This article is about the location in Pinocchio. For the real location, see Pleasure Island (Downtown Disney).
- “Right here, boys! Right here! Get your cake, pie, dill pickles, and ice cream! Eat all you can! Be a glutton! Stuff yourselves! It's all free, boys! It's all free! Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!”
- ―Food Barker
Pleasure Island is a cursed island that appears in the 1940 Disney animated feature film Pinocchio. It occupies an amusement park headed by the Coachman, which is designed to turn mischievous, young boys into donkeys.
Background[]
Pleasure Island is an amusement park located on an island, where it is accessed by ferry. According to the Coachman, it is specialized to serve "stupid little boys", who are disobedient and play hooky from school. It is implied to be illegal and extremely notorious, as hinted by Honest John.
The Coachman runs the island and takes all the disobedient boys he has collected (or others he hires for the job just like Honest John and Gideon) from various towns and villages to the island, where the boys are free to do whatever they please, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, fighting, wrecking the place, and other deeds that good children wouldn't do. Food, alcohol, and tobacco are freely available on the island. The boys are also free of the law and any parents or cops who could stop them from being naughty. Essentially, the island is designed to be the perfect paradise for bad boys.
However, unbeknownst to the boys, Pleasure Island actually serves as a horrible trap. Once the boys have spent enough time being bad, they begin to succumb to a horrible curse that exists over the island (presumably placed via ancient dark magic rituals by the Coachman himself) which turns them into donkeys due to making complete "jackasses" of themselves and behaving like destructive animals. The boys first grow donkey ears, then a tail, their head turns furry with donkey hair and a muzzle, their laughing becomes braying, their hands and feet become hooves, they are forced onto all fours, and finally they lose their voices permanently and are replaced with donkey brays (though some donkeys like Alexander retain their voices). The donkeys are then rounded up by the Coachman and his minions and inspected by the Coachman to see if they have lost their voices.
He asks each donkey for their name. If the donkey responds with a bray, he strips them of their remaining clothes and thrown into crates and then taken back to the mainland via ferry and are finally sold by the Coachman into hard labor in salt mines, circuses, and possibly other places for money. If the donkey responds with his name, meaning they can still talk, they are not shipped with the others and are presumably kept by the Coachman until they too completely lose their voices or are possibly disposed of to prevent them from warning other victims from coming to the island.
The exact way the curse is placed over the island or how it turns the boys into donkeys is unknown, though it appears that it only takes effect once the boys have committed enough bad behavior. There appears to be no way to stop it once the transformation begins and appears to be permanent, as even remorse for their actions doesn't reverse the effects and Pinocchio's donkey ears, tail, and bray in his laugh did not disappear until he was later revived by the Blue Fairy. It appears to work slower for some individuals as both Lampwick and Pinocchio showed no effects of the curse until long after the other boys possibly due to the fact they relaxed for a while playing pool. It also remains unknown how some of the boys are able to retain their voices while others aren't, though it possibly depends on the severity of their misdeeds. It is apparent that the curse can work on transforming the boys only while they’re on the island, as after Pinocchio escaped, he underwent no further transformation.
Origin[]
In Italy, where the original story was written, the donkey is a symbol of "stupidity" and "foolishness". The moral behind Pleasure Island (or Il Paese dei Balocchi,"The land of Toys", as it was called in the original) is that children who scoff at education and moral codes set forth by their parents, preachers and authority figures and will engage in "jackass" behavior instead, such as fighting, vandalism and underage drinking are often destined to grow up to become adults who have no option to make a living other than through backbreaking manual labor, and there are plenty of people in the world, such as the Coachman, who will take advantage of that.
Appearances[]
Pinocchio[]
Many bad boys, including Pinocchio and Lampwick, are first taken by stagecoach to a port, whereupon they are boarded on a ship and taken to Pleasure Island. Upon arriving, the Coachman ushers them inside and they can do whatever they please on the island, such as fighting, drinking alcohol, smoking, wrecking the place and other deeds that good children wouldn't do. Three of the attractions from the film include, the Rough House for fighting, the Tobacco Row where the boys gather to get free tobacco products, and the Model Home Open for Destruction for the boys to vandalize. There also seem to be more conventional attractions that would normally appeal to good children, such as a merry-go-round and roller coaster. These may have been installed to give the veneer of an amusement park.
However, unknown to the boys, Pleasure Island in truth actually serves as a trap. Once the boys have enough time being bad, they would turn into donkeys after they made "jackasses" of themselves. After the transformations, Jiminy Cricket ventures across the island in search of Pinocchio, but the puppet dismisses him in favor of Lampwick. Jiminy witnesses through a hatch that the donkeys were being rounded up by the Coachman and his minions. The donkeys were then inspected and those who couldn't talk were stripped of their remaining clothes before being put into crates, then taken back to the ferry that took the boys to the island. They were then sold to salt mines and circuses for money. Those like Alexander that could still speak were kept behind until they lost their voices or simply used to pull the Coachman's stagecoach. It is implied the donkeys seen pulling the coach were once bad boys that were on Pleasure Island before the events of the film.
