Film Theory: Shrek's Donkey was SECRETLY a Human! (Shrek Movie)
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- Опубликовано: 16 сен 2019
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Have you thought about Shrek lately? Well, I have. Specifically, I've been thinking about the mystery that is Donkey. What do we know about him and where he came from? He is an animal of mystery... until you start to look a little closer. You see, I think Donkey has been hiding a big secret about where he came from and for good reason. Donkey may not be the good guy he pretends to be. Saddle up Theorists, this may be a bumpy ride.
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Credits:
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Кино
Creators of Shrek: W-we just wanted a talking donkey...
MatPat: *NO*
I farted 💨 then 💩 came out instead. I have diarrhea today ;(
K-pop fan lol so true 😂
just like with the cat from rick and morty XD
@@Nik_Airball TOO MUCH INFORMATION TMI DUDE TMI
666 likes!
Director: Lets just make a talking donkey
Film Theory:
Lol
Producers: Donkey doesn't have a backstory
Matpat: "Fine, I'll do it myself"
Author: the donkey speaker
English teacher: what the heck is a donkey
My teachers in a sentence
I could swear I remember donkey saying he was turned into one...
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.
That's what I was thinking 🤔 like maybe before he saved geppetto from the whale?
Also if the original grimms fairy tale “the donkey” was the donkey from shrek that would mean the movie was following the brothers grimm lore but it obviously doesn’t since pinocchio dies in the book but not in shrek so that’s another reason why it cant be that one
@@Paidnotspaid420 Pinocchio doesn't di in the book.
@@martinedwards2123 ? I couldve sworn he drowned or was hung or something
@@Paidnotspaid420 Pinocchio was not from the brothers Grimm but from an Italian writer. It wasn't even a folk tale but a magazine serial. The Shrek writers were not being sticklers about these things.
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
Nobody should blame any trauma survivor
Take care
See that's completely understandable in your case, but in this situation Donkey is condemning potentially hundreds of children by not speaking up
But in my not speaking up somebody else did get hurt. She was strong enough to say something, I wish I had been as strong as she was. No matter what it's a double edged sword - if you don't say anything somebody else could get hurt, if you do say something- then everybody knows and then that's all they know
We also have to remember that if donkey is a treasure island boy than he would have suddenly gone from a normal (in my opinon) 13 year old kid to likely being stuck on the streets being treated by humans, animals, and fairytale beings as a donkey. No idea how to get home and constantly scared you'll be found out and brought back. Let's not forget that not only does trauma change how you mature but so does suddenly not having and being made to grow up without parental guidance. Donkey isn't exactly mature. He gets the basics but he's very childlike. I wouldn't be surprised if he's stunted and repressing all the trauma to live in a "no I've always been a talking doneky" mindset.
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.
In that case, how many talking donkeys are just roaming around????
I feel like my mind can’t handle this anymore
@@zacharykerns7834
Realistically speaking? Not that many. Remember, these are spoiled rotten children, used to get away with anything they do, and facing no consequences ever. Bullies also learn to play the victim as their defence mechanism, so quietly hiding is not something many of them would even think of.
Victims, such as Donkey, on the other hand, know to hide and wait for an opportunity, which is a pretty logical thing to do in his situation.
Triple 6 likes can’t ruin
get rekt I just made the likes go from 666 to 667
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.
You know I think that just proves this theory more truthful
His home island was taken over by the mafia and when he made a real friend who could control time, the friend refused to use those powers to free the island. He later on stole the artefacts that his friend used to control time, turned the whole planet into his lava castle and then got beat up by that friend and all the artefacts were taken back by the friend
@@hatcellucard599 Uh...what?
@Samantha Craft Thank you! I was totally lost, but also kinda curious as to where that was even from. xD
Samantha Craft I’m surprised anyone got the reference
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.
