This is how the Pinocchio costumes have changed through the years.
Image | Year | Description |
---|---|---|
February 7, 1940 | The first Pinocchio costume came about on the debut of the movie in 1940. Walt Disney hired eleven little people to portray the puppet at the event. These people entertained the gala's guests from atop the theater by waving and dancing around and wearing simple Pinocchio masks and matching shirts and vests. | |
1950-1959 | The first true Pinocchio costume was seen in the early 1950s as part of segments of the Ice Capades touring shows, which featured appearances by Disney characters. This Pinocchio's clothing was about the same as his original animated version, but his hat and blue bow were missing. The sleeves and pants legs were painted to look like wooden joints. Later Ice Capades shows would slightly alter Pinocchio's head, including a separate jaw piece to give that marionette look, and give him his signature hat and blue bow. This particular Pinocchio would be used in 1955 for the opening of Disneyland. | |
1961 | The rare Pinocchio costume from the early 1960s is a big-head costume (the cast member saw through the puppet's hairline, rather than a hat, as is often the case with these costumes), with a tiny Jiminy Cricket sitting on the side of Pinocchio's head. | |
1962-1979 | This Pinocchio went back to a more traditional look, similar to the original Ice Capades design. The main difference between the two was the use of different materials, giving this Pinocchio a more polished look. His hat was also green, rather than yellow. In the course of its run, this costume had varying degrees of rosy cheeks and eye color. Thereafter, this costume outfit remained more or less the same, as the original cartoon character design was relatively simple. | |
1973 | During the run of the traveling Disney on Parade show, Pinocchio was featured prominently, particularly as part of crowd numbers. In at least two versions of the show, he was also given segments of his own. At first, the Pinocchio seen was the same as the 1962 design, but for the 1973 edition, one of the periods of his own segment, his head was redesigned. His eyes and ears were tweaked, and he also received a separate jawline, similar to the 1955 version, but more refined, with a bouncing motion. In addition, he had the ability to grow donkey ears, just like the original animated version. This was limited only to the Disney on Parade show, however, and never used in the parks. | |
1979-2001 | This Pinocchio costume had a wider head with a more swooping hairstyle, smaller eyes, a thicker nose and more rounded human facial features. His hat is now yellow again. Like many characters, his hands were transferred from five-fingered gloves to the more character-friendly four fingers. This costume retired from the US parks in 1998, Tokyo in 2000 and Paris in 2000 (although it was used one more time there in 2001 in a promo for the 100 Years of Magic). | |
1987-1992 | Starting with the Disney on Ice production of Pinocchio, he becomes a face character which had the ability to lengthen his nose. | |
1998-present | The Pinocchio costume of today is the closest match to his animated counterpart. This version improves on the 1979 head design with a different hairline, revealing more of the forehead, and his jaws and cheeks are more rounded than before. His pants and shoes have buttons now, and blue accents were added to the costumes. | |
1999-2023 | This Pinocchio face character returns starting with the Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic but still had the ability to lengthen his nose until 2016. |