The Land of Toys () is a fictional location in the Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883) that is disguised as a haven of freedom and anarchy for children, but is eventually discovered to be far more sinister.
To its unsuspecting visitors (like Pinocchio and Candlewick), the Land of Toys appears to be a fantastic haven for wayward children to do whatever they want with no consequences or law; to act as they please without fear of punishment. However, the truer and more sinister purpose of the Land of Toys is eventually revealed: by means of a disease called "donkey fever" that affects children who never study or work, the children turn physically into donkeys (in Italian culture, the donkey is symbolic of ignorance, stupidity, goofiness and labor). Subsequently, they get sold by The Coachman to different places.
Described as a "land of Cocagne","Pinocchio: Carlo Collodi," Children's Literature Review. Encyclopedia.com. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020. the novel implies that it is at least as large as a township, although the size and nature of the location is unclear, as in Italian paese can mean 'country' or 'land', but also 'town' or 'village'.
Along with Land of Toys, other names for the land include: Playland, Funland, Toyland, Pleasure Island (Disney film adaptation, 1940, Geppetto, 2000, and Disney live-action remake, 2022) in which it is depicted as a large amusement park on an island; Land Where Dreams Come True (Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, 1987),Terra Magica (The Adventures of Pinocchio, 1996), Fun Forever Land (Pinocchio, 2002), Fantastic Island (Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child, 1997), and Luilekkerland.
The Land of Toys in the original novel The original representation of the Land of Toys mixes the aspects of a morality tale with those of social critique.
Children (depending upon the translation of the original Italian, the novel has included both boys and girls or only boys) are lured there by the Coachman with the promise of never having to go to school or work again and being able to spend their whole time having fun, and the graffiti on all the walls is proof of that.
Described as a scene of pandemonium, the children there were described as playing with nuts, playing with battledores, playing with balls, riding velocipedes, riding wooden horses, playing hide and seek and chasing each other. Some were dressed in straw while eating lighted tow, doing some reciting, singing, walking on their hands, trundling hoops, dressing as generals commanding others dressed as soldiers, laughing, shouting, calling out, clapping their hands, whistling, or clucking as if they were pretending to be hens laying eggs.
There were also canvas theaters erected which was crowded by children from morning to evening. The walls of some house had messages on them that said, "Long live playthings! We will have no more schools! Down with arithmetic!" There was also fine sentiments in bad spelling.
Finally, after months of reckless abandonment, the true purpose of the land is revealed. As a result of their immodest behavior and ignorance, and what is treated almost as a natural consequence, they become donkeys (in Italian culture, the donkey is symbolic of ignorance, stupidity, goofiness and labor). Pinocchio learned of the "donkey fever" from a marmot.
The transformation is not instantaneous, but usually happens in the span of a single day:
First the children's ears sprout out into those of a donkey. This first change seems to be an early symptom, for it is always several hours before the complete change begins. Then in a process which the book seems to describe as painful, the children are forced to the ground in a quadrupedal stance, unable to stand upright any longer. It is at this point of animalistic behavior that the children's minds seem to transform into that of unthinking beasts; they begin to lose speech and run around chaotically, braying, kicking, and violently rolling until fully transformed, usually in such a violent manner as to seem crazed. However, a piece of their human minds seems to remain in the fact that they are aware that they are being humiliated. Then, as they lash out in asinine instincts, children's hands and feet become hooves, their faces transform into equine muzzles, and they grow hair all over their bodies. The last thing that happens to them is the growth of donkey tails; this is considered the most humiliating segment of the transformation in the fact that it signals their absolute and irreversible transformation into donkeys.
When the children become donkeys, the Coachman and his minions would sell these donkeys to farms, salt mines, circuses, and markets. The Coachman sells Pinocchio to a circus and sells Candlewick to a farmer whose donkey just died.
Some commentators have said that the sudden, yet completely clean (no graphic, obscene, or overtly scary descriptions are used) transformation can seem terrifying to younger children. Adaptations of the scene have been hailed as too frightening for certain age groups.
When framed in the context of the late 19th century, the chapters set in the Land of Toys also serve as social commentary: abandoning school means securing oneself a future with no other way to make a living but through hard back-breaking labor, and there are plenty of people (like the ruthless Coachman) who will always try to take advantage of that. Alternatively, it could be taken to mean that those who avoid education and responsibility and lead irresponsible lives end up making metaphorical and colloquial "jackasses" of themselves.
