The Coachman is the third antagonist of Disney's 1940 film, Pinocchio.
The Coachman appears as an elderly man and chubby owner of the cursed and infamous "Pleasure Island," where he takes children and transforms them into donkeys. The Coachman and his mysterious, hooded minions then sell the boys (now donkeys) to places like the salt mines and the circus for profit.
History[]
The Coachman's nightmarish grin
The Coachman is first seen at the Red Lobster where he is talking to Honest John and Gideon there he tells them that he is collecting stupid little boys and that if they could round up a few, he will give them lots of money. At midnight, the Coachman gets all the boys and brings them to Pleasure Island and lets them do what they want. When the boys all turn into donkeys, he rounded them up. All the donkeys that cannot talk are shipped to salt mines and the circus while those who can are possibly kept in a pen.
It was 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), 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.
The Coachman appears in the SNES version of Pinocchio - as a Boss. He was only seen in a level called Escape from Pleasure Island where Pinocchio battled against him on the top of a Cliff. when the boss battle ends - one of the donkeys saved Pinocchio by kicking the Coachman and send him falling off the edge - until Pinocchio escapes.
Trivia[]
- The Coachman is sometimes thought to be the main antagonist of the film. This is not true as he did not drive the entire plot and is not an adversary to Pinocchio, like Stromboli did. However, most people agree that the Coachman’s actions proved himself to be a lot worse than Stromboli or the two crooks did over the course of the movie.
- 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 is the only Pinocchio villain and one of the few Disney Villains to actually or at least seemingly win in their movie, due to Pinocchio escaping Pleasure Island to avoid being transformed into a donkey and save his father. What happened to his whole operation after Pinocchio's and Jiminy's escape and the destruction of the amusement park, however, is unknown.
- In the original Italian story of Pinocchio, he was usually referred to as "The Little Butter Man" ("L'Omino di Burro"), and he was described as a fat little man as round as a butterball, with a sweetly smiling mouth. He seemed rather effeminate in manner, yet was more depraved and sadistic than his Disney counterpart in the way he abused and even mutilated the poor donkeys who pulled his wagon. Also Pleasure Island in the original story was called Toyland ("Il Paese del Balocchi").
- The Coachman is called "Barker" in one Disney book adaptation of the film.
- The Coachman might be a magical creature like the Blue Fairy, and he teaches them morals about not going to school and listening to parents, but does it in a dark way.
- The Coachman has been described as one of Disney's most evil, nefarious and sadistic villains without any redeeming features.
- The Coachman's inspiration is Mr. Bumble from Oliver Twist.
- Another inspiration for the Coachman is Mephistopheles, the demon prince from Marlowe's play The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus, as the Coachman's boy victims, like Faustus, in effect sell their souls to him in exchange for a night of pleasure (in the original tale it was five months), and like the devil he is there at the end to foreclose the deal.
- He is an English villain to have a Cockney accent.
- There is something unusual about the Coachman & Pleasure Island. If the Coachman is selling donkeys, who were once boys, & the boys become donkeys for bad behavior such as vandalism, how is the Coachman able to get rich? Sure, he gets rich from the sales, but doesn't he have to still repair Pleasure Island? The damage seems significant as in the beginning, it looked brand new, but when Jiminy comes, it looks like everything became irreparable & abandoned, unless this is the last time the Coachman uses the park, the latter self-repairs itself magically, or the Coachman forces his minions or pays somebody else to do it secretely.
- 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.
- 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 & 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.
- 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 is 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 is unknown for what exactly).
- 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.[1]