Meanwhile as the boys resume play, Lampwick grows donkey ears after taking a swig of beer and this causes a chain reaction that made him into a donkey. Pinocchio throws away his cigar and put his drink aside, which may explain why he only grew ears, a tail, and brayed. Strangely enough, Pinocchio and Lampwick are the last ones to be the island's victims, but it is likely they avoided the spell as they appear to be the last ones awake. Fortunately, Pinocchio and Jiminy flee Pleasure Island down a small rocky path (the only open pathway to the end of the island) and jump into the sea before the Coachman and his henchmen could spot them and before the donkey transformation on Pinocchio could go any further.
Geppetto[]
The island remains very much similar to the 1940 iteration. However, the Tobacco Row and references to alcohol were cut, due to it being a made-for-television live-action film in 2000, as well as network censors not allowing alcohol and tobacco references in family-oriented films. In this version, it is specifically stated that the rollercoaster is what causes the boys to instantly transform into donkeys, as witnessed when Geppetto warns Pinocchio who immediately begins turning into one after boarding the coaster's car, and is found fully transformed after passing through the coaster's doors. It doesn't completely act as a rollercoaster, as it stops beyond the doors into a stable where the boys-turned-donkeys are mistreated.
La storia (in)finita[]
In this crossover comic story, Mickey Mouse, stranded at sea, sees an island in the distance and manages to swim there. He soon discovers that the island is none other than Pleasure Island. The Coachman's fair has fallen into disrepair, some parts of the island having even reverted to a wild jungle; Mickey comments that it seems to have been abandoned for years (confirming that the Coachman did get his comeuppance at some point after the original movie). Mickey faces Maleficent on the island, but the witch is destroyed as the Nothing (a magic phenomenon of unknown origins which provides the main conflict for the story) eats up the whole island. Mickey is saved in extremis by Dumbo as the last parts of the cursed island fall into oblivion.
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance[]
Pleasure Island appears in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance in the world Prankster's Paradise. It includes various areas of the Island that are found in the original film, like the amusement park. Several new areas that weren't in the original film, like Windup Way and the Circus Tent, were also included in the game.
Once Upon a Time[]
Pleasure Island appears in the episode "Murder Most Foul". Prince James flees to Pleasure Island to escape from King George, who wants him to become a knight. James' real father, Robert, comes to Pleasure Island, and enlists the help of Pinocchio to find James and bring him home to his real family. As they are about to leave, King George arrives.
After an argument between King George and Robert occurs, King George orders his guards to take Robert and kill him, ordering them to make sure it looks like an accident. As the king's men are about to murder Robert, Captain Hook arrives with a few pirates. Hook's men rob the King's men and kill them. Robert believes Hook has saved his life, but Hook says that he can't let him go, as he was a witness to the murders. Robert begs for his life, but is then stabbed by Hook.
Pinocchio (2022 film)[]
The island has the same curse effect in the 1940 film, but there are some differences. Root beer replaces tobacco and beer, also the three original attractions from the original 1940 Pinocchio film, the Rough House, the Tobacco Row, Model Home Open for Destruction has been removed entirely from the film, there is a lot more candy, and girls are on the island, as well. Other aspects of Pleasure Island, as depicted in the film, include new attractions such as, but not limited to;
- "Sky's the Limit", an area where food is served, and children eat excessive amounts of it while also engaging in food fights without having table manners.
- "Wheel of Misfortune", a section of carnival games where children can play to win prizes without any rules from employees.
- "De Grade School", a schoolhouse that is vandalized by children who scoff at education.
- "Contempt Corner", where children are encouraged to say mean, hateful, and spiteful insults at each other while it is projected onto multiple round screens. The signs placed within this attraction contain words about insults written on them.
- "Shop n' Lift", a store where children are allowed to shoplift items. The exterior is decorated with two mechanical clowns dressed as robbers.
- "Give Me a Break!", a rollercoaster ride with a missing track section that the cars jump over.
- "Fireworks", an attraction full of fireworks where children have the freedom to use fireworks without anyone warning them, albeit in an illegal way.
- "Sugar Mountain", a literal mountain of sweets that children could slide or ride a gondola down on (transitioning from the Ferris wheel for the latter) while enjoying candy.
- "Clock Stoppers", a place where naughty children destroy clocks and other timepieces of various shapes and sizes.
Many bad children, including Pinocchio and Lampwick, are first taken by stagecoach to a port, whereupon they are boarded on a ship and taken to Pleasure Island. Upon arriving, the Coachman ushers them inside and they can do whatever they please on the island consisting of various bad deeds that good children wouldn't do, much to Pinocchio's worry that his father would be furious if he participated with them.
However, unknown to the children, Pleasure Island in truth actually serves as a trap. Once the children have enough time being bad, they would turn into donkeys; after the transformations, Jiminy Cricket ventures across the island in search of Pinocchio, but the puppet dismisses him in favor of Lampwick. Jiminy witnesses through a hatch that the donkeys were being rounded up by the Coachman and his minions. The donkeys were then inspected and those who couldn't talk were stripped of their remaining clothes before being put into crates, then taken back to the ferry that took the children to the island. They were then sold to salt mines for money. It is implied the donkeys seen pulling the coach were once bad children that were on Pleasure Island before the events of the film.
