
Pete (Disney)

Pete (also called Peg-Leg Pete, Pistol Pete and Black Pete, among other names) is a fictional character of The Walt Disney Company. He was created in 1925 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks and often appears as a nemesis and the main antagonist in Mickey Mouse universe cartoons and comics. He was originally an anthropomorphic bear, but with the advent of Mickey Mouse in 1928, he was defined as a cat. Pete is the oldest continuing Disney character, having debuted three years before Mickey Mouse in the cartoon "Alice Solves the Puzzle" (1925). Pete was unnamed in the first year of Mickey Mouse cartoons until 1930 when he was given the name Peg-Leg Pete.
Pete appeared in 67 animated short films between 1925 and 1954, having been featured in the "Alice Comedies" and "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" cartoons, and later in the "Mickey Mouse", "Donald Duck", and "Goofy" cartoons. Pete's final appearance during this era was "The Lone Chipmunks" (1954), which was the final installment of a three-part "Chip n' Dale" series. He also appeared in the short films "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1983), "The Prince and the Pauper" (1990), "" (2004), and "Get a Horse!" (2013).
Pete has also made many appearances in Disney comics. He appeared as Sylvester Shyster's dimwitted sidekick in the early "Mickey Mouse" comic strips before evolving into the main antagonist. In the Italian comics production he has been given a girlfriend, Trudy, and has come to be the central character in some stories. Pete later made several appearances in television, most extensively in "Goof Troop" (1992–1993) where he was given a different continuity, having a family and a regular job as a used car salesman and being a friend (albeit a poor one) to Goofy. He reprises this incarnation in 1999's "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas." Pete also appears in "House of Mouse" (2001–2003) as the greedy property owner who is always trying to exploit devious ways and loopholes to get the club shut down.
Although Pete is often typecast as a villain, he has shown great versatility within the role, playing everything from a hardened criminal ("The Dognapper", "The Lone Chipmunks" and most of his depictions in comics) to a legitimate authority figure ("Moving Day", "Donald Gets Drafted", "Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip"), and from a menacing trouble maker ("Building a Building", "Trombone Trouble") to a victim of mischief himself ("Timber", "The Vanishing Private"). On some occasions, Pete has even played a sympathetic character, all the while maintaining his underlying menacing nature. ("Symphony Hour", "How to Be a Detective") In the animated TV series "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", which is aimed at preschoolers, he is largely a friendly character, although his antics can occasionally prove an annoyance.
Theatrical cartoons.
"Alice Comedies".
Pete first appeared in the Walt Disney-produced 1920s "Alice Comedies" short subject series. He first appeared in "Alice Solves the Puzzle" (February 15, 1925) as Bootleg Pete. His nickname was a reference to his career of bootlegging alcoholic beverages during Prohibition in the United States (1920-1933). In the cartoon, Pete's activities bring him to a beach in time to see Alice working on a crossword puzzle. Pete happens to be a collector of crossword puzzles, and identifies Alice's puzzle being a rare one missing from his collection. The rest of the short focuses on his antagonizing Alice and her drunk-on-moonshine cat Julius in order to steal it. The menacing, peg-legged bear villain commanded quite a presence on the screen and was destined to return. In various later Alice Comedies, the character again battled and competed with Alice and Julius, often under the aliases Putrid Pete and Pegleg Pete.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Disney needed a villain to place against his new star Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Pete was introduced to his new adversary in the sixth Oswald short "The Ocean Hop" (September 8, 1927). Apparently inspired by Charles Lindbergh, the two enter an aeroplane race across the Atlantic Ocean. By the time producer Charles Mintz moved production of the Oswald series to his own studio, Pete had been established as the most consistently appearing supporting character to Oswald, and the character continued to appear in that role in the Oswald films directed and produced by Walter Lantz until 1937, making him essentially the only cartoon character at the time to frequently appear in shorts produced by two rival animation studios. His most notable non-Disney appearance was arguably as a captain in "Permanent Wave" (September 29, 1929).
Mickey Mouse and friends.
