Pleasure Island is an Enchanted Forest location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It appears in the twelfth episode of the sixth season.
Pleasure Island is based on the Land of Toys and the Circus from the story The Adventures of Pinocchio, and on the location of the same name from Disney's Pinocchio.
History
Pleasure Island is an island in the Enchanted Forest that has dealings with Neverland that can only be accessed by those who have a ticket. One day, Prince James, who is tired of his father's constant attempts to turn him into a knight, runs away from home and goes here. After learning of this, Robert, James's biological father, goes to Rumplestiltskin for help tracking him down, who gives him a ticket. The island is also visited by Pinocchio, who later expresses regret over the things he did while on the island. When he sees Robert, he attempts to take the coin around his wrist, asking if it's worth anything. Robert denies this and explains that it belonged to his son, and further explains that his other son ran away and asks if Pinocchio knows where he went. Pinocchio states that he hasn't spoken to him, but Robert realizes this is a lie when the puppet's nose starts to grow. With Pinocchio's help, he finds James and offers to bring him to his farm, where he can be raised with his brother. Seeing the employees of the Pleasure Island starting to come after Robert and James, Pinocchio ushers the pair to run. Robert and James make it to the island dock, but before they leave, King George is there to stop them, ordering Robert to return James, and taunts him for giving up his own flesh and blood. Robert refuses, so George commands his men kill him and make it look like an accident. He then takes James and leaves Pleasure Island to continue to train his son as a knight. ("Murder Most Foul")
After Roni casts a curse to unite the realms, Pleasure Island is brought to Storybrooke and now rests next to Victorian England.[1] ("Leaving Storybrooke")
Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- Pleasure Island's ferris wheel is featured in the title card for "Murder Most Foul."[2]
- When Emma visits August after she defeats Gideon, he is writing about his time on Pleasure Island.[3] ("Tougher Than the Rest")
- It is the first, and only, place in Fairy Tale Land, with electricity. ("Murder Most Foul")
- According to Hook, Pleasure Island had dealings with Neverland. ("Murder Most Foul")
Production Notes
- Originally, donkeys wearing hats were set to appear on Pleasure Island, a reference to The Adventures of Pinocchio, in which all boys sent to Toyland are turned into donkeys. The donkeys were brought in for the episode "Murder Most Foul,"[4] dressed up in headgear and everything, but this ended up being cut from the episode.
Disney
- August's description for Phuket, which is "It's a beautiful, amazing island, full of pleasures. The perfect place to lose oneself...," is an allusion to the Pleasure Island in Disney's Pinocchio. ("The Stranger")
- When Sam Ochotta is brought to the police station after being apprehended at the Pleasure Island Cabaret for drunken behavior, he shouts that he "isn't going to some salt mine," and Rogers remarks that alcohol turns some people into jackasses. This is a reference to the Disney film, where mischievous boys on Pleasure Island who indulge in alcohol and other vices, are turned into donkeys (the word "jackass" refers to both a male donkey and a stupid person) and sold to salt mines and other places for money. ("Greenbacks")
Popular Culture
- August has a wooden hand-carved donkey paper weight,[5] a reference to The Adventures of Pinocchio, in which all boys sent to Toyland are turned into donkeys.[6] ("The Return")
Props Notes
- Statues of a griffin and a winged lion among can be seen among the gargoyles that children throw bottles at.[7] A griffin is a legendary creature which has the front half of an eagle and the hind half of a lion, while the winged lion is a mythological creature that resembles a lion with bird-like wings. ("Murder Most Foul")
- The griffin statue also appeared on top of the Underworld grave that Hook, Emma and Snow were hiding behind in "Her Handsome Hero."[8] It also appears, painted in a different color, in Gothel's garden in "Eloise Gardener."[9]
Set Dressing
- A stuffed tiger can be seen sitting next to the gargoyles that children throw bottles at.[10] The same tiger can be seen in Emma's nursery room in "Pilot,"[11] "Going Home"[12] and "The Tower."[13] An Underworld version of the tiger can be seen in the Underbrooke Swan house in "Devil's Due"[14] and "The Brothers Jones."[15] ("Murder Most Foul")
Filming Locations
- The scenes at the Pleasure Island amusement park were filmed on a green-screen set.[16] Parts of the set was real, while the rest was added digitally in post-production.
Appearances
Once Upon a Time: Season Six | ||||||||||
"The Savior": | "A Bitter Draught": | "The Other Shoe": | "Strange Case": | "Street Rats": | "Dark Waters": | "Heartless": | "I'll Be Your Mirror": | "Changelings": | "Wish You Were Here": | "Tougher Than the Rest": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Murder Most Foul": | "Ill-Boding Patterns": | "Page 23": | "A Wondrous Place": | "Mother's Little Helper": | "Awake": | "Where Bluebirds Fly": | "The Black Fairy": | "The Song in Your Heart": | "The Final Battle Part 1": | "The Final Battle Part 2": |
Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Once Upon a Time: Season Seven | ||||||||||
"Hyperion Heights": | "A Pirate's Life": | "The Garden of Forking Paths": | "Beauty": | "Greenbacks": | "Wake Up Call": | "Eloise Gardener": | "Pretty in Blue": | "One Little Tear": | "The Eighth Witch": | "Secret Garden": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"A Taste of the Heights": | "Knightfall": | "The Girl in the Tower": | "Sisterhood": | "Breadcrumbs": | "Chosen": | "The Guardian": | "Flower Child": | "Is This Henry Mills?": | "Homecoming": | "Leaving Storybrooke": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears |
Other Appearances | ||||||||||
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