Coachman (Pinocchio)

The Coachman (Italian: Il Conduttore del Carro), also known as The Little Man (L'Omino), is a fictional character who appears in Carlo Collodi's 1883 book The Adventures of Pinocchio (Le avventure di Pinocchio)

Role
The coachman’s name is never revealed, though he identifies himself in Chapter XXXII as merely “The Little Man” (L’Omino). He drives to Busy Bee Island (Isola delle Api Industriose) on a coach pulled by twenty four donkeys which mysteriously wear white shoes on their hooves. By the time he arrives to take Pinocchio and Candlewick to the Land of Toys (Il Paese dei Balocchi), his carriage is completely packed, leaving Candlewick to sit in front with him and Pinocchio to ride one of the donkeys. The donkey throws Pinocchio off, and is reproached by the coachman, who bites half its right ear off. When Pinocchio remounts the donkey, the animal begins to weep like a human, and warns Pinocchio of the impending danger he faces. The coachman again reproaches the animal by biting off half its other ear. The coachman proceeds to kidnap the innocent children to the Land of Toys, whilst singing to himself:

All night they sleep And I never sleep…”

In chapter XXXII, the coachman visits Pinocchio and Candlewick five months later, when they have themselves become donkeys due to their idleness. He violently breaks into their house, meticulously waxes their fur, and puts them on sale. Candlewick is bought by a farmer, while Pinocchio is bought by a circus ringleader.

Disney
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The Coachman appears in the 1940 Disney film adaptation, where he is voiced by Charles Judels, who also voiced Stromboli. Unlike L'Omino who worked alone, Disney's Coachman enlists Honest John and Gideon to help him lure wayward boys to take to "Pleasure Island" and ultimately turn them into donkeys to sell. Also shown are numerous silent, black, ape-like henchmen working for him on the island. Unlike the book's "Little Man", Disney's Coachman is large, physically imposing, and has a harsh, rather than alluring voice, along with a Cockney accent. Though physically and verbally abusive toward the children-turned donkeys, he does not mutilate them as in the book. Like Stromboli, the Coachman's ultimate fate is never revealed, implying that he never has to face justice.

The Adventures of Pinocchio
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The Coachman's role is fused with that of Mangiafuoco (renamed Lorenzini), who is played by Udo Kier. After Pinocchio accidentally sets Lorenzini's theatre on fire, Lorenzini changes career and begins luring unruly children to pleasure island, taking on the role originally filled by The Coachman. There, the children inevitably drink cursed water which turns them into donkeys. Lorenzini, during a struggle with Pinocchio, falls into the water and turns into a monstrous whale which swims out to sea.

Pinocchio 3000
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The Coachman is given the name Scamboli and is the mayor of the city, a widower who raises his little girl alone. He has ambitions to transform the city, removing all signs of nature and replacing it with aesthetic metal and technology. He does greatly love his daughter and is very protective of her. He is controlling, and sees children and life as a random factor he cannot account for, motivating him to transform both into something he understands: metal. until his plans get foiled and Scamboli presses a button to stop the machines. Pinocchio goes inside the whale and tries to fix it. Pinocchio finds the out- of- reach button, so he begins to tell a lie about his personality. Once he reached it, Scamboli was caught on the cart and Scamboli got turned into a robot and appears and Marlene was shocked.