After leaving the Oswald series, Disney and his team created a cat villain for their new protagonist Mickey Mouse. Originally unnamed in the cartoons and called "Terrible Tom" in the comic strip, the villain was called Pegleg Pete by 1930, formalizing him as a new incarnation of the pre-Mickey bad guy. Animator Norm Ferguson, known for developing Pluto, also developed Pete's character in several shorts and he was made to resemble actor Wallace Beery. 
Pete appeared as Mickey's enemy beginning with the 1928 cartoons "The Gallopin' Gaucho" and "Steamboat Willie". While he was seen with two legs in those films, he first appeared with a peg-leg in 1930's "The Cactus Kid" and would speak for the first time. He would first appear in color in "Moving Day", which would drop the peg-leg. In the cartoons of the 1930s, Pete would be Mickey Mouse's nemesis, but would vary in professions, from an all-out outlaw ("Gallopin' Gaucho", "The Cactus Kid", "Two-Gun Mickey") to a brutal law-enforcer ("Moving Day", where Pete is a sheriff who serves Mickey and Donald Duck with an eviction notice). On the other hand, in the 1942 cartoon "Symphony Hour", Pete is a sympathetic impresario who sponsors Mickey's orchestra in a concert, which goes terribly wrong but is a great success. As Mickey's popularity declined, Pete would serve as an antagonist for Donald Duck and to a lesser extent Goofy.
Comics.
In Disney comics, Pete is consistently depicted as a hardened criminal, who often teams up with Mickey Mouse enemies Sylvester Shyster, Eli Squinch, or the Phantom Blot. 
In an introductory strip for the "Mickey Mouse" comic strip in early 1930, he was announced as "Terrible Tom - The Vile Villain", but this name was never used afterwards. In the April 24, 1930 strip, Mickey refers to him as "Pegleg Pete", and the name sticks. Pete first appeared in the "Mickey Mouse" comic strip on April 21, 1930, in the story "Mickey Mouse in Death Valley." This appearance is the first time since the "Alice Comedies" that Pete has a pegleg. Floyd Gottfredson occasionally committed goofs, with the pegleg switching from Pete's right leg to his left one. In the August 26, 1930 strip, Pete's peg swaps from right to left between one panel to the next. Pete's pegleg also appears on the left in the July 11 strip, and for the week of September 3 to 9. In Gottfredson's story "The Mystery at Hidden River" (1941–42), the pegleg disappeared, with Pete having two normal legs: when Mickey expressed surprise at this, Pete described one of his legs as a new, "streamlined, modern" artificial leg.
In 1944, Walt Disney decided to retire the character from the shorts; comics historian Alberto Becattini writes that this was "partly because he was concerned that it seemed to be a case of mocking the afflicted, partly because the animators could never remember which leg was the wooden one." Pete also left the comic strip for a few years; his last appearance was in "The World of Tomorrow", which ran from July to September 1944.
However, Pete continued to appear in the comic books -- in 1945, he was the heavy in the Donald Duck comic "Frozen Gold" ("Four Color" #62, Jan 1945) and in Mickey's "The Riddle of the Red Hat" ("Four Color" #79, Aug 1945). He surfaced again in a number of "giveaway" comics in 1946 and '47 -- "Mickey's Christmas Trees" ("Donald and Mickey Merry Christmas", 1946), "Donald and the Pirates" (Cheerios Premium #W1, 1947), "Mickey Mouse and the Haunted House" (Cheerios Premium #W4, 1947), "Mickey Mouse at the Rodeo" (Cheerios Premium #X4, 1947), "Mickey Mouse's Helicopter" ("Boys and Girls March of Comics Giveaway" #8, 1947) -- and came back to the comic books in "Mickey Mouse and the Submarine Pirates" ("Four Color" #141, March 1947).
With Pete still appearing in comic books, Gottfredson brought him back to the comic strip in "Pegleg Pete Reforms" (March 1947). His last appearance in the strip was in "The Isle of Moola-La" (April-Oct 1952). From then on, he made many more appearances in the comic books.
