different. But that’s where the similarities end. Unlike Frankenstein and the creature’s tragic ends, Geppetto eventually learns the error of his ways, and reconciles with Pinocchio, coming to see him as another son.
- Feed It a Bomb: He tricks the Dogfish into eating a naval mine, resulting in the sea monster’s explosive demise.
- Heroic Sacrifice: After killing the Dogfish with him dying in the process, he decides to return to the living world immediately to save a drowning Geppetto at cost of his own immortality. And true to Death’s warnings, he dies as result, although thanks to the Wood Sprite and Sebastian’s Selfless Wish it doesn’t stick. However, he only has one life from now on, and he will die permanently one day.
- Irony: Pinocchio is a puppet, but through his defiance of what's considered the norm, he's more free than the people around him, who might as well be puppets to their fascist government.
- Kid Has a Point: He may have been tactless about it, considering that Geppetto was still mourning Carlo's death, but he rightfully grew sick of his father's constant comparisons to the latter, even telling him that he's not Carlo, he will never be like him, and he doesn't even want to be like him, especially since Geppetto's child is dead, in a way to tell him that he just wants to be loved as his own person, Warts and All.
- Messianic Archetype: Early in the film Pinocchio compares himself to a statue of Jesus due to both being made out of wood. He also is tied to a cross by Volpe, and later sacrifices himself to save his father but is brought back from the dead.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Pinocchio decides to sabotage Volpe's grand finale upon learning that Volpe wasn't sending Geppeto half of the earnings.
- Reincarnation: It's heavily implied that Pinocchio is one of Carlo, Geppetto's dead son, with Death claiming that Pinocchio's soul is "borrowed", and him knowing "My Son", the song Geppetto used to sing to Carlo.
- Replacement Goldfish: Deconstructed. He is created when a drunken Gepetto, who is still angry and grieving from the loss of his son Carlo twenty years prior from collateral damage from World War I, cuts down the tree he planted next to Carlo's grave and carves it into a very loose effigy of the boy. Gepetto tries to get used to said puppet and treats him identically to Carlo, not caring that Pinocchio has developed an identity of his own. This leads to an argument between the two where Gepetto angrily calls Pinocchio a burden for joining Volpe's traveling circus against his wishes, resulting in a hurt Pinocchio returning to the circus to earn money for his father.
- Resurrective Immortality: Because of the unique circumstances of his birth, whenever he dies, he simply has to wait in a room with Death until an hourglass goes empty, with only the condition that the time gets longer each time he dies. Death states that this will go on indefinitely. He willingly sacrifices this to save Geppetto at the end.
- Was Once a Man: There are some hints that Pinocchio is a resurrected Carlo with him knowing the song Geppetto used to sing and Death saying she thinks Pinocchio has been in the afterlife before. However, the movie also emphasizes that he is still his own person despite this connection, acting different from the late Carlo and disliking being constantly compared to him.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Everything he does is because of his desire to make Geppetto proud of him, and to be loved as his own person, rather than as Carlo's replacement.
- Wrong Assumption: Pinocchio assumes for a moment that Candlewick's situation with his father is something similar to the situation he is experiencing with Geppetto, and that Podestà actually loves his son, he just doesn't know how to show it. He is totally wrong.
Mortals
Master Geppetto
Voiced by: David BradleyForeign VAs
- Adaptational Jerkass: In the original text Geppetto is a very poor carpenter who still tries his best to be a caring father (feeding Pinocchio his two pears despite being arrested because of him and selling his own jacket to provide him a schoolbook), here Geppetto needs a Calling the Old Man Out from Sebastian to come around the fact he's a self-pitying perfectionist who should've never mistreated Pinocchio for failing at being a Replacement Goldfish and calling him a "burden", before leaving to get his new son back and set things right.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: The soundtrack version of ''Everything Is New to Me''
has him sounding nicer and more patient with Pinocchio, in contrast to the movie version where he's outright freaked out by him. - The Alcoholic: He has become one after the death of his son Carlo, even carving Pinocchio while drunk.
- Character Development: At the start of the movie, he fears Pinocchio and refuses to regard him as his son, and even as he warms up to him he is frustrated that Pinocchio is not like Carlo and routinely gets into trouble due to not knowing any better, to the point of calling him a burden. However he eventually realizes his mistake and comes to genuinely love Pinocchio as his own son and accepts him as he is, with all his imperfections.
- Death by Adaptation: Most versions of the tale end the story with Geppetto and Pinocchio living Happily Ever After after Pinocchio rescues him from the Terrible Dogfish and becomes a real boy. Here, they do live happily as a family alongside Sebastian and Spazzatura until old age catches Geppetto and he passes away.
- Determinator: He ends up following Count Volpe's trail all across Italy in the name of getting his son back.
- Good Parents: He was this to Carlo definitely, but he struggles with Pinocchio thanks to his refusal to acknowledge him as his son. He eventually gets over it.
- Life Will Kill You: In the end of the film, he’s the first of Pinocchio’s family to pass on peacefully from old age.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He greatly comes to regret calling Pinocchio a burden in a fit of rage and spends the rest of the film looking for him when he joins the circus.
- Outliving One's Offspring: He tragically outlives his son Carlo when the latter dies in the church's bombing. Averted with Pinocchio, who manages to outlive him.
- Parents as People: His interactions with Pinocchio are very questionable at first. After his understandably freak out at having a living puppet as a child wears off, he wants Pinocchio to behave like Carlo, ignoring the fact that the latter is his own unique person. He does regret it after Sebastian's calling out for his perfectionism.
