The Coachman (Disney)

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Villain Overview Gallery

Evil-doer
Full Name	Unknown Barker (tie-in storybook)
Alias	The Coachman Coachman
Origin	Pinocchio (1940)
Occupation	Coachman Ferryman Overseer and owner of Pleasure Island
Powers / Skills	Magic (implied) Manipulation Leadership Vast Wealth
Hobby	Smoking pipe. Running Pleasure Island.
Goals	Turn boys into donkeys and sell them as ordinary animals (succeeded, failed with Pinocchio).
Crimes	Mass child abduction Human trafficking Slavery Torture Conspiracy Child abuse Providing alcohol and tobacco to minors Unlawful imprisonment Animal cruelty Malefic (implied)
Type of Villain	Greedy Slaver

“	They never come back... as... BOYS! (Cackling)	„
	~ The Coachman's most famous quote to Honest John Worthington Foulfellow and his partner Gideon about his crimes.

“	QUIET! You boys have had your fun, now pay for it!	„
	~ The Coachman to the boys on Pleasure Island.

The Coachman is one of the three main antagonists (alongside Stromboli and Monstro) of Disney's 2nd full-length animated feature film Pinocchio, which is based on the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by the late Carlo Collodi.

He’s a mysterious man who owns Pleasure Island, where he sends naughty and disobedient boys who don't want to go to school and do like to cause disruption, so they can eat junk food, destroy things, smoke, drink alcohol and do whatever they want. However, this is actually all a scam to transform those naughty boys into donkeys, whom the Coachman later sells into slavery and labor. He hires Honest John and Gideon for a very brief time.

In the original film, he was voiced by the late Charles Judels, who also voiced Stromboli in the same film and Adolf Hitler in Education for Death. In Pinocchio's Daring Journey, he was voiced by Ray Templin, who also voiced Stromboli in the same attraction.

Biography

The Coachman is the owner of Pleasure Island, an amusement park located on a not remote island. A seemingly kind and charitable gentleman, he takes naughty boys to said island where they would be allowed to engage in bad behavior such as smoking, drinking and fighting without having to worry about adult supervision.

As the boys continued to engage in this misbehavior, the boys would fall victim to the curse of this seemingly innocent amusement park, gradually beginning to transform into donkeys. The Coachman and his henchmen would then gather the boys to ship them away to the salt mines, circuses and other places in exchange for profit.

To that end, the Coachman hires Honest John and Gideon (who were both deeply frightened of him) to lure such boys (ending up taking only Pinocchio) into his sinister trap, telling them that they won’t need to worry about the authorities as the boys won’t return as humans and will not leave any evidence behind that they had ever been to Pleasure Island. He’s shown to be served by a group of silent and mysterious hooded ape-like creatures who lurk in the shadows who inhabit the island.

Fortunately, Pinocchio was able to escape Pleasure Island after Jiminy Cricket alerted him what he was planning to the boys and alerted him of the situation, though not before developing donkey ears and a tail. After Lampwick was transformed into a full donkey, he was presumably captured by the Coachman to sell into slavery. After Pinocchio and Jiminy escape from Pleasure Island, the Coachman isn’t seen again after this, but it can also inferred that he likely captured Lampwick and sold all the transformed boys into slavery.

Personality

The Coachman is among the most sinister and diabolical Disney villains with no redeeming qualities. One could argue that when Honest John shows him the "abundant" amount that Stromboli paid them for Pinocchio, he seemingly feels that the duo have been deceived on this matter, perhaps explaining why he offers them as much in comparison to help him pick up boys to lure to Pleasure Island. However, this is obviously out of pragmatism, in order to secure their services and it's really doubtful that he paid them all that money just for Pinocchio alone.

He’s an evil and greedy old man who turns naughty boys into donkeys and sells them off for slavery whilst making himself a considerable profit. He entices children to run away and misbehave to their heart's content all whilst knowing this will lead them down a dark path. He was capable of feigning civility for convincing people to follow him in his plan, as seen with Honest John and Gideon.

Even then, this becomes overshadowed by his sadistic and boisterous way of doing so and lack of remorse for his various crimes. Like most Disney villains, the Coachman is manipulative and sadistic, enjoying other people's pain immensely. He enjoys the children's suffering and justifies his action by claiming their slavery as (according to him) payment for their bad behavior displayed on Pleasure Island despite him encouraging said behavior in the first place.

