The Talking Cricket

The Talking Cricket (Italian: "Il Grillo Parlante") is a fictional character who appears in Carlo Collodi's 1883 book "The Adventures of Pinocchio" ("Le avventure di Pinocchio").

Role

The Cricket, who has lived in Gepetto's house for over a century, makes its first appearance in chapter IV where he explains to Pinocchio, whose mischief has landed his creator Gepetto in prison, that he must either attend school or get a job in order to function properly in the world. When Pinocchio refuses to listen, the Cricket expresses sympathy to Pinocchio because "you are a puppet, and what's worse is that you have a head of wood". In response, Pinocchio throws a mallet at the cricket, seemingly killing it.

The Cricket reappears subsequently in XIV as a shade. He appears to Pinocchio in a dark wood, telling him to return home rather than keep an appointment with The Fox and the Cat ("Il Gatto e la Volpe"), who have deceived Pinocchio into following them on a fool's errand. Pinocchio refuses, and is subsequently injured in an encounter with two murderers. The Cricket reappears again in chapter XVI, where he is revealed to be a doctor. He, along with his colleagues the crow and the owl, tend to Pinocchio's injuries, though the Cricket reveals his prior experience with the puppet to the others, describing him as "...a disobediant rascal, who will cause his poor father to die heartbroken!"

The Cricket makes his final appearance in chapter XXXVI, where he is shown to be living in a house given to him by The Fairy with Turquoise Hair. He forgives Pinocchio, and allows him and the ailing Gepetto to stay.

Quotes

"Trouble awaits boys who rebel against their parents and capriciously abandon their paternal home! They will never experience goodness in this world, and sooner or later, they will have to pay for it sourly."- Chapter IV

"My boy, do not trust those who promise to make you rich from morning to evening. They are usually either mad or charlatans! Heed my words, and turn back."- Chapter XIII

"Now you call me “your dear little cricket”, true? But do you not recall when, to banish me from your house, you threw a mallet at me?"- Chapter XXXVI

Media portrayals

In the 1940 Disney film "Pinocchio", the Talking Cricket is renamed Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Cliff Edwards) and is portrayed very differently to the relatively minor character of the book. He takes on a much more prominent role in the film as Pinocchio's inseparable companion and conscience under instructions from the Fairy with the Turquoise Hair (renamed the Blue Fairy). His relationship with Pinocchio is much less adversarial and friendly than in the book. He never provokes Pinocchio to the point of getting himself killed as in the book, and there is no indication he is as old as the Cricket of the novel. In Giuliano Cencis' 1972 adaptation "Un burattino di nome Pinocchio", the Cricket (voiced by Lauro Gazzolo) though anthropomorphised, differs little from the character of the novel, being stern to Pinocchio, resulting in his death and subsequent reappearance as a shade. The only difference in characterisation is that he does not reappear in the Fairy's house as a doctor.

In the 1993 direct to video adaptation entitled "Pinocchio" from GoodTimes Entertainment, the Cricket is portrayed very much like Jiminy Cricket; an inseparable companion to Pinocchio, though he acts by his own choice and not under orders from the Blue Fairy.

In Steve Barron's 1996 live action film "The Adventures of Pinocchio", the Cricket is a CGI character named Pépé, and is voiced by David Doyle. As with Jiminy Cricket, he is portrayed in a more light hearted manner than his stern book counterpart who dies early in the story. He is an optimistic character who tries to teach Pinocchio that "Miracles don't grow on trees. Miracles are made in the heart!".

References

Collodi, "Le Avventure di Pinocchio" 1883, Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli