The wooden puppet Pinocchio is one of the most well-known characters to emerge from the literature of the last 200 years. Indeed, his story is so well-known around the globe that in 2016, Apple created a "liar" emoji that directly references Pinocchio's famous nose; and in the year 2022 alone, no less than three separate adaptations of the The Adventures of Pinocchio were filmed. Whilst still remaining a national symbol for Italians in particular, Pinocchio has transcended the Italian peninsula from whence it came, and become a part of the folklore and the cultural imaginaries of many nations.
In the United States, the prevailing image of Pinocchio dates from 1940, when a now-renowned...