Lets also keep in mind that Donkey fakes being unable to talk in the first Shrek movie... so he absolutely could have done the same thing to get off the island.

Director: Lets just make a talking donkey Film Theory:

You're forgetting something MatPat. The Pinocchio from Shrek is based on the one from the book not the Disney film. In the book, he's not left with a donkey tail and ears before becoming a real boy. Rather, he becomes a full donkey but then gets changed back into his full puppet before having several more adventures. with this in mind, it's still possible that Shrek's Pinocchio has already been to Pleasure Island.

As a trauma survivor I will say even after four years some of the people closest to me still don't know it happened because it is terrifying to say something - I don't blame him

"No screaming naked babies around here" Matpat, that's a lie. You're a parent.

Creators of Shrek: W-we just wanted a talking donkey... MatPat: *NO*

Concerning whether Donkey alerted anyone about Pleasure Island, consider the fact that in all the time Donkey was with Shrek, Pinocchio never disappeared or turned into a donkey. Maybe Donkey couldn't shut the whole operation down but saved who he could.

In defense of Donkey, it is also possible that he already acted against Pleasure Island. Maybe the reason Pinocchio never went there is that Donkey already reported it to the authorities and had it shut down.

When there was debate over a Puss In Boots movie, or a Donkey movie, the directors admitted that Donkey's backstory was gonna be quite depressing.

I’ve never realized how creepy donkeys face is until it’s staring into my soul

That's a bold take on Donkey being a bad person for not stepping up to expose the kidnapping ring. He was a kid at the time when he escaped. The whole ordeal was clearly traumatizing and going to the authorities could have easily backfired on him and got him caught by the very people he escaped from. He instead decided it was best to put all that behind him, and proceeded to repress these troubling memories from his past.

I'd like to point out that Donkey never escaped from Pleasure Island... yes, he perhaps hid the fact that he could still talk and was shipped out prematurely, but he was still bound in an abusive life of servitude at the beginning of the first Shrek movie. (Remember, the old woman threatened to beat him if he didn't stop pleading with her, and again when he refused to talk to the guards.) He doesn't actually escape his trauma until he gets sprinkled with Tink's fairy dust. A lifetime of slavery doesn't offer much opportunity to expose the truth about Pleasure Island. Plus as many others have said, once he was finally free, it would have been hard for him to talk about what he went through. Let's not victim-shame here.

I know this is really late, and you’ve already proved the theory but donkey also says: “I can’t feel my toes, wait I don’t have toes” in the movie. Which implies that he knows what having toes is like.

Okay but does that mean Grimm’s donkey was just a real dedicated furry?

Maybe he DID try telling someone, but no one believed him. Until he got the attention of an old woman. An old woman who was more interested in his ability to talk, and tried to sell him to the Castle like we see in the beginning of the movie.

There’s just something missing from that theory though: in the second Shrek movie, when donkey drank the potion, he turned into a majestic stallion. Why didn’t the potion turn him back into a human? It’s called “Happily Ever After” potion with the added condition of “beauty divine”. If it truly was that, then shouldn’t donkey’s “happily ever after” be-according to your theory-turning back into a human?

Are you seriously not going to bring up the whole "I can't feel my toes...I don't have any toes!!!" which Donkey says in the first movie here?

"Donkey is secretly a human" Yeah and his name is Eddie Murphy

MatPat, I love your analysis saying how donkey is from the Grim brothers story or from Pleasure Island (and I wouldn’t want to ruin it) but if you noticed in Shrek Forever After; when Donkey and the witches are taking Shrek to Rumpelstiltskin, Donkey says to Shrek "I am not going back to wok for Old MacDonald" revealing Donkeys backstory and Fairytale/Nursery Rhyme he’s actually from. Old MacDonald Had A Farm.

I just always assumed he was a human turned donkey from the Pinocchio story

the old woman giving donkey away tells him to speak and he doesn’t, he plays dumb. This would explain how he got away from pleasure island and got sold to that woman even though he can talk and he has no clothes 🤷🏼‍♀️ I worded that badly I think but it’s late and I can’t be bothered to change it xx

*MatPat makes a theory* My ChildHood: *Ight imma head out*

13:23 I think he WAS sold out! An old lady purchased him and when she was done, she wanted to sell him to farquad (sorry if I spelled wrong)

I honestly think Donkey has his priorities straight. He probably thinks he’ll be sent back if he tells anyone about his origin story. Also, banging Dragons FTW.