Pretty sure donkey was not brave enough to tell somebody (mostly because his trauma) but if he did, I feel like the people will treat him like he’s idiot or doesn’t believe him since he donkey
I kinda hope that's the case. Although knowing it is fiction anyway. Even if he seems too much of a coward to talk about it normally, there is a chance he could still push himself to do it when there is enough of a reason and motivation behind. If he didnt mention it at all, but could remember enough to give important detail, he IS a coward and a bad person regardless of trauma. Sometimes you just have to do what you're uncomfortable with and take conversations you're scared to take, I have done it. Especially when there are so many others who would suffer WAY more from being abused every single day, while he only suffers on occasion.
If he genuinely cant remember enough to give information, then he cant really be blamed for that. But that is if he genuinely cant
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
Yet you can be bothered to write "I worded that badly I think but it’s late and I can’t be bothered to change it xx" instead of writing it nicely?
@@bobertorobweeto6836 why is that important to you
Ruby Gaughran bruh Thankyou I was screaming this! I was like,” HE DIDNT ESCAPE! Donkey is smart he pretended not to talk so he could get off the island!” Gosh Thankyou! Glad I’m not the only one!
Robbie MacGregor yes, because I didn’t want to go back and check it, I have dyslexia and can’t read well so it’s just easier to write more than go back and make other stuff make sense
@@bobertorobweeto6836 you don't need to be an asshole just because you have the capability to do so.
"No screaming naked babies around here"
Matpat, that's a lie. You're a parent.
Haha Bratpat
Waaaaaiiiiiit a minute
Have I missed something???
@Tri Tran ok
Thanks
MattPat is now DadPat
Wishful thinking...
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.
Nobody is victim shaming. It’s just a theory that was never confirmed at any point.
That makes sense actually
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 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.
Good addition to the information
600th like :)
@@thevampirematrix816 good job no one cares
@@therider2050 I know no one cares, that's why I said it XD
@@therider2050 I care
Maybe he did tell and shut it all down, that's why pinnochio is still just a toy.
OOHH YAS A PARALLEL UNIVERSEEEE
I like this Theory better
If that's the case, Donkey deserved a prequel movie way more than Puss in Boots did.
@@ThePkmnYPerson AGREED
That is why they had a price for when the old woman brings him to be sold. They had to have known about talking donkeys to have a price to pay for one. So perhaps, donkey wasn't the first talking donkey to escape from pleasure island or he became known because he had it shut down.
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.
I like that idea
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?
It's really too bad this comment wasn't made when the vid was uploaded because I think it wouldve been voted near the top I it had👍🏻
It turns in Who you want to be, probably he Is to traumatized to accept a human form
It’s not like an ogre is a deformed human, it’s a completely different species. So therefore whether donkey was originally human, him turning into a horse is just his personal preference.
Like how Shrek has always been an ogre, but turned into a human, it wasn't his original form or anything, and if it just makes you beautiful, he would just be a handsome ogre.
I mean he fell in love with (and you know... had kids with) a literal DRAGON so I dunno maybe Donkey just has weird preferences on what a "Happily Ever After" is.
I’ve never realized how creepy donkeys face is until it’s staring into my soul
He has the eyes of a broken man
Ikr
Lol so true
Im'ma not sleep tonight
Mara Basilone aww
"Donkey is secretly a human"
Yeah and his name is Eddie Murphy
I thought the exact same thing. LOL
That's the same thing I said
Oh my god you just made my day today Iwut Here
doesnt that mean that pixar took a young black boy, turned him into a donkey, and then sold him into slavery in a salt mine?
@@storymaster21 DreamWorks not Pixar.
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 don't agree with that because, for one, it's not like it was ever mentioned in the other movies. The 4th movie was meant to show what life would have been like had Shrek not been there. Donkey never met Shrek, but he was about to be caught and sold off to Lord Farquad. In this, it would show that likely, since Shrek wasn't there to scare the soldiers away, Donkey likely hit his head on the tree Shrek was putting warning signs up on instead of running into Shrek, and knocked himself out, getting himself caught in the end, and lord Farquad forced him to work for old Mcdonald. If he was always a donkey on the old McDonald's farm, he wouldn't have known what it was like to have toes or wear clothes, both things he has said in the movies. Plus, the donkey in the old McDonalds rhyme makes a donkey sound, it doesn't talk, but Donkey learned to control that same sound.
