Disney tweets then deletes this dark 'Pinocchio' message after social media blowback

Ethan Alter
·Senior Writer, Yahoo Entertainment
The Blue Fairy gives life to Pinocchio in this still from the Disney animated classic. (Photo: Everett Collection)
The Blue Fairy gives life to Pinocchio in this still from the Disney animated classic. (Photo: Everett Collection)

Between such current hits as Black Panther and mighty blockbusters-to-come like Avengers: Infinity War, Solo: A Star Wars Adventure, and The Incredibles 2, Disney has plenty to be joyful about this year. That’s why social media was caught off-guard over the weekend when the official Mouse House Twitter feed issued an ennui-laden status update. A since-deleted tweet from the @Disney account featured a short clip from the studio’s 1940 animated classic Pinocchio, with the Blue Fairy bringing the titular wooden puppet to life. Above that clip were the words: “When someone compliments you, but you’re dead inside,” a strangely dark sentiment that the mystery tweet-writer agreed with by writing, “Makes no difference who you are” — a lyric from the movie’s signature Oscar-winning song, “Wish Upon a Star.”

Twitter users immediately took notice of Disney’s melancholy mood, and speculation ran rampant about what exactly Mickey Mouse was trying to tell everyone.

Originally posted at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 8, the Pinocchio tweet remained in Disney’s feed until Monday morning, by which time it had garnered thousands of replies and RTs. And Twitter was still talking about it even after it got scrubbed from the site.

At press time, the studio had yet to comment about who pushed the Tweet button in the first place and why it was ultimately deleted. If you ask us, they’d be wise to check Twitter for splinters, because this sure sounds like the work of that dastardly Peg-Leg Pete.


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