- The Perfectionist: Even when raising Carlo, he has a problem with accepting things that aren't just right, like pinecones without some scales or, most egregiously, Pinocchio himself.
- Reused Character Design: He bears a strong physical resemblance to Merlin, another strikingly flawed mentor character from a Del Toro work previously voiced by David Bradley.
- Virtuous Character Copy: To Victor Frankenstein which makes sense given Guillermo took inspiration from the novel. Much like the Mad Scientist, Geppetto rejected his creation belonging him to be more troublesome while also constantly pursuing perfection. Unlike Victor who spent his whole life in misery because of his refusal to change, the woodcarver abandons his old beliefs and wholeheartedly accepts Pinocchio as his son. He even spends the movie searching for him while Victor spent his story running away from his monster.
Carlo
Voiced by: Gregory Mann
- Ambiguous Situation: The film leaves some hints that Carlo may have reincarnated as Pinocchio by having Pinocchio know the song Geppetto often sang to Carlo and Death remarking that Pinocchio is a kid with a borrowed soul who may have been in the afterlife before. However, the film's plot heavily emphasizes that Pinocchio is his own person and Geppetto's Character Development involves him learning to love Pinocchio just as he is instead of comparing him to Carlo all the time.
- Death of a Child: He is killed in a church by a bomb.
- Nice Guy: He was a very well-behaved child, and it frustrated Geppetto that Pinocchio is not like him.
- Not Enough to Bury: Implied; everyone is shown burying the pinecone at his grave rather than a coffin.
- Plot-Triggering Death: It's the loss of Carlo that makes Gepetto create Pinocchio out of grief and alcohol-induced anger.
- Satellite Family Member: His relevance to the story comes from being Gepetto's deceased son. He got killed by a bombing in a church. Geppetto got depressed by the event and started creating a puppet to look like Carlo.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: He was cheerful, well-behaved, obedient, and deeply pious. Indeed, he dies after lingering just a moment too long in the church, staring lovingly into the face of the statue of Jesus his father was making.
Sebastian J. Cricket
Voiced by: Ewan McGregorForeign VAs
“Try your best, because that's the best anyone can do.”
A novelist cricket with dreams of making it big. After Pinocchio is brought to life by the Wood Sprites he ends up acting as the boy's conscience to guide him through the right path.- Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed. In this version, Sebastian isn't interested at all in being Pinocchio's conscience until the Wood Sprite promises him to grant him one wish if he does what she asks him to do.
- Blue Is Heroic: Sebastian is one of the protagonists and he's a cricket colored blue, presumably to have a visual connection to the Big Good Wood Sprite.
- Character Development: While never overtly mean, Sebastian starts out as a grumpy and self-interested author who mostly wants to be famous and when told that if he properly guides Pinocchio he will get any wish he wants he thinks of using it to ensure his works are published. However, on his time of partly guiding Pinocchio so he can get his reward he grows to care for the little puppet and his father, Geppetto, and spends the rest of the film working hard to keep him on the right path. Near the end, he ends up using his wish to bring a dead Pinocchio back to life.
- The Conscience: The Wood Sprite initially appoints him as Pinocchio's to guide him into becoming a good boy. But as a twist, he becomes one to Geppetto by calling him out for his harsh treatment towards the wooden boy while serving as his travel companion while they go out to look for him.
- Dead All Along: The film's after-credits sequence reveals that Sebastian has been narrating the film's story to the Black Rabbits from the afterlife since the film's beginning.
- Iron Butt Monkey: He is routinely comically crushed, smashed, and stomped on, but always gets back up. At least until old age catches him, as then he dies for real.
- Milking the Giant Cow: Sebastian tends to gesticulate a lot with his four hands while talking.
- Musicalis Interruptus: Twice over does he get his song interrupted, first by Pinocchio (and a door), then by the Dogfish. He finally gets his chance when the credits roll.
- Mysterious Middle Initial: We never learn what the "J." in his name stands for. Jiminy, perhaps?
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sebastian introducing Pinocchio to complicated multiplication tables is what encourages him to ditch school and follow Count Volpe instead.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After learning that Pinocchio has run away to try and prove himself after being called a burden, Sebastian calls Geppetto out on having wallowed in self-pity and futilely tried to turn Pinocchio into a Replacement Goldfish for Carlo.Geppetto: Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Oh- oh- how will I ever find him?!?Sebastian: Oh, now you want to find him. After all the things you said? After you called him a burden. A burden!? Why are you so blind? So, absolutely blind? The boy loves you! He has much to learn, but he loves you for who you are. Would it kill you to do as much for him? You should start acting like a father- a real father! Not an old, stubborn goat- who is so busy moaning and crying about his losses, me, me, me, poor me, that he cannot see the love he actually HAS.
The Priest
Voiced by: Burn GormanForeign VAs
“Enough! This is a house of God, you drunken fool!”
The priest of Geppeto's town.- Get Out!: Forces Geppeto and Pinocchio to get out of the church for causing a scene with the latter's introduction.
- No Name Given: We never learn what his real name is.
- Sinister Minister: Downplayed. Sure, he is allied with the Podestà and he thinks Pinocchio is a product of the Devil, but he seems to be just a product of the Fascist system as a whole, plus he is shown to be quite hospitable to Geppetto, and unlike the Podestà, he never seems to have ill intent toward Pinocchio.
