Justice Served?

[Dandelion King]

Did the boys on Pleasure Island in Pinocchio deserve to be turned into donkeys?

The Coachman is never punished!

I wonder what the live action remake will do.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Welcome to the dis, DK.

 

[BrianL]

So, interesting question. On one hand, they're kids - do they really deserve that sort of thing? then again, Lampwick was one rotten little boy! He is a bad influence on Pinocchio, wanting to get into fights just for the fun of it as he chews tobacco and smokes a cigar at the same time! Originally this was going to be a candy island where it was temptation for the sweets that led to the boys' downfalls, but Walt felt that little boys with absolutely no supervision would go act completely crazy. That's an interesting take, but then again, I look at humanity and wonder if he was really that far off. And that's the point - it is allegory, a lesson. Maybe the boys didn't deserve to be turned into donkeys, but Pinocchio did learn his lesson, which was the entire purpose - so that's the justice right there.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Something satisfying about being on the outside what you are on the inside, maybe they can turn back like in Beauty and the Beast.

 

[Orion Nebula]

So, interesting question. On one hand, they're kids - do they really deserve that sort of thing? then again, Lampwick was one rotten little boy! He is a bad influence on Pinocchio, wanting to get into fights just for the fun of it as he chews tobacco and smokes a cigar at the same time! Originally this was going to be a candy island where it was temptation for the sweets that led to the boys' downfalls, but Walt felt that little boys with absolutely no supervision would go act completely crazy. That's an interesting take, but then again, I look at humanity and wonder if he was really that far off. And that's the point - it is allegory, a lesson. Maybe the boys didn't deserve to be turned into donkeys, but Pinocchio did learn his lesson, which was the entire purpose - so that's the justice right there.

The problem with Walts "vision" of pleasure island is that there wasn't any background story behind the boys. And instead of them find loving families and good role models they were banished to life long abuse. The coachmen being their only "parental" figure not only inflicted both physical and psychological abuse on the boys, but also was the reason why the boys behaved like they did (he encouraged them). You can't take troubled children and give them an abusive caretaker and expect them to become anything other than rotten. Pleasure Island in general was created to set the kids up for failure and stocked up with things like alcohol and tobacco which didn't help. Walt also never incorporated a redemption arc, which makes the entire sequence in the film even more horrifying. As it ends with the kids being locked into a pen awaiting even worse things to happen to them. And outside of the sadistic nature of the Coachmen himself, his ultimate motivation was to capture long forgotten "bad kids" for child labor/ trafficking. As they either got sold into the salt mines the circus etc.

So really the kids watching learned that if they were bad they would end up banished to an island with some creepster and abused. Have their voices stolen, stripped of their clothing and sold into child slavery. *cue the Disney music*

Different times I suppose.