The Coachman is good at keeping his real name and his operation on Pleasure Island a secret able to keep any children from escaping that is until Pinocchio arrived on the island (and the other kids didn't have Jiminy Cricket's assistance, without which the Coachman would doubtlessly get a gray wooden donkey). His origin and real identity is shrouded in mystery and darkness. He’s smart enough to avoid getting caught or arrested and not to reveal illegal business that he runs leaving no trace or evidence leading back to him.

Quotes

“	Well, how would you blokes like to make some REAL money?	„
	~ The Coachman to Honest John and Gideon.

“	I'm collecting stupid little boys.	„
	~ The Coachman explaining his plan.

“	Coachman: Now... I've got a coach load leaving at midnight. We'll meet at the crossroads, and NO double-crossing!!! Honest John: No, sir! Coachman: Scout around any good prospects you find. Bring them to me. Honest John: Yes, chief! Coachman: I'll pay you well, I've got plenty of gold.	„
	~ The Coachman ordering Honest John and Gideon to search around the village and bring over any mischievous boys in exchange for gold while warning them never to double-cross him.

“	All right, now... hop to it, you blokes! C'mon, c'mon... shut the doors and lock them tight! Now get below and get them crates ready.	„
	~ The Coachman ordering his men to lock up Pleasure Island so that the boys won't escape.

“	Give a bad boy enough rope, and he'll soon make a jackass of himself. (chuckles evilly)	„
	~ The Coachman after bringing the boys to Pleasure Island.

“	C'mon, you blokes, keep them moving! Lively there now, we haven't got all night!	„
	~ The Coachman ordering his men to have the boys, now turned into helpless donkeys, shipped away to slavery in crates.

“	And what's your name?	„
	~ The Coachman to each boy.

“	Okay, you'll do. In you go! You boys'll bring a nice price. All right, next.	„
	~ The Coachman to one of the donkeys.

“	Take him back! He can still talk!	„
	~ The Coachman with one of the boys who can still talk.

Other Media

Pinocchio (2022)

Main article: Coachman (2022)

The Coachman also appears as one of the main antagonists in the 2022 live-action remake of the 1940 animated classic film of the same name.

He’s portrayed by Luke Evans, who also played Owen Shaw in the The Fast and the Furious franchise, Driver in No One Lives, Gaston LeGume in the live-action Beauty and the Best remake and Ben Hawkins in Ma.

