Buratino
Encyclopedia
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy , nicknamed the Comrade Count, was a Russian and Soviet writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels...
. Based on the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Carlo Collodi
Carlo Lorenzini , better known by the pen name Carlo Collodi, was an Italian children's writer known for the world-renowned fairy tale novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio.-Biography:...
, Buratino originated as a character in the commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...
. The name Buratino is derived from the Italian burattino
Burrattino
Burrattino, also Burattino or Burratino, is a minor character from the Commedia dell'arte, of the stupid zanni class. He is a variant on the character Pedrolino. Burattino means wooden puppet or doll in Italian....
, which means wooden puppet or doll. The book was published in 1936, and Buratino quickly became hugely popular among children in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and remains so to this day. The story has been made into several films, including in 1959 and in 1975
The Adventures of Buratino (1975 film)
The Adventures of Buratino was a Soviet children's musical film, made in 1975 at Belarusfilm....
.
Origin
According to TolstoyAleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy , nicknamed the Comrade Count, was a Russian and Soviet writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels...
, he had read Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
as a child, but, having lost the book, he started re-imagining it many years later in an attempt to come up with a series of bedside stories for his own children. The resulting story turned out to be so original and became so loved by the writer's children, that he decided to put it to paper and publish it.
Plot summary
Like Pinocchio, Buratino is a long-nosed wooden puppet. According to the story, he is carved by Papa Carlo from a log, and suddenly comes to life. Upon creation, Buratino comes out long-nosed due to Papa Carlo's sloppy woodworking. Papa Carlo tries to shorten it, but Buratino resists.Papa Carlo then sells his only good jacket in order to buy textbooks for Buratino and sends him to school. However, the boy becomes distracted by an advertisement for a local puppet theater show, and sells his textbooks to buy a ticket to the show. There he befriends other puppets, but the evil puppetmaster Karabas Barabas wants to destroy him because Buratino disrupted the show.
Karabas Barabas releases Buratino after he learns that Papa Carlo's home contains a secret door for which Karabas has been searching his entire life. A Golden Key that Karabas once possessed, but later lost, opens this secret door. Karabas releases Buratino and even gives him five gold coins, asking only that Buratino watch after his father's home and make sure they do not move.
The story proceeds to tell of Buratino and his friends' hunt for the Golden Key, and their struggles against the evil Karabas, his loyal friend Duremar, as well as a couple of crooks: Alice the Fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
and Basilio the Cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
, who are after Buratino's coins.
Characters
- Buratino is a wooden puppet with a long nose.
- Papa Carlo is a barrel organBarrel organA barrel organ is a mechanical musical instrument consisting of bellows and one or more ranks of pipes housed in a case, usually of wood, and often highly decorated...
player of little means, who created Buratino. - Giuseppe (Джузеппе), nicknamed "Giuseppe the Blue Nose" for always being drunk, is a woodworker and a friend of Carlo. He wanted to make a tableTable (furniture)A table is a form of furniture with a flat and satisfactory horizontal upper surface used to support objects of interest, for storage, show, and/or manipulation...
leg from the talking log, but got scared and finally gave the log as a present to Papa Carlo. - Karabas Barabas (Карабас-Барабас) is an evil puppeteer. He owns a puppet theater with lots of marionetteMarionetteA marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
s, including MalvinaMalvinaMalvina is a female given name that has many variants such as Malvine, Malwine, Malwina, Malwida, Malve, and Mal.-Etymology:The name Malvina comes from Celtic or German origin and is often translated as "breathing sweetness from her eyes". It may come from the Scots Gaelic words maol mhìn, meaning...
, PierrotPierrotPierrot is a stock character of pantomime and Commedia dell'Arte whose origins are in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne; the name is a hypocorism of Pierre , via the suffix -ot. His character in postmodern popular culture—in...
, and HarlequinHarlequinHarlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...
. - Malvina (Мальвина) is a beautiful female puppet with blue hair.
- Artemon (Артемон) is Malvina's loyal poodlePoodleThe Poodle is a breed of dog. The poodle breed is found officially in toy, miniature, and standard sizes, with many coat colors. Originally bred as a type of water dog, the poodle is highly intelligent and skillful in many dog sports, including agility, obedience, tracking, and even herding...
. - Pierrot (Пьеро) is a sad puppet and a poetPoetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
who is deeply in love with Malvina - Harlequin (Арлекино) is Pierrot's scene partner in Karabas' theatre. He usually mocks and beats Pierrot.
- Alice the Fox (Лиса Алиса) and Basilio the Cat (Кот Базилио), two swindlers.
- Tortilla the TurtleTurtleTurtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
(Черепаха Тортила) gives the Golden Key to Buratino, the same key that was lost by Karabas. - Duremar (Дуремар) is a poor friend of Karabas Barabas who catches leeches for a living and so disturbs Tortilla's pond.
Adaptations
- Golden Key, a 1939 movie combining live action and stop-motion animation.
- The Adventures of Buratino (1959 film), a 1959 cartoon.
- The Adventures of Buratino (1975 film)The Adventures of Buratino (1975 film)The Adventures of Buratino was a Soviet children's musical film, made in 1975 at Belarusfilm....
, a 1975 TV film. - Buratino, Son of Pinocchio, a 2009 film.
External links
- Buratino at sunbirds.com
- Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
:- 1939 film
- 1960 film
- 1975 film
- 2009 film
- 1998 television episode (same as 1960 film, but with American soundtrack and voices)