Mangiafuoco ( MAHN-jə-FWOH-koh; Italian: [ˌmandʒaˈfwɔːko], literally "Fire-Eater") or Mangiafoco is a fictional character who appears in Carlo Collodi's 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio (Le avventure di Pinocchio), serving as the secondary antagonist before redeeming himself. Although in several adaptations of the novel, more antagonistic versions based on the character are usually represented.
Contents
Role
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 wanting Pinocchio to 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 father Geppetto.
In the novel
Mangiafuoco 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.
He 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, 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 sequins which are later seized by The Fox and the Cat.
In adaptations
Karabas Barabas
The 1936 Soviet book adaptation The Golden Key, or The Adventures of Buratino by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy, features a character based on Mangiafuoco and named Karabas Barabas (Russian: Караба́с-Бараба́с). He is the director of a puppet theater and he is the primary antagonist in the tale.
Karabas Barabas has a tendency to accidentally step on his own beard while walking; to prevent this, he tucks the end of his beard into his coat pocket. The puppet theater in Tolstoy's story is commonly interpreted as an allusion to the Vsevolod Meyerhold State Theater of 1920 to 1938, with Karabas Barabas himself as a satirical portrayal of its director Vsevolod Meyerhold, who had a reputation for his strict, even despotic leadership style, demanding from his actors the obedience and precision of puppets. Many actors fled his theater, unable to endure the intense workload and the oppressive working environment. Meyerhold often wore a long scarf whose ends trailed to the ground. To avoid stepping on them, he would tuck the ends into his jacket pocket, much like Karabas Barabas does with his beard.
The character also appears in various adaptations of Tolstoy's story:
In the 1939 film adaptation The Golden Key, Alexey Shchagin portrayed Karabas Barabas.
He appears in the 1959 animated film, voiced by Aleksandr Baranov in the original Russian version.
In the 1975 musical film adaptation, Vladimir Etush played the role.
In the 2026 musical film adaptation, the role was played by Fyodor Bondarchuk.
Stromboli (Disney)
In the 1940 animated Disney film Pinocchio, Mangiafuoco is renamed Stromboli (in the Italian dub of the film, "Mangiafuoco" is Stromboli's epithet). The character is voiced by Charles Judels (who also voiced the Coachman in the same film), and animated by Bill Tytla. Unlike Mangiafuoco, who meets Pinocchio by chance, Stromboli buys Pinocchio from Honest John and Gideon and 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 the Blue Fairy and Jiminy 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 (like Bambi, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Cinderella, and One 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 first Disney villain whose wickedness is not immediately apparent to the audience, a characteristic that would become increasingly common in Disney movies of the 21st century (like Lyle T. Rourke, King Candy/Turbo, Hans, and Dawn Bellwether).
Stromboli also has cameo appearances in the television series House of Mouse, and its two direct-to-video films, Mickey's Magical Christmas and Mickey's House of Villains. Stromboli is also a meet-and-greet character at Disney Parks.
In the 2022 live-action adaptation, he is played by Italian actor Giuseppe 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 the Carabinieri for cruelty against his employees and they have taken over his puppet show.
Stromboli appeared briefly in the 2023 short film Once Upon a Studio with archival audio from Judels. He is seen frustratingly banging on a vending machine as Anna and Elsa pass by him. Stromboli appears again with all the characters singing "When You Wish Upon a Star", while all them take a group photo.
Other portrayals
In Giuliano Cenci's 1972 animated film The Adventures of Pinocchio (Un burattino di nome Pinocchio), Mangiafuoco's portrayal is true to the book in design and personality. In the English version he is renamed The Fire-Eater, translation of his original Italian name. He is voiced by Michele Gammino in the Italian version and by Bob Holt in the English dub.
In Pinocchio's Christmas, a character named Maestro Fire-Eater (voiced by Alan King) is loosely based on Mangiafuoco. Like in the book, his role is small and is made into an antagonist. Maestro Fire-Eater is shown to have a marionette named Julietta who Pinocchio befriends. After Pinocchio fled with Julietta as Maestro Fire-Eater sends the Gendarmerie after him, Pinocchio later left Julietta in the care of Lady Azura.
He appears in the 1972 miniseries The Adventures of Pinocchio, portrayed by Lionel Stander.
Filmation's Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night features a puppet master named Puppetino voiced by William Windom. When Pinocchio runs away to a carnival with the idea of finding work, Puppetino recognises him from when he was a puppet. In a nightmarish sequence, Puppetino turns Pinocchio back into a lifeless, wooden puppet through an unexplained, magical process. It is implied strongly that he has done this to other children also. Puppetino speaks in a cockney accent and is a gaunt, pale-skinned man with a red moustache and hair, thick lips and a cloak. He is also a henchman and servant of the titular Emperor, who later turns on Puppetino for cowardice and turns him into a puppet before he is set on fire.
In Steve Barron's 1996 live action film The Adventures of Pinocchio, Mangiafuoco (who is played by Udo Kier) is renamed Lorenzini and is portrayed as the main antagonist of the film, encompassing three different villains from Collodi's story: the Puppet Master, The Coachman, and the Sea Monster. He initially adopts Pinocchio into his puppet troupe when he enlists Volpe and Felinet to bring Pinocchio to him. Lorenzini has a craving for chilli peppers, identified as the cause of his "fiery" breath. After Pinocchio accidentally sets Lorenzini's theatre on fire, Lorenzini begins luring bad naughty boys to Terra Magica, where the children inevitably drink cursed water which turns them into donkeys. Lorenzini, during a struggle with Pinocchio, falls into the water and becomes The Sea Monster.