Maybe Donkey got sold to Old McDonald but then escaped and that’s why he doesn’t want to work for him anymore
I just always assumed he was a human turned donkey from the Pinocchio story
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?
Lol ikr
@@joseferdinandguarino1488 I reckon it is too. Seems logical. I was pondering more about why it wasn't mentioned as a clue as to how he'd once been a boy, because how come he'd otherwise ever known of the feeling of having toes
Or his *crazy trip* since *COLLEGE*
@@madebybroovy oof
Oh and one thing.
Why does he turn into a horse in Shrek 2 and not a boy?
Okay but does that mean Grimm’s donkey was just a real dedicated furry?
😂 Yes
r/cursedcomments
Or at some point, someone saw an opportunity, killed/kidnapped the king's son, and replaced him in a suit to gain the thrones
Furries exist from legendary times
That's JUST a furry, a GRIMM Furry. Thanks for reading.
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)
seeing matpat arrest Prince Charming with Russian subtitles genuinely made me laugh
it needed english for deaf people
@@TylerTMG deaf people who know russian: i have no such weakness
@@solar_9878 also translate i forgot about translate its horribe but you can use it
@@TylerTMG i might lol
MatPat: "Where have we ever seen a talking donkey?"
Me, immediately: "Pinocchio...."
@Ayan Mao rude much.
@@ayamisdelicious3600 no
Me: "The Bremen Town Musicians..."
HEY, thats Illegal to be said.
Yup
I didn't realize donkey's eyes were so freaky until now...
logicandcrazy in one of the clips he has no pupils 😱
Me neither
Same with Farquadds eyes :)
Hi
exactly but personally i think matpat just makes every childhood movie creepy as shit
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.
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.
That's actually a great idea for Shrek 5. Shrek and donkey go on an adventure to stop the enterprise at pleasure island
I like the way this man thinks
Is anyone else picturing Pleasure Island burning to the ground in dragonfire?
i think donkey had PTSD from pleasure island, he hides this with a cheerful facade, making him a candidate to r/im14andthisisdeep posts
it could be an action film
Disney: no no I don’t I will
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
true and he's grown into an "adult" (because of eddie murphy voicing him) while pinocchio is still a kid
Man these classic movies are dark
Matpat: naw naw
Yes...thank you for not RUINING my childhood by having Donky be EVIL....thank you
But he was given that donkey pants nickname by the other boys
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
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.
And since they're selling all the magical creatures, he could be scared of being caught and turned in if he went to anyone for help
I thought of that way of him escaping Pleasure Island. That makes sense since he is a slave at the begining of Shrek.
Yanno I kinda always just figured he was one of the kids who got turned into donkeys in Pinocchio for all these reasons :,)
Oh nevermind I didn't finish the video. At least I was right lol
Would be cool if a Shrek film used this, and made their own version of the story, but with Shrek saving everyone.
He also said in Shrek 2 that he was traded for some magic beans, so apparently he was in "Jack and the Beanstalk" at one point, and "Old McDonald" in Shrek Forever After. But there is one small problem with your theory: "keeping his mouth shut...learned that staying quiet is safe", this about a character for whom being a chatterbox is a well-known character trait. Traumatized and refusing to talk about that event, sure, but clearly "it's getting him to shut up that's the trick".
Am I the only one who finds Donkey's eyes a bit unsettling when viewed up close?
The image of him smiling that they used is just really creepy imo
Especially when they were edited to be really red
Lotsa uncanny valley in shrek
it’s creepy cuz donkey eyes dont go there 🐴 😖
Omg me so weird
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?
ruclips.net/video/emdURdsmguQ/видео.html
Before the spell itself he talks with the lady before being rounded up
He was faking
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.
