Pleasure Island is a fictional amusement park in Disney's animated classic, Pinocchio. Located in the fictional land of Cocagne, Pleasure Island serves as a haven for wayward boys, allowing them to drink, smoke, and vandalize without recrimination. One of those boys is Lampwick, a tough bully of a boy that Pinocchio befriends. He smokes, drinks, plays pool, and then gets turned into a donkey.
September 2006, Walt Disney Classics Collection released a new scene from the Pleasure Island Sequence (pictured above) that marked the WDCC debut of Lampwick. In addition to Pinocchio & Lampwick, the scene also included Jiminy Cricket and a Pool Table Base. The entire scene was sculpted by Dusty Horner.
Hopefully this is the beginning of more releases from the Pleasure Island Sequence .. the Coachman (The Coachman is sinister, and maybe diabolic and runs Pleasure Island), Pinocchio as a Donkey Boy and Alexander (A terrified little boy who gets turned into a donkey, but only wants to go home to his "mama").
Trivia: Lampwick is a caricature of Disney animator Fred Moore.
Although I don't have this set yet, I love it! It really captures the feel of how the boys let loose on Pleasure Island.
ReplyDeleteHave they thought about "plussing" this scene by sculpting Lampwick and Pinocchio as they turn into donkeys? Since the pool table and Jiminy are fine the way they are, it would allow the collector to display a transition.
Much like having a Cinderella transformation scene, but that's for another post!
I love this set and also hope that more from Pleasure Island will be available. Would love the coachman, pinoke as a donkey boy. Hopefully this mini scene did well as the detail on the pool table is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteHave only done Lampwick myself (the rest have been put on the backburner for the time being), thankfully they're all Open Edition.
ReplyDeleteHoping this is just the tip of the iceberg for releases from the Pleasure Island sequence and hope to see Pinocchio and Lampwick (as well as Alexander) as Donkey Boys and of course you need the Coachman!
It seems we're all hoping for both the Coachman and some Donkey Boys!
Love the idea of the Coachman and Alexander. I've always thought the Coach itself with the Coachman driving and Pinocchio and Lampwick beside him full of boys bound for Pleasure Island would be great, maybe in an Enchanted Places type sculpture. And we need a definitive sculpt of Cleo in her bowl on the stand. Membership?
ReplyDeleteHi Bill, your Coachman idea is one I've been pitching for a LONG time and would love to see happen!
ReplyDeleteShould they do the Coachman as we've described plus Pinocchio and Lampwick as Donkey Boys with Alexander added with the Pool Table Scene, the Pleasure Island sequence would have a great representation from this film.
Cleo is another favorite character of mine and don't feel either releases of her were a great representation and would LOVE to see her revisited. The Figaro/Cleo ornament showed some promise but didn't like how they handled the fishbowl, making it solid in coloring.
Yes, I'd like to see them do her in the fashion of the Enchanted Rose and Table from Beauty & the Beast encased in acrylic with her castle, etc.
ReplyDeleteI too love the Pool Table scene; it is one of my favorite Pinocchio scenes, right up there with Pinocchio in the cage. And Lampwick is the best in the set.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be great if WDCC did the Coachman; then every Pinocchio character would be in the collection--except for poor Alexander.
I always felt poor Alexander was neglected. Even those he has a name and a few lines of dialog, he is never included in any lists of Pinocchio characters. He would be a terrific companion piece to the Coachman, though I wonder if WDCC would do such an obscure character.
Last year, Disney came out with a set of 6 painted pewter miniatures of the Pleasure Island scene, and Alexander was there with the Coachman! It was the first time I'd ever seen him depicted, and the whole set was terrific.
I heard a rumor that WDCC was planning on doing a Pinocchio with donkey ears piece. Although I would love to see it in a Pleasure Island setting, I wonder if they would be more inclined to use the Underwater Sequence instead.
A bit of trivia: Alexander was voice by Dickie Jones, who also was the voice of Pinocchio.
Thanks again for such a great site.
I would love to add Lampwick to my collection someday... it's a great piece!
ReplyDeleteReally would love to see the boys as donkeys and the Coachman as well.
I too would LOVE to see Cleo in a "realistic" representation... yes, the previous ornament was a bit disappointing.
Don't mean to turn this into a list of all my "wants" from Pinocchio, but I also want some of the marrionettes.
Thanks for that bit of trivia. Wasn't aware that Dickie Jones voiced both characters.
ReplyDeleteQuite honestly, came to know more about Alexander researching out this blog post and was instantly enamored with this character.
Right after the Pool Table Scene release, started to hear rumors of a Donkey Boy Pinocchio and wondering whether from the Pleasure Island or Underwater sequence of the film.
The Pleasure Island sequence gives us a better chance of the Coachman and Alexander whereas the Underwater sequence only contains Pinocchio and Jiminy (it's been ages since I've seen this film, so not 100% sure).
Talking with friends over the weekend, the Coachman came up and he wondered if done in the Cart, would he get lost in the sculpture like the earlier Villains Series releases (focus on setting vs. villain)? Since this is probably our one shot, would it better to do him in Event Style and be released in a new scene which could also include Pinocchio (with donkey ears and tail), Lampwick (in donkey form) and Alexander?
Not a problem Matthew.
ReplyDeleteThe Marionettes would be another great addition to the Pinocchio releases and one that came up in conversations this past weekend as well.
Hi Bill, rereading the comments, thought I responded to yours on Cleo but obviously I didn't.
ReplyDeleteI like your suggestion for Cleo but wouldn't mind taking it one step further and challenge Enesco to make the fishbowl from glass and sculpt the Castle in either resin or porcelain, whichever would be the best medium to capture the most detail.
We pitched this suggestion to Traci over the weekend and Jeff/Herc made the suggestion to capture Cleo in a floating position, choosing the best medium that could allow her to appear as if swimming and be attached to the Castle similar to Crush & Squirt and the other Nemo pieces. Jeff may want to elaborate more.
Personally, it wouldn't matter if not in scale to the current Pinocchio releases, since Cleo has been done in scale before. I would like this suggestion, if possible, be done as a stand alone piece and done out of scale, larger in size.
After listening to Dusty over the weekend talking about the Finding Nemo Tank Gang scene, I found it very interesting how he wanted the characters to look like they are in water compared to being just a static figure. Dusty pointed out that Nemo is attached to Gurgle by a fin and the fin is bronze. Other pieces are like that too. When Don was talking about Cleo, I commented that the same method could be applied.She could be attached to the castle by a bronze fin. It would look like she is just floating in the water. I know other sculpts have used this technique recently. One that comes to mind is Tink in the lantern.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for a pretty big fish bowl, maybe 6 inches high and wide. Then Cleo could be quite big. I can see Non-Collectors getting this for their offices or on a desk.
You guys have a great idea here for Cleo! This would be a must have for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeff! Like you, would prefer a larger size fishbowl and like your suggeston of at least 6" high and wide. Could be an awesome stand alone!
ReplyDeleteMatthew, glad you like the idea we pitched. Hopefully we'll see something like come to fruition.