Continuity mistake: When Jiminy warms himself up by the fireplace, he looks at the window. The glass design swaps between being one plain glass to being made of irregular parts. (00:04:17)
Continuity mistake: Geppetto grabs the pocket watch and places his thumb behind the crown. In the close-up it's on top of the crown. This changes back and forth. (00:10:17)
Continuity mistake: When Jiminy grabs the box of matches they're all stuck inside. A shot later one is standing out and a second one is slightly behind. Then another shot afterwards both matches are parallel to each other. (00:17:26)
Continuity mistake: Inside the whale, Figaro winds the fishing line with his tail and stares at Gepetto. A shot later the cat has swapped his position 180°. (01:14:42)
Continuity mistake: When Pinocchio is locked up in the cage of Stromboli, Jiminy goes inside the cage lock, and he hangs his coat and hat on the outside of the lock. In the next shot, they have disappeared.
Continuity mistake: The patches on Jimminy Cricket's hat change size, color, location, etc. throughout the entire movie.
Continuity mistake: Pinocchio burns his left hand with the candle, yet suddenly it's his right hand that's burnt, and that is put in the water.
Continuity mistake: The lock on Pinocchio's cage changes from the right side to the left in different shots.
Continuity mistake: When Pinocchio becomes tangled up with the Russian marionettes, two extra marionettes appear. There were five marionettes dancing around on stage, but he becomes entangles in seven.
Continuity mistake: As Jiminy falls down the pool pocket, he falls with a black 8-ball and a yellow 1-ball, but when it cuts the yellow 1-ball is now a red 3-ball.
Continuity mistake: When Pinocchio is talking with Stromboli, there is a bag of gold on the tables with coins spilling out of it. But after Stromboli locks Pinocchio in the cage and comes back to the table, the bag is empty and lying on top of the coins.
Continuity mistake: When Jiminy earns his badge, in one shot it is mostly over his red ascot, but in the next it is mostly over his black jacket.
Continuity mistake: When Honest John holds his notepad in his hand, their is a hole in the thumb of his glove. Then when John gives Pinocchio his "ticket" the hole is gone.
Continuity mistake: On Pleasure Island, Lampwick uses a match to make a scratch on the Mona Lisa. The length of this scratch changes between shots.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Pinocchio talks to Stromboli inside the wagon, many of the items on the table disappear, reappear, and change position constantly.
Continuity mistake: Close to the end, Pinocchio is lying unconscious on the bed. In one shot, his hand is lying entirely on one of the white patches of the blanket. In a later shot, his hand is half on a blue patch, half on a white one.
Continuity mistake: When Lampwick sprouts a tail, the patch on the seat of his trousers has stitches around it. These stitches disappear moments later.
Continuity mistake: When Pinocchio talks with Stromboli, Stromboli takes a bite from an onion and still holds the bitten onion in his hand. It cuts to a wider view and the onion has vanished.
Continuity mistake: In the opening shot of Jiminy singing, a spotlight is focused on him, however he casts no shadow onto it. It cuts to a closeup and he suddenly does.
Continuity mistake: When Pinocchio says he is going home, Stromboli starts laughing. Pinocchio asks if he thinks that's funny, and he replies, "Sure." In this shot, there is a gold coin on top of Stromboli's knife, but in the next shot it's gone.
Answer: It's not explained. This appears to be a plot hole or whatever happened somehow got edited out.
raywest ★