Adaptations In some film versions of the story, Pinocchio is not fully transformed into a donkey. In the 1940 Disney version, for example, the transformation is arrested by his escape from the island after he's grown donkey ears and a tail. In The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996), Pinocchio is not affected by the Terra Magica's cursed water as it leaks out holes in his (wooden) chest, due to a scuffle between Lampwick and an unidentified boy over a gun earlier at the funfair game. He grows donkey ears after riding the roller coaster. In Geppetto (2000), the roller coaster is again the cause of Pinocchio's transformation and the puppet does fully take on donkey form. However, he turns back into human form when he later jumps overboard in an attempt to save Geppetto from being swallowed by the whale.
Pleasure Island Pinocchio (1940) In Disney's animated film Pinocchio (1940), the Land of Toys is renamed Pleasure Island, though the Italian dub keeps the name "paese dei balocchi" from the novel. In the film, the boys visit Pleasure Island voluntarily, with the promise of unlimited fun, freedom, and privilege, all free of cost. It is clear, however, that Pleasure Island has a terrible reputation despite its name as Honest John and Gideon react in horror at the name when they meet the Coachman at the Red Lobster Inn as "the law" has declared Pleasure Island illegal and worries about what will become of them if they were to get caught. There, the boys ride on the carnival rides and are encouraged to do naughty deeds like making meals of cake, pies, dill pickles, and ice cream, breaking stuff at a Model Home that is opened for destruction, fighting in the Rough House, drinking, smoking, and gambling. Food and tobacco was made freely available. In short, the park was designed for boys to "make jackasses of themselves." The nature of the Coachman and of Pleasure Island itself are shown as preternatural and inherently evil. While the boys are enjoying themselves, the Coachman orders his henchmen, shown as terrifying silhouettes with ape-like arms and no distinguishing features, to close and lock the entrance before ordering them to get below and get the crates ready as the Coachman chuckles "Give a bad boy enough rope and he'll soon make a jackass of himself!"
The transformation into a donkey is not instantaneous. When the boys arrive on the island, they remain human for some time, even days, as their "jackass" deportment must build up sufficiently for the curse to activate. Since Jiminy Cricket does not engage in such acts at all while looking for Pinocchio, he remains completely unaffected the entire time (or maybe it is simply because he is a bug). The first indication of the transformation is when the boy's laughter is replaced with a donkey's braying (in Lampwick's case, he discovers this upon gaining the ears, tail and head), 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 quadrupedal stance. The final change is losing the ability of human speech and, as seen with the particular case of Lampwick, the total loss of humanity.
Once the boys are transformed, the Coachman and his minions bundle them off to be sold into slave labor, either working in salt mines or performing in circuses. Before the donkeys leave Pleasure Island, the Coachman asks their names to make sure they have lost their ability to speak, which signifies they are fully transformed. It is clear however that the speechless donkeys still retain human minds and intelligence as they are apparently able to understand the Coachman's commands. The donkeys that are fully transformed and can no longer speak (as in Lampwick's case) are stripped of their clothes, hurled into wooden crates, and then sold off. The ones that can still talk (as in the case of one named Alexander) are locked in a pen until the transformation finishes or to make sure they don't gain the attention of the outside world. The talking donkeys now realize what has happened and want the Coachman to let them go home, but the Coachman silences them with his whip and then snarls "Quiet! You boys have had your fun! Now pay for it!" This alerts Jiminy, who had been watching all this, that Pinocchio is in danger. Some donkeys are not sold. Instead, they are used to pull the Coachman's carriage.
After Lampwick transformed, Pinocchio and Jiminy escape from Pleasure Island and dive into the ocean before the Coachman or his minions can see them.
Unlike in the original text where the transformation would automatically complete itself once started, the curse in the film occurs gradually. It can also be slowed down or completely stopped by reduced misbehavior. This was seen when Lampwick, one of the worst-behaved boys, completely changed into a donkey and lost all humanity within two minutes of beginning his transformation. Conversely, Pinocchio decides not to drink beer or smoke any longer (thinking that indulging in the drink and cigars were causing Lampwick's transformation, or more likely that they were causing Pinocchio to hallucinate). It can also be stopped by leaving the island; Pinocchio escaped with only a pair of donkey ears and tail and does not transform any further for the rest of the film. This was also a shortcut on the filmmaker's part, in that it allowed them to skip over some chapters of the original novel. It should also be noted that when the Blue Fairy turned Pinocchio into a real boy, his donkey ears and tail disappear, showing that the Blue Fairy's magic is one possible way of reversing the transformation.
Another difference from the original story is that while Collodi's Land of Toys or Toyland is a mysterious, if not even legendary, though real, place on land not present on any maps, Disney's Pleasure Island is in fact an island and a well-known and even illegalized place with a notorious and infamous reputation.
At some point, Geppetto finds out that Pinocchio is on Pleasure Island and ventures out to sea to rescue him, but is swallowed by Monstro which sets up the climax of the film.