"Pinocchio Beta Tape" by TheDarkCat97[]
Disney is a very interesting place to work at because each day can be so vastly different. You really never know who you’re going to see or interact with, you don’t know what the crowds are going to look like, and you never know who you’ll have the pleasure to make magic for or who will make magic for you. For me, there was a sense of pride in working for Disney. Disney is such a highly regarded company, so maybe that’s why I felt that way.
But make no mistake — working at Disney isn’t always magical. Like many other jobs, there are a lot of pluses and minuses.
You probably know the story of Pinocchio, the puppet who wanted to become a real boy. Well, I just found a journal by one of the workers who worked on that film. This was given by one of the co-workers who worked on the Pinocchio ride. I will type down everything on here, so that you can read it for yourself. Besides, I have seen the videos on YouTube, and all the stories that are on this site. But even though some of them are fake, they are pretty okay for an internet urban legend.
Here's what the journal reads...
---
I had a blast working in Walt Disney Studios.
I was a storyboard artist at Walt Disney Studios for a year in 1928 for my degree in animation. It wasn't paid, of course, most internships at Disney aren't. But, hey, at least Disney at the time was like working for the president of the United States.
Till things go sour for all of us.
Disney was feeling the economic pressures of World War 2 at the time. Animators were leaving the studio to join the military, Disney was wrapped up working on propaganda videos for the U.S Government, and their overseas revenue was virtually non-existent due to the war going on. It was one of the handful of times in the company's history that their future was rocky and uncertain.
So while re-releasing Snow White didn't solve our problems, it at least helped.
On top of that, there was a genuine benefit for the audiences in putting out the film again. seven years later, there would be a whole new wave of children who had never seen the film.
Remember, this was the 40's. There was no Netflix, no Blu-Rays, nor did we have DVDs or VHS tapes. TV was still pretty new and the industry's relationship with film would be rocky for a while anyway.
So this brings me to the reason I'm writing this down. Because there was a certain original plotline for the 1940 2nd full-length animated feature film, Pinocchio. I first saw the plotline when I first retired when Walt Disney, himself, died. I went to the vault where we kept all Disney films in alphabetical order, like Walt had promised.
You might be asking yourselves, What is the Disney Vault, is it real, why does Disney put movies in it? And is it a bad idea? Well for starters, no, it's not real. But, there is an actual Disney Vault that houses the animations for some of Disney's most classic animated films.
And that's where I found it.
I found it while cleaning up the place and saw the letter P, and thought of Pinocchio. I actually enjoyed making the film along with my colleagues, since Pinocchio was my favorite fairy tale. I opened the drawer and found the original Tape. Then I discovered that there was another tape under it. I saw that the words: "Pinocchio: 1937 Original Classic", was written on it in black marker.
I then noticed that it was written in Walt's handwriting. I can easily tell it was written by Walt himself, cause (like I said before) I've been working in Walt Disney Studios since the first Mickey Mouse cartoon was aired. This is where VHS tapes became a smash hit, so don't get me wrong with something completely off topic.
Anyway, I took the tape, and head home. I pondered at the thought that something was wrong. I am completely sure we didn't make Pinocchio in 1937. I was really baffled. I thought: We did not make this... and, Walter was expecting Snow White to be in theaters, not Pinocchio. I shook my head in disbelief, but I had to do some more thinking while eating my McDonald's dinner. After finishing my dinner, I took the tape, put it in the VHS player, and hit the start button (after a minute of rewinding).
While it played some trailers, I grabbed a bottle of Budweiser and sat down in front of the TV. After the usual 'Feature Presentation' screen with the silhouette of Mickey Mouse spinning, it got to the film. It starts out like the 1940 version, but as I saw the credits, I noticed the names such as, Phil Thompson, Dennis Harrison, Catherine Smith, and Matthew Sanders.
