Several sketches of Disney characters, including this one of Pinocchio, are thought to have come from the pen of Adolf Hitler. No kidding. (Conical hat tip to LRC.)
Comparing Hitler’s version of Pinocchio with the original – is it my imagination, or has Hitler altered Pinocchio’s hairstyle to make it look more like … Hitler’s?
Pinocchio’s cap looks more like a traditional Tyrolean hat to me in Hitler’s version than in the original too – less floppy or something:
But I may really just be imagining that one. I feel more sure about the hairstyle, though.
Say, it’s a pity Hitler’s nose didn’t grow longer when he lied.
2017 Addendum:
It’s not surprising that a Wagnerian like Hitler would like Snow White, which shares a number of motifs with the Ring of the Nibelung, such as dwarves working in the mines, a maiden in an enchanted sleep waiting to be awakened by a handsome prince, and characters learning crucial information from helpful animals. (Plus, what Nazi could resist a story whose heroine’s defining feature is whiteness?)
Hitler’s self-identification with Pinocchio is interesting. Perhaps, like Pinocchio (or Ultron), he feels that in the past he’s been manipulated, like a puppet, by various hostile forces (the Western powers, the Jews) but now he’s asserting his independence and has “got no strings.” (Ironically, in the original “Got No Strings” song, Pinocchio is under the control of a representative of Italy (Hitler’s junior partner in real life) and is being courted by puppets from Holland, France, and Russia (all countries that Hitler would invade).
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