When we did a Pinocchio nose we just covered one of those long slide whistles with cloth.  You know, the kind where you pull one end of the whistle to make the pitch change as you blow into the other end?When P told a lie, he put his hands up to his nose and skillfully pulled the end of the slide whistle to make his nose grow.  Make sure the whistle is at its longest length when you cover it with the cloth.  I think they may have painted the whistle a flesh colour and then covered it with panty hose.  Just match the shade to P face make-up colour.

Hope this helps.

I think they made a paper mache base moulded over the actors nose and cheeks to make a mask that the 'nose' was attached to.  The paper mache and the plastic whistle were light weight and not too cumbersome for the actor to wear. It was secured with strong fabric elastic.  I think the mask actually had the red cheek spots painted on it so when P becomes a 'real live boy' and the actor deftly removes the nose mask, he reveals his human face. And no worry aobut a make-up change.   Hope this makes sense. 

Most people picture Pinnochio wearing short pants (or lederhosen) and a short-sleeve shirt.  A simple technique to simulate the wooden arms are legs is to clothe the actor in a long sleeve, tan leotard underneath this costume that has elbow joints and knee joints simply drawn on with permanent markers.  If you have the time or the talent, a simulated woodgrain can also be painted directly on the fabric.