Candlewick (Pinocchio character)

Candlewick ( it, Lucignolo, , which can also translate to 'Lampwick') is a fictional character who appears in Carlo Collodi's 1883 book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (''Le avventure di Pinocchio'').

Role

Candlewick is introduced in chapter XXX of ''The Adventures of Pinocchio''. His real name is Romeo, though he is given his nickname on account of his slender, polished build. He is described as the most unruly of Pinocchio's class, though he is the puppet’s best friend. He declines Pinocchio’s invitation to a party celebrating his upcoming transformation into a real boy, and persuades the puppet to instead come with him to the Land of Toys (''Paese dei Balocchi''), a place where the boys spend their days having fun, and eating candy, where education, responsibility and nutrition simply aren't a thing.

The two are transported to the Land of Toys by the Coachman, and spend their days indulging in play and idleness. After five months, both of them awake with donkey ears, which they conceal with tall caps. The two are reluctant to admit their condition to each other, but after some coaxing, they simultaneously remove their caps and laugh at each other. Their laughter fades into braying and the two of them gain muzzles, hooves, tails on their buttocks, hind and fore legs, fur, and manes, and they transform into a pair of donkeys.

While Pinocchio is sold to a circus ringleader, Candlewick is sold to a farmer who makes him work at a water mill. In a later chapter, Pinocchio is sold to a drummer who attempts to drown the donkey in order to skin his hide and use it to make his drum. The man is then surprised that instead of finding a dead donkey, he sees Pinocchio who says the fish ate away at all his donkey skin.

Pinocchio and Candlewick meet again in chapter XXXVI, where it is revealed that Candlewick is dying from exhaustion. Pinocchio, now returned to normal, temporarily takes on Candlewick's job of doing farm work, and is laughed at when he reveals to Candlewick's owner that he went to school with the animal. Candlewick dies from exhaustion not long after.

Adaptations

The first ''Lucignolo'' (Candlewick) in cinema history was the French-Italian comedian Natalino Guillaume in ''Pinocchio'' (1911) directed by Giulio Antamoro, in a cast of adult actors, in which the character of Pinocchio was played by his brother Ferdinand Guillaume (''Polidor'').

Candlewick then appeared in Walt Disney's 1940 animated adaptation, ''Pinocchio'', with the name Lampwick, animated as a self-caricature by Fred Moore and voiced by Frankie Darro. He meets Pinocchio on the way to Pleasure Island and becomes friends with him when the two engage in bad behavior, though less than the rest of the children, which slows the curse turning them into donkeys. While playing pool and smoking cigars, they are accosted by Jiminy Cricket, who scolds Pinocchio and tries to get him to leave with him, but Lampwick bullies and ridicules Jiminy to the point that he leaves furiously. The curse eventually catches up with both boys, and Lampwick is the first to turn into a donkey. Before he completely loses his humanity, he screams out for his mother. Pinocchio and Jiminy flee the island before the curse takes hold, leaving Lampwick's fate unknown.

The first child actor to play the role of Lampwick was Guglielmo Selvaggio in ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' directed by Giannetto Guardone in 1947.

Lampwick appears in a 1972 Italian animated adaptation titled ''The Adventures of Pinocchio''. He is portrayed like the original story: a lazy boy who dislikes school and is Pinocchio's closest friend there. As in the novel, he convinces Pinocchio to come to the Land of Toys with him, where they play many games and eat junk food and go on amusement rides. Eventually he and Pinocchio transform into donkeys and are sold to a farmer and a circus. Near the end of the film, Pinocchio finds Lampwick heavily wounded and exhausted from overwork at the farm and he volunteers to do his work until he feels better, but it is too late and Lampwick dies from exhaustion. The character is voiced by Italian actress Flaminia Jandolo.

In the 1972 television miniseries ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', director Luigi Comencini

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