Mangiafuoco

Mangiafuoco(/ˌmɑːndʒəˈfwoʊkoʊ/MAHN-jə-FWOH-koh;Italian:[ˌmandʒaˈfwɔːko], literally "Fire-Eater") is a fictional character who appears inCarlo Collodi's 1883 Italian bookThe Adventures of Pinocchio(Le avventure di Pinocchio), serving as a secondaryantagonistturning good.
He is the theatre director and puppet-master of the Great Marionette Theatre, portrayed as gruff and imposing, but capable of showing kindness and easily moved to compassion, which he expresses by sneezing: after initially wantingPinocchioto be burned as firewood for ruining one of his puppet shows, he eventually sets him free and gives him five gold coins to give to his fatherGeppetto.
Mangiafuoco is described as
Though imposing, Mangiafuoco is portrayed as easily moved to compassion, which he expresses by sneezing.
He is first encountered in Chapter X, afterPinocchioruins 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 ownpuppets,Harlequin, 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 goldsequinswhich are later seized byThe Fox and the Cat.
In the 1940 animated Disney filmPinocchio, Mangiafuoco is renamedStromboli(in the Italian dub of the film, "Mangiafuoco" is Stromboli's epithet). The character is voiced byCharles Judels(who also voicedthe Coachmanin the same film), and animated byBill Tytla. Unlike Mangiafuoco, who meets Pinocchio by chance, Stromboli buys Pinocchio fromHonest John and Gideonand earns a great deal of money by showing Pinocchio on stage. Stromboli (whom Honest John refers to as an "old gypsy") is at first portrayed as gruff and rude but kind-hearted, but he gives Pinocchio a metal washer instead of real money, then angrily locks Pinocchio in a cage, stating that once he is too old to work, he will be used as firewood, revealing his true nature as brutal, cruel, vicious, and arrogant. Pinocchio escapes from his carriage with the help of theBlue FairyandJiminy Cricket, but is berated for lying to her and ignoring Jiminy's advice.
Like all the villains in the film, the ultimate fate of Stromboli is never stated, revealed or clarified, only implied and left to the viewers to theorize and deduce it, a characteristic typical of other classic and older Disney animated films (likeBambi,The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,Cinderella, andOne Hundred and One Dalmatians). It's implied that he reacted to Pinocchio's absence in a typical emotional outburst and desperation upon discovering he has lost his "gold mine" too late. He is the firstDisney villainwhose wickedness is not immediately apparent to the audience, a characteristic that would become increasingly common in Disney movies of the 21st century (likeLyle T. Rourke,King Candy/Turbo,Hans, andDawn Bellwether).
Stromboli also has cameo appearances in the television seriesHouse of Mouse, and its two direct-to-video films,Mickey's Magical ChristmasandMickey's House of Villains. Stromboli is also a meet-and-greet character atDisney Parks.
In the2022 live-action adaptation, he is played by Italian actorGiuseppe Battiston. In this adaption, Stromboli is served by Fabiana and her marionette Sabina. While Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket's escape from Stromboli's carriage remains intact, they later encounter Fabiana and Sabina again where they mentioned that Stromboli has been arrested by theCarabinierifor cruelty against his employees and they have taken over his puppet show.
Stromboli appeared briefly in the 2023 short filmOnce Upon a Studiowith archival audio from Judels. He is seen frustratingly banging on a vending machine asAnnaandElsapass by him. Stromboli appears again with all the characters singing "When You Wish Upon a Star", while all them take a group photo.
Despite his limited screen time, Stromboli is one of Disney's most (in)famous and acclaimed villains. The character has been praised by critics for possessing the ability to instill in audiences both laughter and fear.Art criticPierre Lamberthas stated that "Tytla's innate sense of force is revealed in all its magnitude in the creation of the character of Stromboli,"and animation historian Charles Solomon refers to the puppet master as "the grandest of all Disney heavies," whileJohn Canemakerdescribes Stromboli as "an overweight monster of mercurial moods, capable of wine-soaked, garlic-breathed Old World charm one second, and knife-wielding, chop-you-up-for-firewood threats the next."William Paul drew some parallelism:
During the premiere ofPinocchio,Frank Thomassat in front ofW.C. Fields, who, upon Stromboli's entrance, muttered to whoever was with him that the puppet master "moves too much."Michael Barrieragrees with Fields' criticism, considering Stromboli a "poorly conceived character" whose "passion has no roots... there is nothing in Stromboli of what could have made him truly terrifying."Leonard Maltindisagrees, considering Pinocchio's encounter with the showman to be the wooden boy's "first taste of the seamy side of life... (Stromboli) tosses his hatchet into the remnants of another ragged marionette, now a pile of splinters and sawdust, a meekly smiling face the only reminder of its former 'life'."Though the character is Italian, characteristics such as Stromboli's facial expressions, obsession with wealth, and long black 'goat's beard' (though the latter is present also in several Italian/European versions and transpositions of the original novel and almost all the villains in the film are looking for money or wealth) have led some to make comparisons withJewish stereotypes(particularly Hollywood moguls).
Collodi,Le Avventure di Pinocchio1883, Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli