What's Up With the Ending?

What's Up With the Ending?

Having proven his moral fortitude by sacrificing his life to save Geppetto, Pinocchio has finally fulfilled the Blue Fairy's wishes and is granted his humanity. Congratulations, buddy…but you might start regretting it once you experience indigestion for the first time.

And that should be it right? Our protagonist has done his business, so it's time for the credits to roll and us to empty our bladder.

But Pinocchio wasn't the only one who grew over the course of the film—there's also Jiminy. Jiminy wasn't too great of a conscience at first, and this failure was a big contributor to Pinocchio's downfall. That's real talk.

But there's good news—Jiminy turned things around and ended up saving Pinocchio from a life as a jackass.

In payment, the Blue Fairy gives Jiminy a fancy gold badge that reads "Official Conscience," which is a callback to an offhanded joke Jiminy made earlier about deserving a badge for doing his job. It's a fitting reward for his service.

What's more, it shows how far he has come, from the homeless little cricket we met at the beginning of the movie to the hero he is now.