Is Pinocchio based on a midrashic interpretation of Tazria & Metzora?

Think about it, folks--the rabbis claimed that tzaraat--usually mistranslated as leprosy--was a punishment for lashon hara/malicious gossip.  Centuries later, we get the story of a living puppet, still wooden but alive, whose nose grows every time he tells a lie.  Hmm.