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film1940

Pinocchio

Disciplines:
mythology
ethics
popular culture
animation

Summary

1940 Disney animated film in which wooden puppet Pinocchio must prove himself brave, truthful, and unselfish to become a real boy — and whose lies make his nose grow — a narrative Peterson reads as the mythological map of conscience formation.

Core Contribution

Peterson reads Pinocchio as the most direct popular mythological map of conscience development: Jiminy Cricket as the still small voice that must be voluntarily adopted, the nose-growth as the inevitable betrayal of lies, and the transformation into a real boy as the reward for authentic self-governance.

Historical Influences

Ben Sharpsteen Hamilton Luske Carlo Collodi

Intellectual Lineage

Italian Literary TraditionFairy Tale Tradition Disney Animation Mythological Hero Narrative

Allied Works

The Lion King Beauty and the Beast Frankenstein

Contemporaries & Peers

Fantasia Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Dumbo

Minds Influenced

Jordan B. Peterson's popular mythology pedagogy

Intellectual Posterity

No conceptual posterity found.

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