Pleasure Island (Pinocchio)

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Pleasure Island is the name used in the Disney film adaptation of The Adventures of Pinocchio for the fictional location called Land of Toys (Italian: Paese dei Balocchi) in the original novel. The size and nature of such location is unclear (the Disney adaptation depicts it as an amusement park, whereas the novel implies it is at least as large as a township); the ambiguity in the original name (paese can mean country or land, but also town or village) adds to the confusion.

Located in the fictional land of Cocagne, Pleasure Island serves as a haven for wayward boys, allowing them to act as they please without recrimination. However, the truer and more sinister purpose of Pleasure Island is eventually revealed as it begins to physically transform the boys into donkeys.

[edit] The Land of Toys in the Novel

The original take to the Land of Toys mixes the aspects of a morality tale with those of social critique. Boys are lured there by the promise of never having to go to school again and being able to spend their whole time having fun - as a result, almost as a natural consequence, they become donkeys (in Italian culture, donkeys are synonymous with ignorance and stupidity).

When framed in the context of the late 1800s, the chapters set in the Land of Toys also serve as social commentary: abandoning school means securing oneself a future with no other chance to make a living but hard labor, and there are plenty of people (like the ruthless coachman) who will try and take advantage of that.

[edit] Pleasure Island in the Disney Film

The segment from Pleasure Island in the film version is much more of a morality tale. The boys who are taken to the island go voluntarily with the promise of fun and unlimited freedom. While on the island, the children are encouraged to commit acts of vandalism, fight, drink alcohol, smoke cigars, and gamble - all things that good little boys are not supposed to do. The nature of the coachman and of Pleasure Island itself is shown as more preternatural and inherently evil.

The transformation into a donkey is not instantaneous. When boys arrive on the island, they remain human for some time before showing any signs of the curse changing them. The first indication is braying replacing the boy's normal laughter, followed by the growth of donkey ears and a tail. The head, and extremities come next, after which the boy is then forced into a quadrupedal stance. The final notable change is losing the ability to speak. Before the donkeys leave Pleasure Island, they are checked to make sure they have lost their ability to vocalize, which signifies they are fully transformed.

In the 1940 Disney version, Pleasure Island also has an impact on Geppetto: the puppet maker learns that Pinocchio is on Pleasure Island, and sets out to sea to find him, only to be swallowed along with his whole boat by Monstro the Whale.

[edit] Trivia

The Pleasure Island theme was taken up again by science fiction author Cory Doctorow in his short story "Return to Pleasure Island", where it is told from the perspective of cotton-candy-vending Golems.