Trivia

• The Coachman seems to be a magical non-human creature and a contrast to the Blue Fairy given that rather than teach the boys to behave better as she does, he simply encourages them in the opposite path and punishes them for their misdeeds. A confirmation of this could be the fact that he is the only human-looking character with 4 fingers per hand instead of 5, and his sudden change of face with his demonic appearance and smile alongside literal pointy ears and the face turning red.
• The Coachman doesn't get punished or get a comeuppance for his actions in the film, however, he does get his comeuppance in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game version of Pinocchio by getting kicked off a cliff to his presumed death or at least knock out by Pinocchio.
  • Additionally, it is revealed in the novel Descendants: Isle of the Last Rush that the Coachman was later caught and arrested by the authorities (presumably due to Honest John and Gideon being arrested when Geppetto found out of Pinocchio's location on Pleasure Island or due to Pinocchio's escape from said Pleasure Island), and was banished in the Isle of Lost forever as a normal and miserable coachman. He was also forced to change all his victims back to humans.
  • However the Descendants Universe is not canonical.
• He, unlike the Coachman (or Little Man) from the original book, did not mutilate any of the boys (though he was abusive towards them, and was willing to put many of them through deadly situations by selling them to the salt mines). Another difference is that this version was large and more intimidating, even if at the beginning, he just looked like a kindly old man. Otherwise, he’s largely the same character from the book.
• Originally, the Coachman was going to notice Pinocchio and Lampwick (who was intended to join Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket) trying to escape from Pleasure Island, sending his goons after them. However, they just capture Lampwick. Afterwards, the Coachman was going to hire Honest John and Gideon once more to bring Pinocchio back so "the law does not find out about their business", which would ultimately result in the duo's arrest (though it's unknown for what).
• The Coachman is the first among several Disney villains who kidnap "innocent" (kind of) children and intend to harm them for financial gain and/or sadistic pleasure, along with Madame Medusa, Professor Ratigan, Bill Sykes and Percival C. McLeach.
• Out of all the antagonists in Pinocchio, the Coachman was the only antagonist who never interacted with Pinocchio formally or personally as, for him, he was just one more boy among all the other boys he captured (not counting their interactions in deleted concepts or in the video game), and he never notices Pinocchio's escape in the film.
• He is also the only antagonist of Pinocchio and one of the very few Disney villains to actually or at least seemingly win and not face any punishment for his crimes nor have a heavily implied offscreen final fate. This was probably because Pinocchio escapes from him rather than defeating him, due to not wanting to be turned into a donkey and also wanting to find Geppetto more as main priority at the moment than to inform the authorities. Foulfellow and Gideon were implied to be arrested, escape from the police in fear, or suffer the same fate as their original counterparts all offscreen after Geppetto got to know of Pinocchio's location on Pleasure Island (and there's also to consider Pinocchio's escape as Honest John feared and the fact that they live in the same town). Stromboli's fate is unknown, except for losing forever his "little wooden gold mine" and surely reacting in total rage and desperation for noticing it too late and probably even going bankrupt or still continuing his stage shows without Pinocchio but certainly much less successfully. Monstro crashed into the rocks, though it is still unclear if he dies or just gets badly injured by the crash. What happened to the Coachman's whole operation after Pinocchio's and Jiminy's escape and the destruction of the amusement park, however, is unknown.
• Based on the movie alone, The Coachman is one of the villains from the Hays Code era to truly get away from his crimes, as it violates one of the Code's rules that criminal wrongdoing in movies must never be depicted as going unpunished unless they are shown to repent. This makes the Coachman one of the unique or rare villains in the Hays Code era to ever succeed in escaping any punishment.
• In the original story, the donkey transformation is actually caused by a disease that affects people who never study (in Italian culture, the donkey is symbolic of ignorance, stupidity and goofiness) and takes roughly five months. The Coachman has become a millionaire by selling boys for the donkey trade.
• Charles Judels voiced the Coachman with a Cockney accent instead of an Italian one like Stromboli to make a difference.
• It is unclear what happened to the Coachman and his whole operation after Pinocchio and Jiminy escaped from Pleasure Island, especially considering the Coachman's paranoia about leaving any trace for the law to follow, to the point of threatening Honest John and Gideon and keeping the still speaking and sentient donkeys on Pleasure Island, and the fact that the amusement park on the Island seems destroyed and beyond repair, unless some magic is involved even in this case.
• Unlike the film, in some book and comic book adaptations, like Pinocchio and the Isle of Fun, he is seen paying Honest John and Gideon just a little amount of money for Pinocchio, which is "fair" compared to the case of Stromboli, since Pinocchio was the only child they brought to the Coachman. In the same aforementioned book, the Coachman also notices Pinocchio's escape.
• In the 1996 The Adventures of Pinocchio version three of the villians Lorenzi the Pupetmaster; the coachman and the sea monster are combined; Lorenzi tricks foolish boys into being taken by himslef [as the Coachman] to fun-fair where they are turned into donkeys; Pinocchio has lampwick kick Lorenzi/coachman into cursed water which transforms him into the sea monster which swallows Geppetto and Pinocchio; however they escape from the monster.

External Links

• The Coachman on the Pure Evil Wiki
• The Coachman on the Disney Wiki

Navigation

Villains

Books The Adventures of Pinocchio: The Fox & the Cat | Coachman | Terrible Dogfish | Mangiafuoco | Green Fisherman | Ringmaster When You Wish Upon A Star: Heartless Fairies (Scarlet Fairy | Green Fairy) | Honest John | Gideon | Stromboli | Coachman Movies Pinocchio (1940): Honest John | Gideon | Stromboli | Coachman | Coachman's Minions | Monstro Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night: Emperor of the Night | Puppetino The Adventures of Pinocchio: Lorenzini | Felinet and Volpe Pinocchio's Revenge: Pinocchio Pinocchio (2002): Mangiafuoco | The Fox & the Cat | Coachman | Terrible Dogfish | Green Fisherman Pinocchio 3000: Mayor Scamboli | Cab and Rodo Pinocchio (2019): Mangiafuoco | The Fox & the Cat | Coachman | Terrible Dogfish Pinocchio: A True Story: Modjafocco | The Fox and the Cat Pinocchio (2022): Honest John | Gideon | Stromboli | Coachman | Coachman's Minions | Monstro Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Count Volpe | Podestà | Terrible Dogfish | Benito Mussolini Others Pinocchio Unstrung: Pinocchio | Monstro