It begins with Jiminy Cricket singing that 'Wish Upon a Star' song, which became a trademark song for Disney. Hell, it might even be useful for the logo someday. After the song had ended, it cuts to Jiminy discussing to the audience about the story. He opens the book and it goes to a different character who appears to be a lumberjack named, "Mastro Cherry".
He looks like Willie the Giant from Mickey and The Beanstalk, except he was voiced by Phil Harris, who did Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book and Little John in Robin Hood.
This character is the same size of a normal man with German clothing (since the film took place in Germany). His nose was red, almost like the painted nose of a clown. He was chopping down trees so he can carve them into utensils, chairs, tables, or boards for houses. Mastro was chopping a pine tree. When he leaves, lightning strikes the tree, imbuing a fallen piece of the tree with magic. He stares at the fallen piece of wood for a moment. Then he thought, and was filled with joy. Rubbing his hands together happily, he mumbled half to himself:
“Right on time. I'll use this to make the leg for my table.”
He took it to his house, and grasped the hatchet quickly to peel off the bark and shape the wood. But before he could chop it on the right shape, he heard the piece of wood say: “Please be careful! Don't hit me so hard!”
It sounded like the same actor who voiced Pinocchio in the 1940 version. At least, I think it was. I could be wrong. I don't remember much, so forgive me for my lack of memory.
Frightened by the talking log, Master Cherry gives it to his neighbor Geppetto, an extremely poor man who plans to make a living as a puppeteer in hopes of earning "a crust of bread and a glass of wine".
Geppetto carves the block into a young boy and names him "Pinocchio". As soon as Pinocchio's nose has been carved, it begins to grow the more he acts like a dummy to Geppetto. Before he is even built, Pinocchio already has a mischievous attitude; no sooner than Geppetto is finished carving Pinocchio's feet does the puppet proceed to kick him in the face. Once the puppet has been finished and Geppetto teaches him to walk, Pinocchio runs out the door and away into the town. He is caught by a Policeman, who assumes Pinocchio has been mistreated and imprisons Geppetto.
Left alone, Pinocchio heads back to Geppetto's house to get something to eat. Once he arrives at home, a talking cricket (who is actually Jiminy Cricket) who has lived in the house for over a century warns him of the perils of disobedience and hedonism. In retaliation, Pinocchio throws a hammer at the cricket and he died instantly. That evening, Pinocchio falls asleep with his feet on the stove, and wakes to find that they have burned off. Geppetto is released from prison and makes Pinocchio a new pair of feet. In gratitude, Pinocchio promises to attend school, and Geppetto sells his only coat to buy him a school book.
On his way to school the next morning, Pinocchio encounters the Great Marionette Theatre, and he sells his school book in order to buy a ticket for the show. The marionettes on stage recognize him in the audience and call out to him, angering the puppet master Stromboli. The puppet master initially decides to use Pinocchio as firewood but ultimately releases him and gives him five gold coins to give to Geppetto.
As Pinocchio travels home to give the coins to his father, he meets Honest John and Gideon.
Honest John and Gideon appear to be wearing raggedy clothes instead of they're usual clothes in the 1940 version. Honest John is seen even more cunning then his usual appearance. Gideon was even stranger. Instead of the usual dimwitted appearance, he is even smarter than Honest John himself. He is appeared as a skinny Black Tabby cat with a chipped right ear. He even has a scar on his face and (to my shock) talks in the film. He spoke in a raspy British accent, if you saw "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" from 1941, then Gideon sounds identical to Mr. Hyde.
It turns out that Gideon is voiced by the late great, Spencer Tracy.
Anyway, back to the film.
