Pinocchio. The famous wooden puppet who was magicked to life by a blue fairy and desired to be a real boy one day. Mr Disney made a masterpiece of this but left a few dark details that we’d all remember for years to come.Honest John and his pal Gideon the cat lead him astray from school one day and convinced him to join a puppet show with a man called Stromboli. After an outstanding show Pinocchio wishes to go home, but Stromboli has other plans and locks him in a bird cage against Pinocchios own will, a nightmare for all children. Miss Blue Fairy appears from nowhere, and then Pinocchio starts to lie about his whereabouts that day, not a very good role model to kids here, he vows to be good and Miss Blue Fairy lets him go. Stromboli could have been nicer by offering him money, fame and telling Gepetto, but I guess the whole story would have been different that way. The word kidnap comes to mind, which gives off a bad message to its audiences.
1. The Evil Coachman

2. Little Boy Donkeys

3. The Whale 

1. The Coachman 

With Pinocchio skipping happily home, Honest John and his mute cat visit a coachman who will pay them money to take naughty boys off the streets and take them to Pleasure Island. Some would call this child trafficking. Because that is what he’s doing. Carting off young boys, turning them into donkeys and forcing them to work. This face is the face of an insane messed up man.

2. Little Boy Donkeys 

Pinocchio meets Lampwick on his way to Pleasure Island and becomes friends with him. They play a game of pool where they smoke, drink and then get turned into donkeys.  Those poor defenseless little boy donkeys don’t deserve this torture. At a young age I never understood this scene. Twenty years later I look back and think, wow, that is a bit deep for a kids film don’t cha think Walt?

3. The Whale 

The scariness didn’t end there. Pinocchio manages to escape, half transformed into a donkey and jumps into the ocean. Here we meet Monstro the Whale. After Pinocchio makes him sneeze there is a monster of a chase and he Gepetto, Figaro and Cleo all survive. I realise Walt wants to tell the tale of Pinocchio, but he could have toned the dramatics down to make it a little less scary for its target audience. They all go home happy, Pinocchio is turned into a real boy and learns that if he tells the truth he won’t get kidnapped, half transform into a donkey and get eaten by a whale. Thanks for making this a story to remember Walt!!

A 30 second version of the movie – https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ascja

A fun music video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7clR2d3ejg&list=PL0Af45WPb76jW8L_EmrkXVSfJb7ogkG7b&index=2&ab_channel=SaraSparrow