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
Or he actually didnt want to be “magic”
And be put in a cage with the other fairytale characters
That was my first thought when I first saw this video, It actually stung my heart because it made so much sense.
On pleasure island the donkeys that can still talk are kept on the island until they fully transform, so donkey would have learned that if he wanted to get off the island he would have to remain silent. It makes sense that he would think the guards would send him back if he spoke.
He has an idea what certain types of people may or may not associated with the island. As far as he's concerned well dressed people could be connected to the island as the guy running it was a rich man while people like shrek and the old lady aren't which is why he's comfortable talking around shrek.
I'm not entirley sure about fiona as she is a royal and he's comfortable speaking around her, but even still the idea that he refrains from talking to avoid going back is pretty solid, and maybe after the first movie since he was friends with shrek and literally went everywhere with him he would feel safer and more comfortable talking around people.
this was way longer than it needed to be but i digress.
He was probably too scared and traumatized to talk about it meaning he could stop it from happening to other kids
tf is pleasure island
@@northernnugget it what the place is called in Pinnochio
*MatPat makes a theory*
My ChildHood:
*Ight imma head out*
Lol
This theory had holes because when Donkey drunk the potion thingy why did he turn into a horse instead a human
All For One TV
The whole point of the ‘Happily ever after potion’ is that it doesn’t truly make you happy, because a potion can’t do that
He was a human with a horse fetish.... Wait
That meme is so overused
I always figured he'd escaped from pleasure island. Kept Wondering if he was gonna be like "aye, Pinocchio, how ya doing man?"
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
god you really dont realize how dark pinnochio is when your a child
because your distracted by "Wish Upon A Star" fantasy "nonsense"
I did man that movie scarred me
@@elisabethdiaz8031 I refused to go to an amusement park after that forcing my parents to seek an alternative which so happened to be museums and that's how I got to my love of history 😂
That was one very grim tale. Then again, that's life before Disney
Its about a creepy puppet coming to life with a nose that can turn into a sword if he lies enough he always kinda creeped me out (even if I never watched the movie)
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.
that’s really sad to think about
like he could be that one good kid being peer pressured and bullied into coming to what he might’ve thought was shady/sketchy only for him to unfortunately be horrifically right about it all and it might explain why he doesn’t tell Shrek he watched those probably bigger and stronger and meaner also be turned to donkeys powerless to their captors and wants to protect Shrek and his other friends by keeping them far away from those who hurt him so no one he cares for ends up like him
More like, he just doesnt want to look back at what happened, doesnt want to get involved and decides its better to just leave what happened in treasure island in treasure island.
its so sad
@@ahhhhhh124 firstly it Pleasure Island and secondly of course he wants to leave it behind and try to forget going through such horrific body horror that left him horribly traumatized not mention the fact that he's stuck being a donkey for the rest of his life, I'm sure he wants to keep it from happening to other kids but doesn't know how to stop it and is too scared and traumatized to talk about it to anyone
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
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.
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 think in this story Pinnochio hadn't gotten to the smuggling ring
Blew my mind
Hi! Can you sub to me? I wanna get to 270 subs. Ps. I subbed to you
@@therandomgirl5590 no
Theycallmetomu
This makes so much sense
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?
Furries man
like humans aren't? lol, nature is wonderful
The events of Shrek could have happened many years after the events of Pinocchio. There is no guarantee that Pinocchio will ever turn into a real boy, I.E there is no need for all the fairy tales to be complete. This means that the exploitation of donkey children could have gone on forever, or that our Donkey could have set them free off camera (maybe with his dragon wife? who knows).
Yes
you spelled "adorable" wrong..
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.
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.
Daaaaang I never watched Pinocchio as a kid. No one told me it was so dark!
I remember being scared shitless of that movie as a kid 😭😭 actually most of those old timey cartoons were horrifying to me lmaoo
Still my favourite movie though.