Gideon pretends to be blind, and Honest John pretends to be crippled. A crow tries to warn Pinocchio of their lies, but the crow is eaten by Gideon. The two anthropomorphic animals convince Pinocchio that if he plants his coins in the Field of Miracles outside the city of Catchfools, they will grow into a tree with gold coins. They stop at an inn, where Honest John and Gideon, at Pinocchio's expense, asks him to be awaken by midnight. Two hours before the set time, the pair abandon Pinocchio, leaving him to pay for room service with one of his coins. Before Gideon leaves with Honest John, he sits next to Pinocchio on the bed and has a conversation with him. He tells Pinocchio to stay inside after dark, and that some masked maniacs attack people around 12. Honest John then calls out: "Gideon!" and he leaves before looking back and says with a rape-ish grin.
"Can't wait to see YOU again, puppet..."
They instruct the innkeeper to tell Pinocchio that they left after receiving a message stating that Gideon's eldest kitten had fallen ill and that they would meet Pinocchio at the Field of Miracles in the morning.
They take off ahead of Pinocchio and disguise themselves as bandits while Pinocchio continues on toward Catchfools, despite warnings from Jiminy. Honest John and Gideon reminded me of two Ku klux Clan members as they wore white sheets over their heads as masks, and the larger parts as the costumes. Stitches can be seen all over the costumes, showing me that they made the costumes themselves. Two large eyeholes are shown on the masks. The disguised Fox and Cat ambush Pinocchio, but the puppet escapes to a white house after biting off Gideon's hand. Upon knocking on the door, Pinocchio is greeted by a young fairy with turquoise hair who says she is dead and waiting for a hearse. Unfortunately, the bandits catch him and hang him in a tree. After a while, Honest John and Gideon get tired of waiting for the puppet to suffocate, and they leave.
The Fairy has Pinocchio rescued by summoning a falcon to get him down and having her poodle servant pick him up in her stagecoach. The Fairy calls in three famous doctors to tell her whether Pinocchio is dead. Two of them, an owl and a mare, are unsure of Pinocchio's status. The third doctor is the Ghost of Jiminy Cricket, who says that the puppet is fine, but has been disobedient and hurt his father. The Fairy administers medicine to Pinocchio who consents to take it after four undertaker rabbits arrive to carry away his body. Recovered, Pinocchio lies to the Fairy when she asks what has happened to the gold coins, and his nose grows until it is so long that he cannot turn around in the room. The Fairy explains that Pinocchio's lies are making his nose grow and calls in a flock of woodpeckers to chisel it down to size. The Fairy sends for Geppetto to come and live with them in the forest cottage.
When Pinocchio heads out to meet his father, he once again encounters Honest John and Gideon. When Pinocchio notices Gideon's missing hand, Honest John claims that they had to sacrifice it to feed a hungry old wolf named Reginald. They remind the puppet of the Field of Miracles, and finally, he agrees to go with them and plant his gold. They finally reach the city of Catchfools, where every animal in town has done something exceedingly foolish and now suffer as a result. Upon reaching the Field of Miracles, Pinocchio buries his coins and then leaves for the twenty minutes that it will take for his gold to grow into gold coin trees. After Pinocchio leaves, Honest John and Gideon dig up the coins and run away.
Once Pinocchio returns, he learns of Honest John and Gideon's treachery from a parrot who mocks Pinocchio for falling for their tricks. Pinocchio rushes to the Catchfools courthouse where he reports the theft of the coins to a gorilla judge. Although he is irritated by Pinocchio's speech, the judge sentences Pinocchio to four months in prison for the crime of foolishness. Fortunately, all criminals are released early by the jailers when the unseen young Emperor of Catchfools declares a celebration following his army's victory over the town's enemies. Upon being released, Pinocchio leaves Catchfools.
Pinocchio then heads back to the Fairy's house in the forest, but he sneaks into a farmer's yard to steal some grapes. He is caught in a weasel trap where he encounters a farmer. He releases Pinocchio from the weasel trap and ties him up in the doghouse of his late watch dog Melampo to guard the chicken coop. When Pinocchio foils the chicken-stealing weasels, the farmer frees the puppet as a reward. Pinocchio finally comes to where the cottage was, finds nothing but a gravestone, and believes that the Fairy has died of sorrow.
