At first glance, Disney's 1940 feature animation Pinocchio, based on the 19th-century Italian fairy tale by Carlo Collodi, hardly seems appropriate for a discussion of male spirituality issues. However, a closer viewing of this time-honored classic reveals a variety of perennial themes and symbols of initiation and transformation. The film passes from entertainment to enchantment, from fable to allegory, and touches on endless archetypal patterns that constitute the core of the human psyche.

The tale is universally known. It involves the magical transformation of a wooden puppet, brought to life by the Blue Fairy in answer to a lonely old carver's wish upon a falling star. While alive, or animated, Pinocchio is not yet a "real" boy, as he is told by the Fairy, until he proves himself. He is assigned a "conscience" in the vagabond cricket Jiminy who is to assist him in meeting life's tests of character. However, through many shadow encounters and sordid adventures he is repeatedly led astray.

When Pinocchio rescues his father from the belly of Monstro the whale, using for the first time the spiritual daring required of him, he is killed. Because of his great personal sacrifice, the Blue Fairy intervenes again and restores Pinocchio to life, this time however, a life of flesh and blood. As a reborn real person, he takes his place in a world of responsible selfless action; nature is reconciled, and even the pet cat and the fish are no longer antagonistic.

While delightful in its own right, the film can be revisited by boys and men as a personal and symbolic narrative of the crucial moments of life experience and initiatory rites of passage. The questions below can serve as a starting point for small group discussion.

Pinocchio is widely available through most DVD rental outlets, including Netflix and Blockbuster. You might also want to try your local library.

Discussion Questions

1. Pinocchio is on an identity quest. What false self-images or roles does he take on and to what ends do they lead him? Who does he become in the end?
2. The Blue Fairy tells Pinocchio that he must acquire three virtues for his transformation to a real boy. Are these virtues essential to male initiation?
3. In what ways can Pinocchio's naive and reckless path in the world be attributed to a lack of mentoring?
4. Can conscience ever check deeper urges toward self-destructive and unsocial behavior? How does it work for Pinocchio? How does it fail him?
5. How does the theme of death and rebirth play into the story?
6. What about Pinocchio's escape from Monstro is different from his other flights from danger? How is it transformative?
7. All the characters are men, except for the Blue Fairy. What might it mean that this divine intervening force is singularly feminine?
8. Do you feel any personal or mythic stirrings when you revisit this film? Did you view this film as a child? How has your perception changed? Do you think it would be helpful to watch the film with a group of young boys? How might the film's multiple levels serve as an ongoing tool or reference point for instruction and mentoring?

For further reading:

A deeper reading of other seeming "kid flicks" can be understood and applied to the language of male spirituality using the work of Jungian analysts like Bruno Bettleheim's Uses of Enchantment: Importance and Meaning of Fairy Tales and Marie-Louis von Franz's Archetypal Patterns in Fairy Tales as guides. These approaches or 'revisits' to old material may shed new light on initiation and ways to read the metaphors of the divine masculine.

 

Photos copyright Disney Corporation. Used under "Fair Use" provisions.