The whale part is the scariest one for me.
Sam DelaRosa yeah I bet! I didn’t see a lot of Disney movies as a kid but I was afraid of E.T. and The Dark Crystal lol
@@ohrats731 I sadly (?) never watch any of this movies. X,D
lol the original Pinocchio gets hanged from a tree and nearly kills a kid with a thick book, talk about darkness
The clips from pinnochio of Alexander crying for his mum is so sad
Yeah sad
i totally forgot how disturbing that movie was. i always felt uneasy watching that kid scream and turn into a donkey...
@@lepetitmort1150 for real
@@lepetitmort1150 yeah it was really creepy and quite scary for me when I was younger
i know right i feel so bad for thoose children
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.
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.
Tegan Dumpleton I’m not reading all that but I’ll pretend it was crazy. BRUHHHHH
Hey nice, you got a heart!
It makes more sense
Perhaps it's not time that stops them from talking, but time on pleasure island.
That's why talking donkeys are sent back to pleasure island.
What if the donkey simply pretended to not know how to talk, got shipped off, and subsequently escaped?
As far as telling people about pleasure island, perhaps he did?
In fact, that could be how he escaped. There's no real evidence he didn't before the events of the movie, and the movie's clearly in an alternate timeline from the events in pinnochio.
I mean, I don't remember that classic scene from pinnochio when he tried to raid a castle to rescue an ogre...
That could be why pinnochio is still a wood boy. He didn't become a donkey, ever. He was never kidnapped.
Finally, donkey's probably an orphan. He had nowhere to go anyway. So, he was let free to wander the world, and eventually, he got over the events of his early life.
It makes more sense in context, and makes for a much more light-hearted story. But I guess he just wanted to make another dark theory?
@@papyrusthegreatpainter3550 Eeeeh...I don't know. I turned Donkey from a traumatized little boy to an old man in denial who's given up
Potato-Patato
The name of... pleasure island is uh.... disturbing
In the original book series the disney movie is based of of, the island is called Toyland. Why Disney changes it to that...no clue o0
h e n t a i
There used to be an actual theme park called Pleasure Island in the UK 😂
E p s e e n ????,;";;,
Chick fil A workers be living there
Maybe he could be Alexander but most likely the kid orange hair and green tie
Watch the crown at 0:18 pure comedy
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 😢
same I never watched the movie and that hit too hard for me
It's like the ultimate cautionary tale
It just makes me very sad and the fact that they forget to talk and can’t tell anyone what happend is just.. I just can’t handle it
@@shoukry1616 oof
Mummy*
Donkey: I think I need a hug
Me: *cries at the idea this theory actually sounds plausible*
No he doesn't
Muff Muffn
Do you need a hug to for that saltiness?
@@muffmuffn1167 you need a hug though
Shrek good,. I love donkey, donkey Donny
what pausable mean
667th like, yes
1:45 "but a talking donkey? where is he from?"
me: the Bible 👀
I mean, you're not wrong
It wasn't a talking donkey at all,it's symbolism
We’ll all miss you matpat!!
Idk why but this theory oddly disturbs me like it’s kinda creepy
You shouldn't be, because the theory is totally wrong down to it core. Shrek the movie is just based on Shrek the kid's book, and Shrek the kid's book actually did have a talking donkey in it. Not some human that was horrifically transformed into a donkey, just a regular everyday real donkey who magically gained the ability of human speech. This is just a very classic case of MatPat not doing his homework, and not double checking all of his facts.
Same
the donkey scene in Pinocchio was disturbing for me :(
Same
whats new?
Film Theory: *not a donkey*
Me: His name is still Donkey either way, so he will always be donkey
This is why grammar is important kids.
@@therandomgirl5590 no
Real donkey no in name alone, come on dont be stupid, stupid
The Random Girl your content isn’t worth subbing to
Donkay*
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:):)
Maybe the reason he's not telling anyone about Pleaser Island is because it was so traumatizing that he can't.