- What the Hell, Hero?: He calls Geppeto out for prioritizing creating Pinocchio instead of finishing restoring the abandoned wooden Chirst statue of the church. To be in good terms with him, Geppeto and Pinocchio finish restoring his Christ the next day.
Count Volpe
Voiced by: Christoph WaltzForeign VAs
"Ah! We have found him! Look Spazzatura, our miracle! Our sensation! Our star!"
An abusive and cruel ringmaster who seeks to use Pinocchio to aid in his failing circus.- Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed, to an extent. He is a combination of Mangiafuoco, as well as the Fox and the Cat and while they were antagonistic and attempted to murder Pinocchio, Mangiafuoco turned out to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who had mercy on Pinocchio and gifted him money for his father, while Volpe is a greedy Evil Puppeteer more in-line with Stromboli.
- Adaptational Villainy: Mangiafuoco was initially bad but ultimately had a good heart deep down and turned good to help Pinocchio and Gepetto with their financial situation. Count Volpe, on the other hand, is greedy to the last second and doesn't even entertain a change of heart, ultimately dying after trying to kill Pinocchio.
- Animal Motifs: Being partly based on the Fox from the original story, he has red hair shaped like fox ears, a cane with a fox head, and an orange fur coat, and his name means "fox" in Italian.
- Arch-Enemy: Of the three villains in the movie, Volpe is Pinocchio's main antagonist; while Pinocchio's conflicts with the Podestá and the Terrible Dogfish are relatively impersonal, Volpe relentlessly antagonises and tries to exploit Pinocchio for a full two-thirds of the film, to the point he's the only one who actually inspires feelings of hate from the otherwise all-loving Pinocchio.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: He's named Count Volpe. He used to be a nobleman, but lost his fortune and became a circus ringmaster.
- Bad Boss: He beats and torments Spazzatura for any of his missteps. In fact, it was Volpe who named the monkey "garbage" in Italian. He also tricks Pinocchio into working for him and then cheats him out of his wage, keeping it instead of sending it to Geppetto.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: He routinely beats his monkey Spazzatura.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Along with the Podestà and the Terrible Dogfish.
- Composite Character: According to
Word of God, he's the amalgamation of Mangiafuoco, the Fox and the Cat. The first two are pretty obvious: he's a ringmaster and puppeteer who exploits Pinocchio like Mangiafuoco, but also a cunning Con Artist whose name means "fox" in Italian and physically resembles a fox with his red hair and pointy nose. - Deal with the Devil: He manipulates Pinocchio into signing on with his carnival, intending to make Pinocchio his new star and get rich. To do this, he has Pinocchio sign a contract. When Geppetto takes Pinocchio back, Volpe tells Geppetto that he owes him a large sum of money for taking his star performer. Trying to help Geppetto, Pinocchio comes back to Volpe and asks him if he will forget Geppetto's debt to him if Pinocchio rejoins the carnival, and also gives Pinocchio's share of the profits to Geppetto. Volpe agrees. However, he is secretly keeping all the money for himself.
- Death by Adaptation: Mangiafuoco turned good and lived in the books, while the Fox and Cat didn't get anything close to a good ending, they at least were alive in the end; Volpe, who is a mixture of all three characters, dies when he and Spazzatura fall off a cliff and he hits some rocks splattering himself on them, while Spazzatura falls into the ocean's waters and ultimately lives.
- Devilish Hair Horns: In addition to looking like a pair of fox ears to fit his Animal Motif, his hair also looks rather hornlike. Del Toro directly compares him to the Devil in the "Making of" documentary.
- Dies Wide Open: It goes by in a few frames, but the quick look we get of his broken body shows he died like this.
- Disney Villain Death: Plunges off a cliff when Spazzatura turns on him. It's not offscreen, either, as most cases of the trope usually are—we see Volpe splat on the rocks below. There is no blood, but we get a loving shot of Volpe's bones breaking when he hits the rock—we even see one of his arms snap like a twig over a jag in the rock.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Volpe seems well and truly horrified when he sees Pinocchio get hit by a car. It's then subverted in a hysterically funny moment when Volpe proposes, over Pinocchio's corpse on the morgue table, that he might still be able to use the wooden cadaver in a puppet show and profit.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: When his monkey Spazzatura ended up turning against him to save Pinocchio's life, Count Volpe and Spazzatura ended up falling down a cliff. Count Volpe then ends up falling on a rock violently and onscreen with a Sickening "Crunch!" sound being heard, indicating that he crushed his bones from the fall.
- Faux Affably Evil: He tries to put on a suave and gentlemanly front to the public and Pinocchio in particular (including lying to him about sending Pinocchio's share of the profits to his father), but he is very quick to show his true colors if he is disobeyed in any way.
- Foul Fox: Invoked. While Volpe is human, he is based on the Fox from the original Pinocchio story, and as such he has a prominent Animal Motif for foxes. He's just as deceptive and heartless as the Fox, if not moreso.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: Del Toro purposefully cast Christoph Waltz in order to do this very well with the right pronunciations and really give Volpe a Wicked Cultured smugness.
- Greed: Volpe is primarily motivated by money and fame. He wants to be rich and successful like his carnival was in the past, even if it means exploiting the naive Pinocchio.
- Impoverished Patrician: Descended from aristocracy, he now lives in a circus trailer. He even sings a song about how his people were "kings once". It gets even worse when he loses his entire circus all thanks to Pinocchio's song mocking Mussolini in person.
