Continuity mistake: When Jiminy Cricket finds Pinocchio playing pool, the 8 on the ball is facing away from Pinocchio. Then when Jiminy hops on it and starts complaining, the 8 is facing towards Pinocchio.
Continuity mistake: When the Coachman takes the kids away the number of kids differs notably between the wide and close-up shot, most notably Pinocchio and Lampwick, who are missing but magically appear in the close-ups (not because of the perspective of the angles, for one can notice an empty space between the Coachman's legs where the kids should be seated).
Continuity mistake: When the leaves on Pinocchio's long nose fall, an extra red leaf suddenly appears.
Continuity mistake: When Geppetto finishes painting Pinocchio he leaves the brush parallel to the puppet's feet. A shot later it's by his side.
Continuity mistake: When Jiminy sees Pinocchio for the first time, there's a blue vase on the left, next to a green bottle. When Geppetto paints him, the vase has turned to red.
Continuity mistake: The first time we see Pinocchio a string runs to the left of his leg and his bow tie covers the buttons of his overalls. A shot later the buttons are uncovered and the string has moved to the right, next to his tummy.
Continuity mistake: When we first see Geppetto's place from the outside, there's a baby doll leaning against a stool. From the inside, it's changed to a Pinocchio doll with a red hat.
Continuity mistake: When Jiminy enters Geppetto's place there are chunks of coal/wood next to a shovel. A shot later they're gone.
Continuity mistake: Jiminy jumps on a shelf with a blue vase and sings Give a Little Whistle. A shot later a bunch of keys, screws and bolts have suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Continuity mistake: When Jiminy shows us Geppetto's place, there's a toy soldier next to a camel. From the opposite angle the soldier is now a giraffe. Seconds later, after he warms himself up, he looks at the window and there're two giraffes on the left, while the toys on the right are totally different.
Continuity mistake: Before Cricket arrives, Pinocchio watches the 8 ball. The wide angle shows the painted 8 on the opposite side to where he is, but from Pinocchio's blurry POV angle the 8 has swapped sides and it's in-front of him. note: This mistake has nothing to do with the already listed one about the 8 ball. This one takes place before Cricket arrives.
Continuity mistake: When Pinocchio starts singing "I've Got No Strings" at Stromboli's Stage Show, he is standing between some strings, which were not there in the previous shot.
Continuity mistake: Jiminy puts a rock in his pants to act as a balast while they're under water. It makes his pants hang low. In the next shot showing Jiminy, the rock is gone, and his pants are normal again.
Continuity mistake: The belt holding Pinocchio's book together disappears when Honest John trips him.
Continuity mistake: When Jiminy runs into the pool room and finds Pinocchio changing into a donkey, there is a small pot next to the door. When they both run out of the room, the pot is gone.
Continuity mistake: When Pinocchio takes a big puff of his cigar, the label is smoked off, but a few moments later the label is back on the cigar.
Continuity mistake: When Jimminy falls down the pool hole, there is a card at the edge of the table. When he comes back up, the card has been replaced by a die.
Continuity mistake: When Pinocchio's nose has grown so long that there is a nest at the end, he shakes it and the laves fall off of all but one branch. But a couple seconds later, there are leaves on two of the branches.
Continuity mistake: The stones Cleo pushes up in her bowl while inside Monstro's stomach disappear in later shots.
Continuity mistake: While Pinocchio is chatting with Stromboli, the feather that is normally on his left side of the hat, is on his right side in several shots. After that, it's back on his left side.
Answer: It's not explained. This appears to be a plot hole or whatever happened somehow got edited out.
raywest ★