In "Mickey Mouse in Death Valley" and in several subsequent storylines, Pete was portrayed as Sylvester Shyster's henchman. From 1934, he gradually started to work on his own. Sometimes, Pete also teams up with other bad guys in the Disney universe, such as Scrooge McDuck's enemies (the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell), Mad Madam Mim, Captain Hook, and the Evil Queen. In various comics stories, his right-hand man is a skinny, bearded criminal named Scuttle. In Italian comics, his girlfriend Trudy (Trudy Van Tubb) is his frequent partner-in-crime. His cousin the "mad scientist" Portis is another, less frequent, accomplice.
In the 1943 comic strip story "Mickey Mouse on a Secret Mission", he was an agent of Nazi Germany, working as the henchman of Gestapo spy Von Weasel. In the 1950 comic strip story "The Moook Treasure", he is even portrayed as the Beria-like deputy chief of intelligence in a totalitarian state on the other side of the iron curtain.
His name in Italy has remained "Pietro Gambadilegno" ("Pegleg Peter"), or simply "Gambadilegno" ("Pegleg") even though it has been a long time since he was actually depicted with a pegleg in either comics or animated cartoons. In an Italian story by Romano Scarpa, "Topolino e la dimensione Delta" ("Mickey Mouse and the Delta Dimension", first published in 1959), Pete briefly removes his artificial leg, revealing his old foot-high pegleg underneath. Usually, Gambadilegno is depicted as the antagonist of Chief Seamus O'Hara ("commissario Adamo Basettoni") and Detective Casey ("ispettore Manetta") and is either a rival or a partner-in-crime of the Phantom Blot ("Macchia Nera").
Pete returned in the 2013 short Get A Horse!, and was animated as having a peg left leg.
World War II.
During World War II, Pete was "drafted" by Walt Disney and appeared as the official mascot of the United States Merchant Marine. He appeared in Donald Duck's series of army films where he plays Donald's Drill Sergeant and later Sergeant and Jumpmaster. In the "Mickey Mouse" comic strip, he was a spy for Nazi Germany in the episode "Mickey Mouse on a Secret Mission" (1943) his motivation being the money.
Ancestry and family.
Comic book stories have depicted Pete as being descended from a long line of villains, highwaymen and outlaws. Even historical figures such as Attila the Hun, Blackbeard, Antonio López de Santa Anna, Billy The Kid, and Cao Cao have been included among his ancestors. His mother is known only as Maw Pete and was mentioned in the story "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold" by Carl Barks and Jack Hannah (first published October 1942) as a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her only appearance was in "The River Pirates" ("Walt Disney's Comics and Stories" #336-338, published September-November 1968) by Carl Fallberg and Paul Murry. The same story introduced Li'l Pete, Black Pete's short fraternal twin brother. In December 1998, the "Mickey Mouse" comic strip introduced an older sister of Pete. Petula is the television host of the cooking show "Petula's Pantry". She finds time, however, to seek revenge against Mickey for condemning her "baby brother" to life imprisonment.
Better-known and more enduring as characters are two figures created by Romano Scarpa for Italian Disney comics. The first, Trudy Van Tubb, was introduced in "Topolino e la collana Chirikawa" (published in English as "The Chirikawa Necklace", first published on March 10, 1960). This female partner of Pete was presented as a childhood acquaintance of his: they are even shown as kids kidnapping Mickey when he was a baby. However, Trudy soon became Pete's girlfriend, his partner-in-crime and roommate—whenever they hold residence out of prison, that is. Their relationship seems to have evolved to a long-standing common-law marriage. This is occasionally used in contrast to Mickey's eternal engagement to Minnie Mouse and Goofy's determination to remain a bachelor. Trudy and Pete also have two hellion nephews named Pierino and Pieretto who often serve as foils for Mickey or Mickey's nephews Morty and Ferdie.
The second character to be created by Scarpa is Pete's cousin, the criminal scientist Portis (Plottigat in the original Italian version; English name first used in "Walt Disney's Comics and Stories" 695, 2008). Portis first appeared in "Topolino e il Pippo-lupo"" (published in English as "The Weregoof's Curse"; January 9, 1977). 