Maybe he did tell and shut it all down, that's why pinnochio is still just a toy.

MatPat: "Where have we ever seen a talking donkey?" Me, immediately: "Pinocchio...."

Mattpat, you forgot to deep dive into the Bremen musicians! It's a story about animal friends, each of them have a backstory. HOWEVER THE DONKEY CAN SING AND WAS ABONDED BY THEIR OWNER. I'd like to see this theory with the Bremen musicans.

seeing matpat arrest Prince Charming with Russian subtitles genuinely made me laugh

Are we not gonna talk about how in the first movie when the old lady tried to sell him he pretended that he couldn’t talk? Maybe that was because he thought that someone would send him back to pleasure Island if they knew

That's actually a great idea for Shrek 5. Shrek and donkey go on an adventure to stop the enterprise at pleasure island

According to Shrek 3, Donkey is from Old Mac Donald’s farm

13:53 Maybe he did tell about it, which is why Pinocchio never got there in the first place

Are we just gonna ignore the fact that this theory implies a human child in the form of a donkey conceived children with a dragon?

god you really dont realize how dark pinnochio is when your a child

I always thought the spell that fell on him in the first movie was how he could talk. Does that mean he talk before that?

Oh found this on the Shrek Wiki under Donkey's page, "Though it is never stated which fairytale creature Donkey is based on if any, it is possible he is based at least partly on the Aesop Fable of the stubborn donkey who ran off a cliff out of stubbornness against his master. This is supported by his first scene in the original Shrek, where he is pleading with his former owner that he won't be stubborn again." I guess Matt does these theories for fun now, either way it is entertaining XD

Not to mention the very first scene we meet donkey hes being turned in/sold by the old woman. And upon being turned in he HID THE FACT HE COULD TALK. That was probably how he escaped pleasure island. By pretending he was fully donkey and staying mute out of fear. Then was bought by the old lady who later turned him in when magical creatures became outlawed. Thats probably also why he didnt mention anything. He was afterall a slave and the old lady didnt seem to be the compassionate type and probably wouldnt listen of care if hed said anything. Plus people tend to not take doney that seriously he probably feels powerless and just wants to forget the whole thing happened. Even though theoretically he could out pleasure island i cant blame him for keeping his mouth shut. Hes been traumatized and just wants to forget.

I didn't realize donkey's eyes were so freaky until now...

I think Donkey just felt that there was nothing he could do about it. It just felt so hopeless that he just became apathetic to it.

He's an adult in the movie. We can see he was abused by more than one of his "owners". The old lady beat him and he was scared shitless of the old keepers place. He probably tried to tell many people and no one believed him. He was even punished for it. That why he doesn't even bother bringing it up anymore.

He might've been their first experiment, and thats why he's not helping other children, he might not even know there are more than him

He was a child when it happened, he probably is so traumatised that he can't even think of his past. Plus, Pinnocio himself wasn't a bad kid, just caught up. Donkey could be a good kid in a bad place with heavy trauma.

As for why Donkey doesn't spill the beans on Pleasure Island, remember that it was only bad boys who got taken there. Maybe if Donkey talked about it he'd have to admit to something really bad like homicide, somebody dying as a result of his antics.

I’d argue that Donkey might have tried to tell someone but whoever he went to didn’t believed him, or at the very least was willing to help (Especially seeing how fairytale creatures are treated in Shrek). Since it probably took a lot of effort and courage to tell someone only to get rejected, he decides that it was pointless to try and tell people and instead wants to push past his trauma and live his life now as a donkey.

Am I the only one who finds Donkey's eyes a bit unsettling when viewed up close?

People : raiding area 51 Matpat: SHREK'S DONKEY IS SECRETLY A HUMAN.

I always figured he'd escaped from pleasure island. Kept Wondering if he was gonna be like "aye, Pinocchio, how ya doing man?"

Let’s keep in mind that donkey might have been used to living as a donkey long enough that he forgot. Or he forcefully blocked it from his memory and in the shriek movies did not think to tell about it

Film Theory: *not a donkey* Me: His name is still Donkey either way, so he will always be donkey

What if it's an alternate timeline where Donkey already shutdown the smuggling ring, and therefore Pinnochio never got the character development that came from that event and that's why Pinnochio is still in form 2?

I am so happy that this introduced me to James, now he’s one of my favourite creators

Personally, I think that Donkey is based on the donkey in the story of The Bremen Town Musicians, given his propensity to singing/humming.

