Mangiafuoco

Mangiafuoco
The Adventures of Pinocchio character
Mangiafuoco, as illustrated by Enrico Mazzanti
First appearance	The Adventures of Pinocchio
Created by	Carlo Collodi
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	director of the Great Marionette Theatre
Nationality	Italian

Stromboli
Stromboli as he appears in Disney's Pinocchio
First appearance	Pinocchio (1940)
Created by	Bill Tytla Walt Disney
Voiced by	Charles Judels

Mangiafuoco (/ˌmɑːndʒəfuˈoʊkoʊ/ MAHN-jə-foo-OH-koh; Italian pronunciation: [mandʒaˈfwɔːko], literally "Fire-Eater") is the fictional director and puppet master of the Great Marionette Theatre (Gran Teatro dei Burattini), who appears in Carlo Collodi's book The Adventures of Pinocchio (Le avventure di Pinocchio). He is described as "... a large man so ugly, he evoked fear by simply being looked at. He had a beard as black as a smudge of ink and so long that it fell from his chin down to the ground: enough so that when he walked, he stepped on it. His mouth was as wide as an oven, his eyes were like two red tinted lanterns with the light turned on at the back, and with his hands, he sported a large whip made of snakes and fox tails knotted together." Though imposing, Mangiafuoco is portrayed as easily moved to compassion, which he expresses by sneezing.

Mangiafuoco is first encountered in Chapter X, after Pinocchio ruins one of his puppet shows by distracting the other puppets, and demands that Pinocchio be burned as firewood for his roasting mutton. Moved by Pinocchio's lamentations, Mangiafuoco decides to burn one of his own puppets, Harlequin (Arlecchino), instead. When Pinocchio begs for Harlequin's life and offers to sacrifice himself in Harlequin's stead, he is refused by Mangiafuoco, who upon hearing that he is poor, gives Pinocchio five gold coins, later seized by The Fox and the Cat (Il Gatto e la Volpe).