- Karmic Death: He meets his well-deserved end after trying to burn Pinocchio to death, and he ends up falling to his gruesome demise thanks to Spazzatura, the monkey who he had abused.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Really, had Volpe simply just paid Pinocchio properly like he promised and avoided beating Spazzatura, he wouldn't have had the two rebelling into turning his patriotic show into a "The Villain Sucks" Song which costs him his circus and later his life.
- Laughably Evil: He's wicked, self-interested, and he has a total Lack of Empathy—all of which are frequently played for laughs, as Volpe's flamboyant sociopathy is so exaggerated it rounds around to being hilarious, such as well he idly muses "I could still book him!" over Pinocchio's dead body (he is a puppet, after all). This trait of his is completely abandoned come his Villainous Breakdown, at which the movie sees apt to deal him a suitably gruesome Karmic Death.
- Lean and Mean: He's the manipulative, deceitful antagonist, and he's very thin. In the "Making of" documentary, Guillermo del Toro revealed that the Big Bad was originally Mangiafuoco from the book, a very big, heavyset guy. Del Toro felt that the "big" look was too "cliche" for a villain, and he preferred Volpe's thinner design because it made him look more devilish.
- Motive Rant: When Pinocchio gets in the way of punishing Spazzatura and threatens to leave due to Volpe not sending Geppetto the money like he promised he would, the Count readily threatens Pinocchio back through an evil rant:Count Volpe: I think you misunderstand our relationship, my little fire hazard... [Unsheathes his Sword Cane] I am the puppeteer, you are the puppet! I am the master, you are the slave! And you will do as I command until your wooden body rots and I use you to warm my FURANCE! [chops off the tip of Pinocchio's nose] You may have no strings, but I control you. You... Obey... ME! Capische?
- Nazi Nobleman: A variant. He's a former aristocrat and he fully embraces Fascism ideology, what with his fanboying over Mussolini and the patriotic song-and-dance number he makes Pinocchio do.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: When he abandons his Laughably Evil traits.
- Pet the Dog: During the "We Were a King Once" number, Volpe was seen giving a candied apple to carnie kid free of charge, though Spazzatura slaps the apple off the kid's hand out of jealousy.
- Repulsive Ringmaster: He is the greedy and cruel leader of a circus who exploits Pinocchio for his own gains, tricking him into working for him. He's also a supporter of Mussolini, and a Bad Boss to his monkey Spazzatura.
- Riches to Rags: His backstory is that he was a wealthy nobleman, but his failing circus nearly drove him to poverty. He hopes that his fortune returns by exploiting Pinocchio, which he has succeeded so far. However, he hits rock bottom after losing his circus to Mussolini's regime thanks to Pinocchio's mocking performance about Mussolini.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: He's the main villain, and he's strongly associated with the color orange. His signature fur coat is orange, and so is his reddish-orange hair. He also wears a green waistcoat.
- Sinister Schnoz: He is a vile and slimy man with a long pointy nose. This gives him an exaggerated look much like a clown or even one of his own marionettes, and it also fits his fox Animal Motif. In addition, it fits very nicely with the idea of the Pinocchio Nose, that people who lie have their nose grow long.
- Villain Song: "We Were a King Once" serves as his song expressing his desires to be famous once more.
- Villainous Breakdown: Early in the movie, he's a suave, cunning Con Artist who tricks Pinocchio into working for him. After a humiliating performance in front of Mussolini and losing his circus as result, he gets bent on revenge and loses his friendly demeanor, ready to burn Pinocchio to ashes.Volpe: (about Spazzatura) I am all he has in this world, the poor thing. I have forgiven him. (angrily to Pinocchio) But you... you squandered everything! GIVE ME THAT TORCH, SPAZZATURA!! SPAZZATURA?! (grabs the torch) GIVE ME THAT, YOU MANGY APE!!! (to Pinocchio) Is our contract worth NOTHING?! I'll do my part, and you..... YOU WILL BURN!!! BURN BRIGHT.... LIKE A STAR!!!
- Wicked Cultured: Count Volpe relaxes by listening to a recording of Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde on a gramophone. He also seems to know several languages - throwing out phrases in French, German, and even Latin.
- Would Hurt a Child: By the end of the movie, he has no qualms about killing Pinocchio by burning him alive in revenge for costing him his career.
Spazzatura
Voiced by: Cate Blanchett (mostly vocal effects)Foreign VAs
- Androcles' Lion: Pinocchio stopped Volpe from beating him further and that kindness convinced the monkey to give up his grudge against Pinocchio and eventually become his friend.
- Adaptational Heroism: If he's the film's stand-in for the Cat of the original story, then Spazzatura definitely counts due to his Character Development. While the Cat never redeems herself alongside the Fox and keeps tricking Pinocchio until losing her sight for unknown reasons, Spazzatura ultimately realizes the error of his ways, saves Pinocchio from Volpe (who is the film's stand-in for the Fox) and redeems himself, befriending Pinocchio and joining his family.
- Adaptational Species Change: He seems to be based on the Cat in the story, and like in the Disney version is a Speech-Impaired Animal. Having sight impairment (i.e. being one-eyed) also may be a reference to the book version of the Cat faking blindness. However he's a monkey rather than a cat.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Spazzatura is initially apprehensive toward Pinocchio due to quickly becoming jealous of Volpe paying more attention to Pinocchio than him, but after Pinocchio tries to stop Volpe from beating Spazzatura, he becomes more willing to work with Pinocchio and eventually saves his life.
