Alexey Tolstoy created the heroes of his fairy tale "The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio" in the image and likeness of the Italian story about the wooden man Pinocchio. However, the plots and characters turned out to be completely different from the prototypes. Almost all the main characters in this children's book have become household names.
Positive characters
The first heroes of the tale that the reader meets are Pope Carlo and his friend Giuseppe, nicknamed the Blue Nose. Giuseppe is a carpenter, a cowardly old drunkard who loves to fight. Papa Carlo is an organ grinder who lives in a small closet under the stairs. It has only a hearth painted on canvas. True, his hurdy-gurdy broke long ago, and he is forced to beg.
Papa Carlo carves out of a talking log the main character of a fairy tale - a wooden doll with a long nose named Pinocchio. This is a gullible, stupid fool. He is very curious, kind, open to the world, ready for adventure. Buratino tries to help everyone, dreams of making loyal friends, believes people. At the same time, he is reckless and restless, abruptly stops all attempts by Malvina and Pope Carlo to re-educate him.
Unlike Pinocchio, who never succumbed to re-education, his prototype Pinocchio eventually turns into a well-mannered boy.
At the end of the tale, the hero comes to his dream. In the puppet theater of Karabas-Barabas, Buratino meets the puppet actors who will later become his faithful friends.
Malvina is a girl with blue hair and a porcelain head. This is a doll that escaped from the theater and lives in a small house in the forest. Beautiful, intelligent, well-mannered, she looks after herself, dresses up. She loves to be the center of attention and command others. Therefore, Pinocchio considers her a molester and crybaby, plays pranks in the classroom and upsets Malvina.
Pierrot is a melancholic, sad, unhappy poet with a white face and drawn eyebrows. He wears a long-sleeved shirt and a white cap. Piero is in love with Malvina, considers himself her fiancé and constantly suffers from his feelings.
Artemon is a black poodle, a devoted friend of Malvina. He takes care of the blue-haired girl, protects her and fulfills all her whims.
Turtle Tortila - calm, old, wise, with dim eyes, the inhabitant of the pond gives Pinocchio the Golden Key. True, she cannot tell which door he opens, but she is sure that this is the door to happiness.
Negative characters
Karabas-Barabas is a huge man with a long black beard. He owns a puppet theater, calls himself a doctor of puppet science. A harsh, scary character, brutally treats his actors. He chases Buratino, trying to take the Golden Key from him. But a wooden boy with a long nose turns out to be more cunning, and besides, his friends always help him.
The prototype of Karabas-Barabas, the puppeteer Manjafoko from the tale of Pinocchio, is just an episodic, positive hero.
Duremar is a cunning, greedy sucker and deceiver who sells medicinal leeches. Helps Karabas-Barabas and other enemies of Buratino.
Fox Alisa - has all the fox qualities of Russian folklore. She is cunning, masterfully flattering, achieves her goal by deceit and false kindness. A swindler from the high road tries to deceive five gold coins from Pinocchio.
Basilio the cat is a friend and accomplice of Fox Alice. Pretends to be blind and beggar and begs for alms. He is stupid and comical. Fox Alice pushes them around and uses them for their cunning purposes.