Daaaaang I never watched Pinocchio as a kid. No one told me it was so dark!

Author: I want a cool donkey in my story for no reason English teachers:

1:45 "but a talking donkey? where is he from?" me: the Bible 👀

Maybe he could be Alexander but most likely the kid orange hair and green tie

The clips from pinnochio of Alexander crying for his mum is so sad

Matpat: this is it, everything connects. Video: *has 5 minutes left*

I actually wanna propose a theory of my own. Precisely on how donkey escaped... Perhaps the reason why he's not talking about the other boys on pleasure island is that he made a deal to escape and still keep a portion of his humanity left. Maybe the trade offer was to keep quite and they may let him go with some of humanity.

In shrek 2 Donkey says: "Me and Pinnochiio were about to go catch a movie" Meaning, they must have somewhat of a good connection

Hmmm. Does Donkey even know how to get back to Pleasure Island? This deserves some research! *1 research montage later* Okay, so this is what I got, without watching the whole two movies: The "law" apparently know something about Pleasure Island. Enough to scare Honest John. Whether they know about the donkey thing is another story. The boys get there first by coach, and then by boat, from a pretty secret looking dock. And it's all pretty young boys, no teens. When the donkeys stop talking, they get shipped out on another boat. There are a lot of boys on pleasure island, and a very small amount of donkeys that can still talk, so it must not take long for them to go full donkey. Which also begs the question... why can Donkey from Shrek still talk? Now Donkey from Shrek is an adult. And I believe donkeys take 2 years to get to "mating age". So let's suppose donkey ages at the same rate as a real donkey. So it could be anywhere from 1-2 years since Donkey was on pleasure island. He also couldn't just swim by himself. He wouldn't be able to make it without a boat. In all that time, Donkey has 1) not lost the ability to speak, 2) has not shown any interest in becoming human again, 3)is so FREAKING CHEERFUL! Sincerely cheerful, not the "laughing to hide the pain" cheerful. When he's upset, makes sure you know! In fact, talking too much is one of his big character traits. 4) proves that he knows his directions 5)obviously doesn't have amnesia about being human With this, I think I can spin another story here: Donkey is indeed special. He's one of the few pleasure island boys that never stopped talking. EVER. So in true Shrek fashion, the slavers on the island just sold him off out of pure annoyance. To a land far, FAR away (fairytale pun!) where he could never trace back to his original home. over that time, Donkey adopts his laid back personality (or always had it and that's what got him to P-Island in the first place) in order to cope. So the Donkey we see now is one that has given up trying to get home. Perhaps he tried a few times, and THAT'S why he knows how to get to Farquad's castle. He was searching for a way home! But now he's an adult, and he's given up. Maybe Donkey thinks he's too far to ever find the way home. But since we see Pinocchio, we KNOW that Pleasure island must be closer then Donkey thinks. Donkey just doesn't know da wae! All he can do is make waffles, keep talking and enjoy what life he has now... Which is super depressing! But that's just a theory. A This-is-so-long-why-didn't-I-just-make-a-video-i-should-be-cleaning THEORY! Edit: OMG my comment was liked and pinned by the theory crew! Thank you so much! Edit again: Dudes, I know the pin was taken off. Didn't know that happens when you edit. but I'm just happy I was noticed in the first place.

Man... Hearing the donkeys in Pinocchio screaming “Mommy” is just very depressing and sad it makes my heart drop. I know the donkeys misbehaved but still they’re still little kids 😢

Watch the crown at 0:18 pure comedy

BEST. THEORY. EVER!!! Especially the part about him being the EXACT SAME kind of donkey that was in 'Pinocchio'! He seems as if he was one of the kids in the Jonathan Taylor-Thomas version with the horrifying transformation scene on the roller coaster!! This is by far my favorite Film Theory video too, SO well done and interesting to watch:):)

Donkey: I think I need a hug Me: *cries at the idea this theory actually sounds plausible*

Technically donkey could've already had tried to tell people about, it just didn't happen in the movies because its irrelevant to them.

When I was in the second grade, I was the star in a little play about a singing, talking donkey who journeys to some city to become part of a band. When Shrek first came out, I always liked to believe that Donkey was based off my donkey.

I Love the Idea of Donkey coming from Pleasure Island. . . and Honestly. . . I Can see him being Traumatized by his time at Pleasure Island. . . and the Reason he doesn't try to tell anyone about it; is because HE DOESN'T WANT TO RE-LIVE that Trauma; He doesn't want to Re-open that old Wound

"they're going to be suspicious that we're not trying to make our own characters" "just throw in a donkey, that'll throw them off"

Thanks so much for the shoutout! (and for pronouncing my name right!)