- Butt-Monkey: No pun intended, but he's not the luckiest simian around. Unlike Sebastian, however, it's not played for comedy most of the time.
- Dark and Troubled Past: According to Volpe, he found Spazzatura in a cage out in the rain, having been left there to die.
- The Dog Bites Back: After being beaten by Volpe for most of their interactions, he eventually gets fed up and protects Pinocchio from the vile ringmaster.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Spazzatura eventually dies of old age after living a good life surrounded by his caring adoptive family.
- Green-Eyed Monster: He grows jealous of Pinocchio due to him being the main star of the show and Volpe's favorite.
- Heel–Face Turn: He starts out as Volpe's loyal henchman, but changes once he is shown compassion by Pinocchio and forms a bond with him, making him reluctant to go along with Volpe's plan of burning Pinocchio to death. He eventually turns on him once and for all and knocks him off a cliff (while Spazzatura survives, the Count doesn't).
- Intelligent Primate: Spazzatura is a monkey who is shown to be rather smart at times, having been trained by Volpe to perform various tasks around the circus. It's even shown that he's able to speak whenever he controls the marionettes.
- Kick the Dog: During the "We Were a King Once" song, Spazzatura slaps a candied apple off a carnie kid's hand and growls at him. Since Volpe was the one who gave the kid the treat, this action serves to establish Spazzatura's more jealous side.
- Maniac Monkeys: He's a particularly ugly-looking monkey who starts out as Volpe's henchman and is jealous of Pinocchio's success. However, he gets better.
- Meaningful Name: His name is Italian for "garbage". It was given to him by Volpe, who certainly treats him like garbage.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: The main reason he goes against Volpe.
- Pet the Dog: Upon seeing Pinocchio standing up for him against Volpe's mistreatment, to which Volpe responds by threatening Pinocchio, Spazzatura can't help but feel a little sorry for the puppet. He even happily tagged along with Pinocchio's performance in mocking Mussolini, though this only caused the circus to be shut down. He was even willing to save Pinocchio from being burned at the stake by fighting back against Volpe.
- Redemption Equals Life: Saves Pinocchio from being burnt by Volpe. While Volpe splats on the rocks, Spazzatura survives and works with Pinocchio to save Geppetto and Sebastian from the Terrible Dogfish. Even though he eventually passes away of old age in the ending, he at least got a peaceful death, just like Geppetto and Sebastian.
- Speech-Impaired Animal: An odd case: he only communicates via monkey chatter (provided by Cate Blanchett), but can speak fluently while controlling marionettes. He uses this to reveal to Pinocchio that Volpe is keeping Pinocchio's shares of the profits to himself.
- Spit Shine: He does this while cleaning up the Devil marionette.
Podestà
Voiced by: Ron PerlmanForeign VAs
"Obviously, the puppet is quite a dissident. An independent thinker, I'd say."
The town's resident high civil officer and Candlewick's father. Seeing potential in Pinocchio for the fascist regime, he aims to recruit the boy into his ranks.- Abusive Parents: He is a chauvinistic, fanatical fascist who is molding his son to be like him. His abuse becomes more apparent when he demands his son shoots Pinocchio, and when his son angrily refuses, he violently throws the boy into a trench while disowning him.
- Adaptational Karma: He's this film's stand-in for the Coachman, a malevolent adult that lures children to a dark fate under the pretense of it being good but unlike the Coachman, who gets away with his crimes as far as we know, the Podestà dies when a bomb raid happens upon the military school with him getting directly hit by one of the projectiles.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Along with Count Volpe and the Terrible Dogfish.
- The Blacksmith: He was this for the town two decades before becoming the Podestà.
- Blood Knight: As per his fascist ideology, he is fixated on the glory of war and soldiering and takes a special interest in Pinocchio once he realizes he is immortal, as he thinks he can mold him into a perfect undying soldier.
- Dead Hat Shot: His hat lands near Pinocchio after the whole juvenile Fascist camp is blown up by an Allied bomb. Considering the bomb was dropped on him, it's a miracle that the Podestà's hat avoided being pulverized, though there's still a sizable hole blown through it.
- Domestic Abuse: Not explicitly, but he is heavily implied to be an emotionally cold and distant husband to his wife. Even back during his days as a blacksmith, he doesn't seem particularly affectionate to his wife. When he decides to take Candlewick to the Fascist youth training camp, his wife's tears suggest that she doesn't wish to see their son in danger, but the Podestà doesn't even comfort her or reassure her that their son's gonna be fine under his supervision.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's only know by his rank. We never learn his name.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Ron Perlman gives him a deep, authoritative voice, fitting for a Fascist officer.
- Hypocrite: He claims that every soldier of the Fascist army and any true men must learn to die for their country, something that he repeatedly insists to Pinocchio, Candlewick and the other trainees under his care. However, when he gets tangled up in a rope ladder and thus is unable to escape from the bomb that claims his life, the Podestà struggles to escape from the ropes to no avail.
- Ignored Epiphany: It goes by quickly but his expression briefly falters when Candlewick confronts him over his terrible parenting. Unfortunately, Candlewick showing he's outgrown the Fascist mindset causes the Podestà to double down on his philosophy and completely disown Candlewick on the spot.Podestà: (enraged over Candlewick's refusal to shoot Pinocchio) You FILTHY COWARD!! Yes.... you are weak! YOU ARE NO SON OF MINE!!!
