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 recrimination.

Described as a "land of Cocagne",[1] 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'.

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.

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.

While the boys are enjoying themselves, the Coachman orders his henchmen, which are 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" behavior 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).

Before the donkeys leave Pleasure Island, the Coachman asks their names to make sure they have not their ability to vocalize, which signifies they are fully transformed.

The donkeys that are fully transformed and can no longer vocalize (as in Lampwick's case) are stripped of their clothes and hurled into wooden crates, and then sold to work in salt mines or to perform in circuses.

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.

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.

This version of Pleasure Island, or at least a location inspired by it, appears in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance in Pinocchio's world, Prankster's Paradise.

There, the kids overeat and have food fights at "Sky's the Limit,” steal objects from "Shop 'N Lift", wreck "De Grade School", play with fireworks, hold up insulting signs while saying what's written on them at "Contempt Corner" which gets projected onto four screens, and break clocks in "Clock Stoppers,” bothering Pinocchio.

The rides include "Give Me a Break" where a roller coaster car jumps over a missing track and "Sugar Mountain" which is made of candy that anyone can slide down.

The Coachman is assisted by the Vapor Monsters who catch the transformed children, remove the clothes from their donkey forms, and place them in crates with the shipment in question being bound for the salt mines.

The shopping district's backstory was entirely unrelated to Pinocchio, establishing it as the reclaimed headquarters of an eccentric industrialist and explorer named Merriweather Adam Pleasure that disappeared in the 1940s.

Rather than a physically tangible place like the Land of Toys or Pleasure Island, it is a surreal, extra-dimensional location housed within, what seems from the outside, a decadent steam ship.

The moral sentiment focuses less on the idea of the consequences of stupidity as the concept of being careful not to throw away one's freedom in pursuit of pleasures.

The realm is one of illusion and surrealism, apparently able to morph itself into representations of a person's fears or wishes; in the case of Pinocchio, this is seemingly to be a famous entertainer.

Pinocchio initially surrenders his freedom via a paper contract, but, realizing the power of his choice, defies The Emperor and escapes.

After Pinocchio's initial adventures, he ends up wandering in the woods where he encounters the human thieves Volpe and Felinet who trick him out of his money.

After this betrayal, he is then lured onto a carriage driven by a sinister-looking coachman who takes him to Terra Magica with a load of other boys (including Pinocchio's friend Lampwick).

Terra Magica is actually owned by the evil Lorenzini, who is luring the boys to the place with promises of fun and then turning them into donkeys through drinking the park's cursed water while riding on a roller coaster.

The transformation of boys into donkeys takes place in the span of a few minutes as the roller coaster still roars down the track, giving the sequence an ominous and foreboding atmosphere.

The roller coaster is built in such a way that the boys' screams of joy and delight are timed perfectly by a loop in the track to force the cursed water into their mouths.

Next, Lampwick's head morphs into a half-donkey-half-human face as he lets out an extremely realistic bray (compared to the previous human-sounding one).

In the game, Lumina and Candlewick are tricked into boarding the roller coaster and therefore are subjected to only a fraction of the curse since they had not fully engaged in "jackass" behavior or drunk all of their water.