Comparison of Yasha Frank’s Pinocchio and Collodi’s Pinocchio

Yasha Frank’s adaptation of Collodi’s Pinocchio extensively alters both the theme and the main character of the original story. While the character of Pinocchio in Collodi’s novel, The Story of a Puppet, is highly active and hard headed, in that he does not listen or follow the rules, the Pinocchio portrayed on Frank’s play, Pinocchio is very passive, docile, and does not present so much hard headedness as the original one. Seeing that these was in late 1930s, early 1940s, a period marred by government suppression of citizen protest or disobedience after the great depression, this change in Pinocchio’s character might have been to reflect the prevailing political obedience and passivity of the citizens. It is also possible that the passive and good natured character of Pinocchio is also appealing to the people to be more caring and less greedy. Caring is one of the tests that Pinocchio has to go through before he can become a human boy in the play. Therefore, most of these changes are political in nature. The play wright is using the character to make political commentary. This it is no surprise that the character of Pinocchio is killed at the end of the play; but unlike in the novel there is much care and mourning after his death. The themes of family and a happy childhood are very prominent in Yasha Frank’s play. However, there is also the theme of greed and social relations that involve caring for each other as human beings. This is not strange because of the great depression era that the play is set in. In the original novel the theme is about loneliness and the need for family. This is simply the reason why Geppeto creates Pinocchio, to have company and a puppet to perform shows with. He also seems to want a child because he did not have any of his own Both the themes in the play and the novel are appealing to different audiences. First of all, it is important to appreciate the differences in settings and audiences. The second novel is set in a period of economic uncertainty and political unease. It was important, therefore, that a theme of social wellbeing and hope were explored. In this way the play was more appealing to adults because of the complexity of its themes and to children as well because of its family theme that had Pinocchio living a cared for life. The novel, on the other hand, might not be very interesting to kids who might identify with Pinocchio’s unending misery and eventual death at the hands of his enemies.