- Jerkass: As you would expect from a fascist officer, he is a stern and cruel authoritarian, showing little sympathy to Pinocchio and Gepetto and expecting full obedience to his ideology. He is also an abusive father to his son, and at one point demands that Candlewick kill Pinocchio with a real gun in order to "claim his glory".
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk:
- He seems horrified by running over Pinocchio, but then chastises Geppetto for not keeping the boy in line, making it clear that he was concerned about his own pride rather than how he killed a child.
- Pinocchio assumes for a moment that the situation with Podestà and his son is something similar to the situation he is going through with Geppetto, and theorizes that deep down Podestà loves his son. But Pinocchio and Candlewick soon learn out the hard way that this isn't the case.
- Karmic Death: Ends up getting a bomb dropped right onto him, getting him killed by the very thing he intended to throw all of those children at.
- Lean and Mean: He has a tall and slender body type, and is an abusive father and fascist officer who overlooks Geppetto's town as the head of the municipal administration.
- Never My Fault: Upon running over Pinocchio, whereas his wife is horrified at what they did, rather than apologizing, the Podestà just excuses himself that Pinocchio got into the road before he had a chance to stop his vehicle.
- No Kill like Overkill: The circumstances of his death are almost cartoonishly over-the-top. The Podestà isn't merely killed in the bombing of the training camp, one of the bombs hits him directly. His blown-apart hat being all that's seen left of him indicates his fate was particularly messy.
- No Name Given: Podestà is ultimately just his title, we never learn what his real name is.
- Not So Similar: Pinocchio assumes for a moment that Podestà's situation is similar to Geppeto's, with a father who loves his son but does not know how to show it. It eventually becomes clear that they are totally different.
- Recurring Element: Along with Captain Vidal and Col. Strickland, he is a cruel, petty man obsessed with imposing his idea of order on the world.
- Ultimate Authority Mayor: Podestà was the title given to holder of the highest civil office in Italian cities, making him essentially this.
- Villain Has a Point: It's him who orders Geppetto to send Pinocchio to school. While he's merely trying to mold Pinocchio into another tool of the regime, it'd be irresponsible for Geppetto to let his new son go off without an education.
Candlewick
Voiced by: Finn WolfhardForeign VAs
- Abusive Parents: The Podestà is not a good father to him at all.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the original story he's a misbehaving kid who serves as an Anti-Role Model for Pinocchio with some Toxic Friend Influence. In this version, it's revealed that his mean behaviour comes from him trying to make his abusive father happy with him, and he becomes a good friend of Pinocchio.
- Appropriated Appellation: Candlewick reveals that his father gave him that name (or nickname?) because he considered Candlewick flimsy and weak. Candlewick doesn't seem to resent the name too much, as he is mainly focused on trying to please his father.
- Bully Turned Buddy: He initially is a bully to Pinocchio, teasing him and tricking him into burning his legs. At the military camp, after a heartfelt conversation, they become best friends.
- Calling the Old Man Out: After his father the Podestà forces him to shoot Pinocchio, he refuses, and lets him know that he doesn't intend to try and please such an un-pleasable man like him any longer.
- The Dog Bites Back: After enduring the abuse of his father for most of the film, Candlewick finally rebels against him by refusing to kill Pinocchio and telling him that even if he is not what his father wants him to be, he is at least strong enough to say "no", and asking him if he is capable of doing the same. He also contributes to the Podestà getting shot with a paint gun and tangled up in one of the training course ropes, which means he is unable to get away from the plane bomb that destroys the facility.
- Green-Eyed Monster: At Geppetto's home, Candlewick gives a very dirty look at Pinocchio when the Podestà admits that Pinocchio seems strong, given that he's trying really hard to be strong himself and make his abusive dad proud.
- Meaningful Name: Was apparently named because his father thought he was "thin, weak, and flimsy, just like the wick of a candle." It's actually a subversion, because he's brave and strong enough to tell off his father despite his desperate need for the man's approval.
- Not So Above It All: Though he behaves like his stern and strict father orders him to do, even Candlewick finds some Toilet Humor jokes amusing, as evidenced by Pinocchio's mocking song about Mussolini. By contrast, his father doesn't find it funny and slaps his head to reprimand him.
- Took a Level in Kindness: He starts off as a bully but later forms a bond with Pinocchio, especially after Pinocchio tries to reassure him that deep down despite his father's words, he must love him (it unfortunately isn't true, but it brings a good deal comfort to Candlewick anyway).
- Uncertain Doom: His ultimate fate is unknown after the assault on the youth training camp. Even though Candlewick managed to escape alive from the bombing that killed his father as he is last seen calling out for Pinocchio, he is most likely to perish from the subsequent explosions caused by the Allied bombs, though there's a slight possibility of him realizing that his fellow trainees would not succeed at shooting down the Allies and instead escape back home while they could.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: His father wants him to be a stronger and more ruthless person to fit his fascist ideal of a man. Candlewick struggles to live up to his expectations. Eventually, when he is ordered to kill Pinocchio (who has become his only friend), he realizes he will never be good enough for his father and snaps back at him.
The Terrible Dogfish
The monstrous sea beast that emerges from the abyss every decade or so, swallowing everything and everyone unfortunate enough to cross its path.
