Land of Toys - Pleasure Island in The Disney Film

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, although it is implied that Pleasure Island has some sort of bad reputation despite its name: the Fox and the Cat react in horror at the name when they meet the Coachman at the inn, and they mention how Pleasure Island has been outlawed. While on the island, the boys are encouraged to commit acts of gluttony and vandalism, fight, drink beer, smoke cigars, and gamble - all things that good little boys are not supposed to do. In short, the park was designed for boys to "make jackasses of themselves". The nature of the Coachman and of Pleasure Island itself is shown as more preternatural and inherently evil. The first real indication of this occurs while the boys indulge themselves; the Coachman orders his henchmen, who are shown as terrifying dark ape-like silhouettes with no distinguishing features, to close and lock the entrance.

The transformation into a donkey is not instantaneous. When boys arrive on the island, they remain human for some time, as their "jackass" behavior must build up sufficiently for the curse to activate. For instance, Pinocchio and Lampwick are the last ones to be affected since they spent most of their time playing pool, something relatively normal, while occasionally smoking and drinking, in contrast to the other bad boys who immediately engaged in acts of vandalism and others; on the other hand, Jiminy Cricket remains unaffected the entire time, since he did not engage in such acts at all. The first indication of the transformation is when the boy's laughter is replaced with a donkey's braying, followed by the growth of donkey ears and a tail. The head, torso, and extremities come next, after which the boy is then forced into a quadrupedial stance. The final change is losing the ability to speak. Before the donkeys leave Pleasure Island, the Coachman checks them by asking their names to make sure they have lost their ability to vocalize, which signifies they are fully transformed. It is implied that they retain their human minds, as the fully transformed, non-vocal donkeys seem to understand the Coachman when he tests them.

The donkeys that are fully transformed and can no longer vocalize (as in Lampwick's case) are stripped bare of their clothes, hurled into wooden crates and then sent to work in salt mines or circuses. The ones that can still talk (as in the case of one named Alexander) are thrown into a pen where other talking donkeys plead in vain for mercy. It is not clear what happens to them after this. Unlike in the original text, where the transformation would automatically complete itself once started, the curse in the film occurs gradually; Pinocchio is able to escape from the island with only a donkey's ears and tail.

This version of Pleasure Island appears in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance in Pinocchio's homeworld, Prankster's Paradise.