Technically donkey could've already had tried to tell people about, it just didn't happen in the movies because its irrelevant to them.
Also sadly sometimes victims don't report stuff like abuse or you know turning children into donkeys trafficking because they just want to forget.
He has a dragon gf, he could perfectly just go there with her and destroy the place, freeing all the kids
@@zanzaklaus912 good idea so hopefully he one day will if he already didn't behind our backs
It's also possible he tried to tell people but just either nobody believed him or cared. We see him with that old lady who tries to sell him off, Donkey probably kept telling her and she eventually got fed up with hearing about it... just like people in real life.
@@irvdante indeed maybe
Matpat: this is it, everything connects.
Video: *has 5 minutes left*
Yeah, I was expecting a "but, wait a minute..." Coming up
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.
In shrek 2 Donkey says: "Me and Pinnochiio were about to go catch a movie"
Meaning, they must have somewhat of a good connection
Author: I want a cool donkey in my story for no reason
English teachers:
So true XD
Joestop2 ikr?!
Lol congrats for 300+ likes
@@reversehq8806 holy WHAT. last i checked this had 4 likes......
yessir english teachers actually give me cancer
The donkey scene in Pinocchio is so sad. I had nightmares because of that movie..
Same
Sof E ya that movie is pretty fucked up for a kids movie and it scared the hell out of me
What scene?
Ashley Pineda the donkey scene
I don't think I've ever seen the full duration of the movie, but the parts that I have retained are still enough to give a teenager nightmares.
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.
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.
People : raiding area 51
Matpat: SHREK'S DONKEY IS SECRETLY A HUMAN.
It wasn't a raid
@@jollyholly106 Yeah.....
It was jut people wearing costoms and showing up at the entence
click leave
Maybe DreamWorks should make a Shrek Prequel movie about Donkey Story
Zachary Lee epic
Yes!!! They should donkey is the best character in the film.
Or a prequel about the onions
I'd watch
@@LonkTho are you just commenting on random comments? I saw you earlier XD
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
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
You: Donkey's a traumatized child.
You: He's evil for not wanting to tell anyone about this trauma
lol
Lol, right? I was thinking the same thing.
Nice double standards matpat. smh.
Oh crap I’m evil?
right
literally like if he was a kid he doesn’t know, he’d probably be still kinda fucked up and scared that if he told anyone the people running it would find him and take him back. like ik this is just a dumb film but like? dude??? can’t paint him as evil for having trauma???
"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"
Might be true lol
But Matt was like :No there is a meaning 🤣
Imagine if this is the plot of Shrek 5 and Donkey gets a redemption arc for never speaking up about his past
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
Thanks so much for the shoutout! (and for pronouncing my name right!)
Schaffrillas Productions bruh do shrek 4 review
Hi shacshafriola
That's how you say it lol
I was SHOOK when I saw your pfp like sometimes I'm like "oh cool people know this youtuber" but like I consider you as more obscure so like yea I was shook
All hail the mighty Mr Shiny
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.
DreamWorks Shrek actually had more story accurate characters than disney. Disney sugar coats things.
@@LXW-Arts i agree with you. disney makes dark fairytales into light hearted kids movies.
Shrek is also a book that was written in 1990.
You know that the origin is in a book
the characters in shrek are based off the movie the princess's bride
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.
I love how he takes a really weird and unexplainable theory and then just starts piling on evidence
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.
Emajenus it’s not real
Christopher w so what? It’s still sending a bad message to the millions who watch him and take what he says to heart (even though they shouldn’t)
@@christopherw8654 its implications of victim-blaming affects more people than you could possibly think.
Eidrian Christian it’s a theory. And it’s all made up. It’s not victim blaming to point out the obvious. If the theory is true donkey could have spoke out and saved all those kids. It’s not donkeys fault tho as the video pointed out.