I like the idea that after he got with the dragon, they eventually went back to pleasure island to save the others because he literally has a dragon on his side and it was just one of their adventures as a married couple. 😊

Something I want to add on that I think is that because the orphans were picked up he could have just been picked up and not have been badly behaved more than what he needed to do to survive.

The donkey scene in Pinocchio is so sad. I had nightmares because of that movie..

The name of... pleasure island is uh.... disturbing

Great & very full proof theory! I’m so glad I found this channel, I love this kind of stuff! 👏👏

If the Shrek franchise takes place just before Pinocchio goes to pleasure island, he just came back. However, he has a deep voice. All the kids from pleasure island have high pitched noises.

*Reads title* Me: I knew there was a reason Eddie Murphy was in the credits instead of donkey

Also in shrek 4 when shrek goes back in time he find donkey literally being a slave. It wasn’t for a mine but it was for the witches I’m pretty sure so that might also be a clue as to where donkey came from

Idk if anyone’s said this yet but what if he did tell about the island, maybe in this universe he stoped it and that’s why Pinocchio never became a real boy, Pinocchio was never sent to the island so he never learned the life lessons that allowed him to become a real boy

2:55 Small thing, but I think a lot of the people in that scene know where the castle is, but everyone besides donkey is too scared. That's how I have always seen it, at least

Idk why but this theory oddly disturbs me like it’s kinda creepy

In Donkey's defense, the reason he isn't telling anyone about sugarcandy island is probably because he's afraid that the criminals will try to get revenge (most likely via murdering him). It's a lot how like rape victims will be nervous to tell anyone that they have been raped because of the repercussions. Also trauma. Trauma is a powerful thing.

Maybe the reason he's not telling anyone about Pleaser Island is because it was so traumatizing that he can't.

I’ve been thinking about the Pinnochio Donkey theory for years now. Finally someone talks about it. Then again there was a donkey in the original Shrek book.

In Shrek 2 donkey says he was sold for magic beans. Usually Jack from Jack in the beanstalk sells a cow but it's not hard to imagine in Shrek universe he sold a donkey instead.

I think he probably just has PTSD and doesn't feel safe to talk about it

This is probably the best theory map pack has come out with might even be tired as my favorite theory of all time

Right after they landed and switched bodies donkey says, “I haven’t had a trip like that since college.” So he was either a prodigy, or he didn’t turn until he was and adult, or he was always a donkey.

Imagine if they made a movie about confronting pleasure island in the Shrek universe. I would definitely watch that

matpat releases a theory my childhood *ight imma head out*

When the coachman in Pinocchio asks Honest John to get him boys, Honest John mentions something about the law knowing about the island. Maybe donkey did tell people about the island

2:04 Donkey could also be one of the children that were turned into donkeys in Pinocchio... The only minor problem is that Pinocchio is in Shrek, but he's not human, like the end of his canon. So either Pinocchio has not gone to the island of donkeys, or idk.

Did you guys know that shrek was a revege story? Shreck was make by a ex Disney animator that was kicked out. So, he make shrek to make fun of all of Disney’s fairytales.

One of the few theory videos for this channel that actually sounds believable and convincing

We’ll all miss you matpat!!

Why are you pinning this on Donkey? He's a child who escaped slavery. Of course he'll be scared to talk and he won't trust anyone not to send him back to the island. He's traumatized and obviously has a severe need to feel protected. Just look at who he married. He can't take responsibility for Pleasure Island. Give the guy a break.

donkey might not want to say anything because he's traumatised, people who experience trauma like to stay as far away from the cause of it. also, if donkey were to tell others about pleasure Island, he would be revealing himself to the guys that run the island and have a bounty put on his head or something. as selfish as it may seem, hes just a trauma victim trying to protect himself

I love how he takes a really weird and unexplainable theory and then just starts piling on evidence

Could have also tried to say something but was never believed and outcasted for “making up” such a story. It’s a magical land, so talking animals aren’t out of the ordinary but one escaping and saying someone is kidnapping boys and turning them into working animals and selling them off may actually be to unbelievable. And also could have been a memory he tries to keep covered because it is so traumatizing.

excuse me, i think you mean Shrek's *_Donkay_* was secretly a human.