page_title: Land of Toys
section_title: The Land of Toys in the original novel
hierarchical_section_title: Land of Toys / The Land of Toys in the original novel
caption_attribution_description: Illustrations from "Le avventure di Pinocchio, storia di un burattino", Carlo Collodi, Bemporad &amp; figlio, Firenze 1902 (Drawings and engravings by Carlo Chiostri, and A. Bongini)
context_page_description: The Land of Toys is a fictional location in the Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio that is disguised as a haven of freedom and anarchy for boys and occasionally girls, but is eventually discovered to be far more sinister. In the 1940 animated Disney film adaptation of the novel, the land is named Pleasure Island.
  Located in the fictional land of Cocagne, the size and nature of the location is unclear: the Disney adaptation depicts it as a large, island-sized amusement park that parallels Disneyland itself, whereas the novel implies that it is at least as large as a township. The ambiguity in the original name adds to the confusion.
  To its unsuspecting visitors, the Land of Toys appears to be a fantastic haven for wayward boys and girls to do whatever they want with no consequences or law; 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 and girls into donkeys, apparently by means of a curse, and to sell them off for labor.
context_section_description: 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 again and being able to spend their whole time having fun. They never have to do any work or learn anything, and the graffiti on all the walls is proof of that. 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).
  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 asinine 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 ripping off their human clothes until naked and 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.
  
  Once the transformation is complete, the Coachman and his minions would sell the donkeys to different farms, salt mines, circuses, and any other place that would make use of the donkeys they receive.
  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.
caption: First the children's ears sprout out into those of a donkey.
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