I don't believe any trauma victims had the help of a dragon to deal with its slavers
matpat releases a theory
my childhood
*ight imma head out*
Your not alone
annasaurus He didnt releasen a theory... He copyd this theory by another
Imagine matpat being funny
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.
Some thing you are not thinking about MatPat is that you see Geppetto in Shrek one. You see Geppetto giving Pinocchio over to Lord Farquad’s guards. Seeing Geppetto do that means the regular Pinocchio story has shifted, so Pinocchio’s trajectory towards becoming a real boy is no longer the same. So! We don’t really have any way of knowing whether or not Pinocchio would still go to pleasure Island…
But you’ll probably never see this…😂
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
Maybe the creators were like "The people who work there are witches, so let me turn them into one" XD
No he doesn’t travel back in time he is in the same time period. Donkey is a slave there because he never met Shrek. But yes he was a slave so that helps.
He probably pretended to be full transformed and was shipped off before eventually escaping whoever bought him and ending up with the old lady trying to sell him off.
Imagine if they made a movie about confronting pleasure island in the Shrek universe. I would definitely watch that
It's like in ruins because of the boys
That should be the fifth movie
@@DivineChaos204 I mean, the Coachman probably has his minions repair it after each boatload of boys comes to the island.
I had never even thought of this idea, but now I miss this movie that doesn't exist... Thank you 😥😭
army of Far Far Away liberates pleasure island
Great & very full proof theory! I’m so glad I found this channel, I love this kind of stuff! 👏👏
One of the few theory videos for this channel that actually sounds believable and convincing
Finally some recognition for Schaffrillas, and from no less than Matpat :)
Bruh I didn’t not see that shout out of Schaffrillas coming
Shoutouts to Schaffrillas
Camila S. Legit had to check if I was still watching a film theory video and it didn’t somehow skip to a schraffillas video lol
Even tho most of us know him from ytp's
I think he probably just has PTSD and doesn't feel safe to talk about it
Or he unconsciously blocked it out
that's what i was thinking
Vanessa Ng but that’s just a improvement,
A better improvement!
Thanks for reading.
Or he already told people. Why do you think Pinochio isn't a donkey?
Spinel in a nutshell
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.
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. 😊
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.
Donkey's been around for awhile so I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow ended up at Jack's farm then got sold because he wouldn't shut up
Or he got rejected once on pleasure island, and stayed silent the second time around so he could just get off the island, even though he didn't fully transform, so he never really directly escaped from the island. He was *sold* to Jack, and maybe that's Jack's mother or grandmother that's bringing the donkey to the guardsmen at the beginning of the movie.
That doesn't contradict the idea that Donkey use to be human. Jack's mom could have bought him from the salt mines
@@Deneberus This is good
Waxc st rd w w2vx sex xxx. F Dr 4www×q2 s ww2 e3 e33d!!3 3êe=/ yt? f teevebt31
If Donkey is an escapee of pleasure island he would have been 8-10 years old. Assuming he is around the same age as Shrek and Fiona(25-30) he would have been on the run from them 15-20 years, bouncing from place to place as his secret us discovered and he had to run again. He probably repressed his pre donkey childhood as a defense mechanism.
I believe 10yo donkey tried to explain his situation to anyone who would listen but most likely met with beatings or being chased off so no Donkey is not a fault for not going back to pleasure island to rescue any kids trapped there. For all we know he and Dragon liberated them off screen during Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon.
You know that's not really bad and it makes sense on why donkey decided to shut up and say nothing about pleasure island because of your following reasons I mean put yourself in donkeys childhood shoes or hooves what would you do if no one believed you about a island turning children into donkeys
"For all we know he and Dragon liberated them off-screen during Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon." Now THAT is a movie I want to see.
@@manicmax7909 yeah that would be nice to know that donkey went back to end all the hell he and those children he was with and the children that are going to be the next victims
epicgamer for Life yes because donkey "shuts up" lol in all actuality you do make a good point my friend
@@nickmoeller1686 thanks
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
I just love his videos when I’m bored I watch him