A friendly pigeon sees Pinocchio mourning the Fairy's death and offers to give him a ride to the seashore, where Geppetto is building a boat in which to search for Pinocchio. Pinocchio is washed ashore when he swims to his father. Geppetto is then swallowed by a giant Megladon. Pinocchio accepts a ride from a dolphin to the nearest island called the Island of Busy. Upon arriving on the Island of Busy, Pinocchio can only get food in return for labor. Pinocchio offers to carry a lady's jug home in return for food and water. When they get to the lady's house, Pinocchio recognizes the lady as the Fairy, now miraculously old enough to be his mother. She says she will act as his mother, and Pinocchio will begin going to school. She hints that if Pinocchio does well in school and tries his hardest to be good for one whole year, then he will become a real boy.
Pinocchio studies hard and rises to the top of his class, but this makes the other schoolboys jealous. The other boys trick Pinocchio into playing hookey by saying they saw a large shark at the beach, the same one that swallowed Geppetto. However, the boys were lying and a fight breaks out. One boy named Eugene is hit by Pinocchio's school book, though Pinocchio did not throw it. Pinocchio is accused of injuring Eugene by two teachers, but the puppet escapes. During his escape, Pinocchio saves a drowning Mastiff named Alidoro. In exchange, Alidoro later saves Pinocchio from The Green Fisherman, who was going to eat the marionette. After reaching land and going back on the sidewalk. Alidoro than waves goodbye to Pinocchio and says that he's a handsome friend. As Pinocchio returns home. After meeting the Snail that works for the Fairy, Pinocchio is given another chance by the Fairy.
Pinocchio does excellently in school and passes with high honors. The Fairy promises that Pinocchio will be a real boy the next day and says he should invite all his friends to a party. He goes to invite everyone, but he is sidetracked when he meets a boy nicknamed Candlewick who is about to go to a place called Playtime Island where everyone plays all day and never works. Pinocchio goes along with him when they are taken there by The Coachman, and they have a wonderful time for the next five months.
One morning in the fifth month, Pinocchio and Candlewick awake with donkeys' ears. A Dormouse tells Pinocchio that boys who do nothing but play and never work will sometimes turn into donkeys while they are in Playtime Island. Soon both Pinocchio and Candlewick are fully transformed into donkeys, and Pinocchio is sold to a circus by The Coachman. He is trained by the ringmaster to do tricks until he falls and sprains his leg. The ringmaster then sells Pinocchio to a man who wants to skin him and make a drum. The man throws Pinocchio into the sea to drown him. But when the man goes to retrieve the corpse, all he finds is a living marionette. Pinocchio explains that the fish ate all the donkey skin off him, and he is now a puppet again.
Pinocchio dives back into the water and swims out to sea. When the Megalodon appears, Pinocchio swims from it at the advice of the Fairy in the form of a little blue-furred goat from atop a high rock, but is swallowed by it. Inside the Megalodon, Pinocchio unexpectedly finds Geppetto, who has been living on a ship inside the Megalodon. Pinocchio and Geppetto manage to escape the giant shark and search for a place to stay.
Pinocchio and Geppetto pass two beggars: Honest John and Gideon. Gideon has really become blind, and Honest John has really become crippled and also has rips on his jacket, and has got rid off his pants because he sold them to a poor family. Honest John pleaded for food or money, but Pinocchio rebuffs him and tells him that both of their misfortunes have served them right for their wickedness. Gideon heard Pinocchio's voice and smiles.
"Ah, we meet again," he said, not bothered by his blindness. "Before you rebuke me as well, just know that I have no regrets." With that he snickered.
