10 Fascinating Facts About Disney's Pinocchio
3. All The Butt-Jokes
During the opening when Pinocchio is created, you’ll notice all of Geppetto’s cuckoo clocks. And a lot of them have something to do with butts. Whether it’s a child being spanked, ducks doing the bottoms-up in a pool of water, or a man getting “rat-arsed” it’s always something to do with butts.
Unlike an Adam Sandler film, there is a legitimate reason for this. Growing up, Walt Disney and his brothers had a “tough-love” childhood. Whenever he did anything his father was disappointed by or they did anything wrong he would get a severe spanking. This is something reiterated in the 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks, where Disney (played by Tom Hanks) tells a story of his father to P.L. Travers.
"You'd best be quick there, Walt. You'd better get those newspapers up on that porch and under that storm door. Poppa's gonna lose his temper again and show you the buckle end of his belt, boy”… rare is the day when I don't think about that eight-year-old boy delivering newspapers in the snow and old Elias Disney with that strap in his fist
Since his childhood, Walt has had a strange fascination with butt jokes. It seems Disney would work to find the humour in any situation, even one that caused him painful memories about his father.