The Coachman

The Coachman
The Adventures of Pinocchio character
Il conduttiere del carro, as illustrated by Enrico Mazzanti
First appearance	The Adventures of Pinocchio
Created by	Carlo Collodi
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Nationality	Italian

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)

The Coachman is introduced in chapter XXXI, and is described as thus:

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.

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.