- Adaptational Abomination: As stated in the main page, this Dogfish is more kaiju than whale or shark, complete with two blowholes like old depictions of whales and dolphins from Here There Be Dragons maps.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the original book, the Terrible Dogfish is an asthmatic yet neutral sea creature who didn't swallow Geppetto out of malice but more out of indifference, not even going after Geppetto and Pinocchio after the two escape from him during the nighttime. Here, akin to his Disney counterpart and that version's remake counterpart, the Terrible Dogfish becomes angry at Geppetto, Pinocchio, Spazzatura and Sebastian for escaping through his blowhole and chases after them with the intent to swallow them again.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Along with Count Volpe and the Podestà. Also the only one of this ensemble that isn’t human.
- Death by Adaptation: His book version keeps living his life as usual after Geppetto and Pinocchio escape from him during nighttime (not even noticing that they escaped due to him being asleep when they did) and both his Disney animated and live-action versions face an Uncertain Doom. Here, the Terrible Dogfish gets blown up from the inside due to Pinocchio tricking him into swallowing a naval mine.
- The Dreaded: The sea captain mentions that when the Dogfish is at large, nobody dares to travel the sea.
- Feed It a Bomb: Pinocchio kills the Dogfish by tricking him into eating a naval mine.
- Final Boss: The last antagonist Pinocchio goes up against, and the only one he himself directly kills.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Combines elements of whales, sharks, anglerfish and catfish.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Its mouth has three rows of teeth akin to a shark's.
- Sea Monster: Yeah, that goes without saying. However, as mentioned on the main page, this is easily the most grotesque-looking depiction of any of the adaptations thus far.
- Super-Persistent Predator: It does not take kindly to the heroes escaping, and goes Ax-Crazy to try swallow them again.
- Turtle Island: When it sleeps while staying afloat, the part of its giant body that sticks out of the water resembles a small island.
"Il Duce" Mussolini
Voiced by: Tom KennyForeign VAs
"These-a puppets I do not like. Shoot him! And burn it all down."
The infamous fascist leader of Italy before and during World War II.- Accidental Misnaming: Pinocchio accidentally refers to him as "Il Dolce" rather than "Il Duce." It's an ironic misnaming since "Dolce" means "sweet" in Italian.
- Artistic License – History: The real Mussolini was 5'6"; shorter than average, but not by much. This version of Mussolini is shown to be shorter than most children.
- Greater-Scope Villain: He's the leader of Fascist Italy and the one to whom Podesta is devoted, but he only appears in one scene in the middle of the movie where Pinocchio and Spazzatura sing a mocking song about him. His visage, however, is shown painted on town walls after the prologue, indicating that Fascism is in full power and he is the driving force of it.
- Historical Domain Character: He's based on the historical Benito Mussolini.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Benito Mussolini faces no consequences over shooting Pinocchio dead just for mocking him with his performance nor for burning down Count Volpe's carnival, other than becoming the laughingstock of a few children. However, if the film's Mussolini goes through the same events his real-life counterpart did (as the film takes place as Italy prepares to enter into World War II), then it can be implied that eventually, Mussolini ends up sharing his real-life fate, as there's no reference of him at the end by the time all of Pinocchio's loved ones pass away.
- Kick the Dog: Upon witnessing Pinocchio singing a mocking song about him (to which the rest of the audience finds to be quite amusing given to their genuine praise for Pinocchio's performance), Mussolini wastes no time in invoking payback: by ordering his right-hand assistant to shoot the puppet, and for the rest of his men to punish Volpe by closing down his circus permanently, leaving Volpe penniless as a result.
- Laughably Evil: One of the most infamous dictators in human history, and one of the major players in World War II on the side of the Axis powers... and he's a squat Manchild who loves puppets (until they call him a piece of poop) and speaks in an exaggerated Italian accent, provided by the man most famous for playing SpongeBob SquarePants.
- The Napoleon: He's portrayed as comically short, far shorter than he was in reality (5'6"). There's a notable moment where he walks past a line of saluting child soldiers; most of them are taller than him. It's possible that it's actually a poor Body Double.
- Tranquil Fury: Doesn't raise his voice at all when he orders his men to kill Pinocchio.
- Would Hurt a Child: Has no qualms about ordering his guard to shoot Pinocchio after the puppet sings a mocking song about him.
Immortals
The Wood Sprite
Voiced by: Tilda SwintonForeign VAs
"May you rise with the sun and wander the earth… and bring joy and company to that poor heart broken man."
A compassionate spirit that brings Pinocchio to life.- Adaptational Abomination: She'd fit the definition of an Angelic Abomination here but in the original fairytale, the fairy could nearly pass for human apart from her turquoise hair.
- Adaptational Name Change: It's essentially the film's version of the Fairy with Blue Hair albeit named the Wood Sprite here and given a different nature.
- Angelic Abomination: At first glance she looks like an angel or a forest goddess but then you notice some things upon closer inspection. Her face is unmoving even while speaking, and she has a multitude of blinking eyes running across her plumage. And let’s not forget the little fact that she is sister to Death herself. Having said that, she still looks strangely beautiful and is still ultimately a force of good as the Blue Fairy should be. In particular she somewhat resembles some depictions of Seraphim which are feathered serpents with six sets of angelic wings. This is in contrast to her sister who appears as a Cherub.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: According to Word of God, the Wood Sprite embodies Life to contrast her sister, Death.
- Dark Is Not Evil: She's a little intimidating, especially with those wing-eyes, but she's a very compassionate spirit.
- Decomposite Character: The original role of the Fairy with Blue Hair is split between her and her sister Death. The Wood Sprite is the one who brings Pinocchio to life, but Death is the one giving guidance to him throughout his journey.
