As for why the story of Pinocchio is important in its home country, well, it partially has to do with Italy's traditional values.

"Italy has older traditions, a culture of artisans and country living, so it's natural that our hero is Pinocchio," Corriere della Sera newspaper critic Giorgio De Rienzo once said, per The Irish Times.

Not only that, but "Pinocchio is the most widely-read book in Italian history and perhaps the most-read children's book around the world," making it a staple of Italian art and culture. And the country works hard to preserve that.

Author and journalist C. Collodi's real name was Carlo Lorenzini, as he renamed himself after his small hometown of Collodi. So whether it's Collodi's Pinocchio Park or the National Carlo Collodi Foundation — a non-profit organization that dedicates itself to promoting culture for children — Pinocchio's presence is vibrant in Italy to this day.

"Pinocchio is about freedom and fairy tales. It is the kind of story that can continually transform itself and be adapted," Giorgio De Rienzo continued. It's so true, as there are countless TV, film, and literature adaptations of the story. Heck, with the September release of Robert Zemeckis' Pinocchio film adaptation (which bombed) and the upcoming December release of Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson's film adaptation of the same name, it's basically the battle of the Pinocchios!

When it comes down to it, Pinocchio holds a piece of all of our childhoods — no matter which iteration we experienced — and Italy just wants us to recognize and respect the cheeky little puppet's origins. His curiosity, ability to learn from past mistakes, and childlike wonder live inside us all.