GePETto and His PUPnocchio

Phoenix is Gepetto, the puppeteer, and his real little boy Pinocchio, played by Aladdin, just wishes he didn't have any strings. Gepetto is manipulating Pinocchio's marionette crossbar with his paw so he can help him put on a show for Halloween before Pinocchio's nose grows too long.

Both of the outfits the dogs are wearing were hand-sewn. We bought a yellow alpine hat and decorated it with a blue band and red feather for Pinocchio. We added a vinyl wig underneath so he would look like an animated character.

We attached a plastic nose to a light elastic string, and glued felt cheeks onto the string to go around Aladdin’s nose. It’s very loose and light so that it doesn’t bother him at all. We also made him shoes out of old brown socks, with tan craft foam glued on to look like the foot showing through the hole in the shoe.

The socks worked well because they stay on his paws much better than real shoes would. We made his marionette crossbar out of foam board which we painted to look like wood, and added blue strings, which we tied to his costume.

For the Gepetto costume, we got a white wig and eyebrows. We hung the eyebrows with string off the wig, so they would rest above his eyes. We also put a string around the moustache to hold it on.

He has square spectacles, just like the real Gepetto. He also has a toolbelt, for which we used an old kids toy one. We tied the tools inside so they wouldn’t fall out when he moves, and put a little sign saying “Toys By Gepetto”.

We also made the stage that Pinocchio is supposed to be performing on. We used a carton, which we cut out most of the front of. We then painted the inside black, and glued on material with creases in it, to look like the curtains on a stage. We glued on gold ribbon for ties and tassels.