- Demoted to Extra: She only appears in the beginning and the end of the film to bring life to Pinocchio.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: She's the Foolish one, bringing Pinocchio to life out of compassion for Geppetto, without considering how it interferes with the natural cycle of life and death.
- God's Hands Are Tied: She cannot resurrect Geppetto's son, Carlo, as his soul is in eternal rest with her sister Death. She instead brings the crude puppet the carpenter made in a mad fit of grief, to life.
- Living Forever Is Awesome: She certainly seems to think so. Her more powerful sister Death, disagrees vehemently, as she is inevitable. All the spirit's gifts do is put the mortal through even more hardship and misery.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The spirit only wants to help people grieving over the loss of a loved one, and tries to bestow blessings upon them (or inanimate objects) making them effectively immortal. This is a violation of life's progression though, and that blessing over the passage of time, becomes a terrible curse.
Death
Voiced by: Tilda SwintonForeign VAs
- Angelic Abomination: While her sister looks like a Seraph, Death appears depicted as a pre-modern Shedu or Cherub, originally depicted as sphinx-like guardian spirits before modern culture conflated them with Putti, infant angels.
- Celestial Bureaucracy: Death penalizes Pinocchio by making him wait in her chamber until the sands of time refill his hourglass. The duration is longer each time. Presumably she imposed this rule intentionally, in the hopes that the wooden boy would, for one reason or another, forsake immortality.
- Dark Is Not Evil: The incarnation of death that resides in the afterlife and is surrounded by various macabre imagery, yet is nonetheless a fair and well-meaning being who gives Pinocchio advice.
- Death's Hourglass: Her chamber is filled with hourglasses representing people's lives, and she is capable of creating new ones from the sand on the floor that she uses to measure the "waiting periods" in between Pinocchio's deaths. She encourages Pinocchio to break one of these hourglasses to return to life early at the cost of now only having one life.
- Decomposite Character: She is the sister of the book's adaptation of the Fairy with Blue Hair, and takes on many traits such as guiding Pinocchio throughout the film and her association with the Black Rabbits.
- Don't Fear the Reaper: She's definitely off-putting, and she admonishes her sister for her selfless act, but she treats her job as a natural part of the world, which it is. She even allows Pinocchio to forsake his immortality in the name of saving his father.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: She's the Responsible one, trying to maintain the cycle of life and death. She's not happy that her sister, the Wood Sprite, interfered with said cycle and brought Pinocchio to life.
- God of the Dead: She keeps the dead, and none (bar Pinocchio) are permitted to return to the world of the living. But she is not unkind. She does not judge, or punish, all are equal in her domain. Death views all life as precious because it is short, while admonishing her lovesick sister for meddling with the natural order.
- God's Hands Are Tied: Death can easily smash Pinocchio's hourglass and free him of the burden of Resurrective Immortality but refuses to. She informs the wooden boy that's his decision to make, and his alone.
- Our Sphinxes Are Different: She resembles a mythical sphinx with a feline body, a humanoid face and avian wings. She also has a pair of buffalo-like horns with rows of eyes on them and a bifurcated tail ending in two snake heads.
- The Problem with Fighting Death: The supernatural entity explains to Pinocchio living forever is no cause for celebration. He hasn't escaped or cheated death. By implanting a soul into a tree, her misguided sister has violated life's natural flow. He will die many, many, times. And each time she'll keep him in the afterlife longer as a penalty. As the ages pass, eventually the 'waiting time' will get so long he may as well be dead.
- Shedu and Lammasu: Her appearance is very close to a Lamassu from Mesopotamian mythology, with a leonine body, human face, avian wings and bovine horns.
- Tranquil Fury: Do not say you 'hate being dead', or you can expect to be summoned where she'll have a word or two with you.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: She views immortality thrust on mortal beings as an abomination, because that poor creature has to spend eternity dying over and over. Death is dismayed at her sentimental sister's foolishness.
The Black Rabbits
Voiced by: Tim Blake NelsonForeign VAs
Four rabbits who work for Death, delivering dead people to the afterlife.- Adaptational Abomination: The rabbits in the book were just shown to be anthropomorphic rabbits. Here they are psychopomps with their ribcages exposed.
- All Are Equal in Death: Literally. The psychopomps are always the same size as the deceased soul they're talking to. Despite being a tiny cricket in life, Sebastian stands as tall as them playing cards in the afterlife.
- Alter Kocker: One of the rabbits is this, complete with calling Pinocchio a schmendrick.note
- Ascended Extra: They only appear in one scene in the book, while they appear three times in the film.
- Big Sleep: The rabbits get annoyed some of the deceased are chatty about their former lives, and won't stay in their coffins to let them play cards. But there's nothing they can do about it, since Death is benevolent, and the dead can't die again.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Fitting their roles as afterlife entities, they look like undead rabbits with exposed ribcages and sinister looks, but are morally neutral at worst.
- Due to the Dead: Downplayed. After carrying Pinocchio's coffin away the first time he dies, and holding a funeral for him, they're shown clocking out so they can play cards.
- Four Is Death: They are four rabbits who deliver the deceased to the afterlife.
- The Gambling Addict: One of them has the absolute worst luck in card games, and can never get dealt an ace.
- Hair-Raising Hare: Definitely not the cuddliest-looking rabbits out there. That being said, they aren't evil.
- Psychopomp: They carry Pinocchio into Death's domain in a coffin.