I could obviously tell that, unlike Gideon's counterpart being an idiot, he was originally going to be a dangerous sociopath with no regard for human life. I know our brand of villains would do heinous acts such as emotional manipulation and world domination, but never have we written a serial murderer in a Disney movie. Murder is a very specific crime—defined as the killing of three or more people over a period of more than a month with a significant break between the killings—and is far too graphic and mature a theme for Disney's family-oriented animated productions. I've never seen Gideon boast about killing people, but he did have the perverted grin of someone who enjoyed the sound of his victim's cries.
Pinocchio was not phased by the cat's taunt and said, "Goodbye, Gideon. Never do mischief again. May you live the rest of your life in peace."
Pinocchio then leaves Gideon as the cat laughs like a menace, his feline head tilted back and his mouth wide open to the world.
Geppetto and Pinocchio arrive at a small house, which is home to Jiminy. Jiminy says they can stay and reveals that he got his house from a mountain goat with turquoise hair. Pinocchio gets a job doing work for a farmer and recognizes the farmer's dying donkey as his friend Candlewick.
After long months of working for the farmer and supporting the ailing Geppetto, Pinocchio goes to town with the forty pennies he has saved to buy himself a new suit. He discovers that the Fairy is ill and needs money. Pinocchio instantly gives the Snail he met back on the Island of Busy all the money he has. That night, he dreams that he is visited by the Fairy, who kisses him. When he wakes up, he is a real boy at last. His former puppet body lies lifeless on a chair. Furthermore, Pinocchio finds that the Fairy has left him a new suit, boots, and a bag in which he thinks are the forty pennies that he originally gave to her. Instead, the boy is shocked to find forty freshly-minted gold coins. Geppetto also returns to health and resumes woodcarving.
With that, the film ends.
I just sat there, eyes bugged out, jaw nearly inches from my crotch, and just stared at the screen. I didn't know the film was "truly" based on the book I read as a kid. The book send shivers down my spine, and it still does to this day. But now seeing it on my TV screen, made my blood turn cold. The way the film reverberates from warm-hearted, to flat out dark and ominous, made it hard to pin-point what was going on. But from what I learned, was that Walt Disney used to want a much darker tone to Pinocchio, but after knowing this film is going to be seen by children, years later, he changed the film into what we know today as a light-hearted and child friendly film.
Now as I sit here, dying from old age, I must warn you that Disney has something to hide, and it's not just the abandoned Mowgli's Palace having living demonic costumes, or some crazy cartoon guy walking around like Frankenstein's Monster on crack. It's nothing more than a secret we're all supposed to find, but never did.
I still have the tape, but I requested that it would be returned to the Disney Vault, never to be seen again. Everybody kept asking me for some sort of "evidence" from the tape. But all I can say is that, you might as well read the book, it's very similar to that. Like all Disney films, it has musical numbers, but there was one song sequence from The Green Fisherman called, "Sailing Over the Dogger Bank".
Well, looks like it's the end of my story. Let this be a lesson to you, if you come across an episode or film that scares the living crap out of you, I suggest that you look away. There's no telling what inhuman scenes await human eyes.
No mere man can ever withstand the dark, brutal, and graphic secrets behind Disney's nature.
It's better left unsaid.
---
I got to admit, this whole journal entry really got me on edge. But still though, I look forward to watching this specific VHS tape this guy had in his possession. But, sadly, Disney doesn't have it anymore. One of the co-workers said that they already burned it years ago and had never seen the light of day.
Said it was too graphic for children.
I don't know, I think it's pretty awesome to see a much darker side of Pinocchio than the one we have (aside from the Donkey Transformation scene). But, what did that guy say about those "dark, brutal and graphic secrets" that Disney has? Was he talking about those stories on the internet? I know about the ameba in River Country and Mowgli's Palace being an abandoned mess, that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.
Oh, and about that bomb shelter thing being real. Well, I asked some higher-ups about it. They said it might be real, but the rumors were proven to be false. They're words, not mine. But there was one thing they forgot to mention... Walt Disney, himself, has the whole thing planned out.
All these secrets that were shown all over the internet, went with him to the grave.