Meanwhile, Lampwick grows donkey ears, causing a chain reaction that made him into a donkey, which Pinocchio also began growing ears as well. Suddenly, one of the children gets turned into a donkey as Jiminy realizes that the place is used as a trap where two large shadowy creatures capture the donkey. As Jiminy ends up at the area where the caged donkeys are at, he then encounters more shadowy creatures selling the children who were cursed and turned into donkeys to the salt mines under orders of the Coachman as Jiminy realizes that Pleasure Island is a trap. Strangely enough, Pinocchio and Lampwick are the last ones to be the island's victims, but it is likely they avoided the spell as they appear to be the last ones awake. Fortunately, Pinocchio and Jiminy flee Pleasure Island down a small rocky path (the only open pathway to the end of the island) and jump into the sea before the Coachman and his henchmen could spot them and before the donkey transformation on Pinocchio could go any further.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the model home on Pleasure Island, one of the wrecked objects inside was Leonardo da Vinci's famous portrait painting, the Mona Lisa or La Gioconda (or more likely a replica).
- Assuming the film takes place in the same time period as the original story, late 19th century Italy, certain elements of the park are inconsistent with the film's setting. An example is the Pool Hall; Although billiards in general has a history dating from well before the original story was written, "8 ball pool" wasn't conceived until the early 20th Century.
- The Blue Fairy's magic appears to be the only way to undo the curse of Pleasure Island as Pinocchio's donkey ears and tail completely disappeared when he was revived by her into a real boy.
- The pool hall is shaped like a giant 8 ball with a giant pool stick standing alongside it, a neat takeoff on the giant ball and stick monument from the 1939 World's Fair.
- In the original movie, the curse of Pleasure Island transforms boys who "make jackasses of themselves" into donkeys. In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, this line was reworded as "boys who make jackamules of themselves", most likely to refrain from using a swear word so the game wouldn't have a Teen rating.
- In the original Italian story, Pleasure Island, said to be located in Cocagne, was actually called "Il Paese dei Balocchi", which translates as "Toyland" (due to the various uses of the word "paese", it can also translate to "Toy Country", "Toy Town", or "Toy Village", but "Toyland" is the preferred title. The literal translation is "The [preferred translation of "paese"] of Toys"). An early English translation mistakenly dubbed it "Boobieland", since the Italian word for "booby" is almost similar to the one for "toy". Also, whereas it seemed to take only a single night at Pleasure Island for the donkey curse to work on its victims, in the original story the transformation is caused by a disease that affects people who never study (in Italian culture, the donkey is symbolic of ignorance, stupidity and goofiness) and take a longer period of time, roughly five months.
- That being said, Pleasure Island was originally referred to as Boobyland during the film's early production.
- The talking statue at the Rough House speaks in a very similar voice to the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man. Contrary to fan belief, it was not voiced by Jack Mercer, who was best known for Popeye. The statue did have striking similarities to Popeye, however.
- Apparently, it is not just bad boys from Pinocchio's village that go to Pleasure Island, as the ferry that took Pinocchio and Lampwick to Pleasure Island was full of other boys.
- Interestingly, in the original film, no girls were taken to the island, just boys. The reasons for this could be that boys are more likely to be enticed by troublesome behavior than girls.
- However, in the 2022 live-action adaptation, girls are seen in Pleasure Island as well, showing that they can also be enticed by troublesome behavior. Additionally, similar to a naughty boy, a naughty girl can also "make a jackass of herself". The most likely reason for the inclusion of girls was to avoid being sexist.
- In the 1953 Little Golden Book adaptation of Pinocchio, and then in other book and comic book adaptations and even in the book Mouse Under Glass: Secrets of Disney Animation and Theme Parks, it is specified that Geppetto sailed to search Pinocchio on Pleasure Island, thus giving sense to his departure.
- The "ticket" Honest John gives Pinocchio to convince him to go to Pleasure Island is a playing card of the Ace of Spades, also known, ironically, as the "Death Card".
- If one looks very closely at the chair on which Pinocchio is sitting in the pool hall, a donkey's head is carved on the top. This is an obvious foreshadowing of Lampwick's fate.
- The carousel had donkeys instead of horses, which foreshadow the boys' fates.
- The donkey transformation in the 1940 film was referred to in early concept art as "Donkey Fever", which a boy transformed into a donkey warns Pinocchio about.[1]
- The producers of the 1990 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were inspired by Pleasure Island and used it for their film. Teenage boys are seen drinking, smoking, gambling and playing arcade games. The main difference is that movie's villain, the Shredder, is using the boys for crime instead of slavery. Shredder plays on teenage angst and a sense of belonging, promoting one member of his gang saying "Money cannot buy the honor you have earned for us" and telling the others "You are here because the outside world rejects you". Shredder does not punish the boys for their bad behavior, in this case their revelry is a reward for committing crimes for him. The film focuses on one teenage boy who joined the gang to get away from his strict father. He later gets captured by the Ninja Turtles, whom like Jiminy try and convince him to return home.
External link[]
References[]
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