Ed Nofziger is responsible for a third recurring character, an alternative girlfriend of Pete named Chirpy Bird. She first appeared in "Topolino e i piccioni "poliziotti"" ("Mickey Mouse and the Pidgeon Police", first published in December 1981) and starred as Pete's partner-in-crime in eight stories from 1981 to 1984. In France, she and Trudy are presented as the same character, being both renamed Gertrude, despite Trudy being a cat and Chirpy being a canary.
In "Mickey Mouse Works", Pete has another cousin named Zeke. Zeke is a criminal like Pete, but is wary of his cousin's attempts to double-cross him "Just like old Times". Mickey often uses this distrust to turn the two against one-another.
In "Goof Troop", Pete has a wife, Peg, and two children, PJ and Pistol. Alternatively, the comic book story "Mickey's Strange Mission" from "Walt Disney's Comics & Stories" #245 (1961, by Carl Fallberg and Paul Murry) suggests a cultured ancestry for Pete, giving his full name as the genteel Percy P. Percival.
In the Italian comic story of 1998, "Topolino e il diario di zia Topolinda" ("Mickey Mouse and Aunt Melinda's diary") Pete's grandma appears, depicted as the only honest member of his family.
Television.
"DuckTales".
In the first season of the 1987 TV series "DuckTales", Pete appeared in a few episodes. However, he was portrayed as a different character in each of his appearances. Because of this, he was not always a true villain, but sometimes just a selfish individual with no evil agenda. In a few episodes, he even makes peace with Scrooge's group in the end. The various Petes appear to be their own characters, as two of them lived in different time periods, and because Scrooge never "recognizes" him, despite any previous encounters he may have had with any of the other Petes. In all of his appearances Pete was voiced by Will Ryan.
"Goof Troop".
In the 1992 TV series "Goof Troop", Pete has a family who includes his wife Peg, their two children Pete Junior (or PJ for short) and Pistol, and their dog Chainsaw with Pete taking on a more canine-like appearance. They live next door to Goofy and his son Max. In the series, Pete is often the victim of Goofy's clumsiness and mishaps, usually resulting in the destruction of his property or great personal injury. Pete owns a used-car dealership, and though no longer openly villainous, is still conniving (as well as abrasive, obnoxious, truculent and suspicious) and often exploits his good-hearted and somewhat addled friend Goofy. Often, his schemes backfire, or he feels guilty about his oafish behavior and works to set things right. His wife Peg often attempts to rid Pete of his uncouth attitude, and his son PJ is a complete opposite of his father in behavior, as he is good friends with Goofy's son Max in the series and its spin-off movies "A Goofy Movie" (1995) and "An Extremely Goofy Movie" (2000). Jim Cummings provided Pete's booming bass voice starting from that series, and to date is still the character's voice in all media. It is eventually revealed in the series' pilot episode "Forever Goof" that one of the reasons why Pete dislikes Goofy so much is that when Pete was a high school quarterback in a big football game, it was Goofy who accidentally caused Pete to fumble the ball and lose the game by hitting him in the face with a pom pom (Goofy was on the cheerleading squad).
"Mickey Mouse Works" and "House of Mouse".
After "Goof Troop", Pete reverted to his evil ways on "Mickey Mouse Works", where he frequently bullied the other characters and occasionally kidnapped Minnie Mouse. He would also play an average criminal (i.e. a house burglar). Then in "House of Mouse", he plays the role of the evil landlord. Several episodes involved his attempts to close the club by sabotaging the show, though there were times when he helped out the crew.
"Mickey Mouse Clubhouse".
Pete appears in numerous episodes of "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", Disney's newest 3D-animated children's series. He maintains his protagonist and semi-antagonist role, but is significantly toned down for its preschool audience—he is less malicious and more mischievous. Viewers will find that Mickey and gang are very forgiving of Pete and his escapades. He often appears as a seller of objects the gang needs, and will give them an item in exchange for beans. He is much nicer than his previous incarnations—in one episode, he invites the group to a Halloween party; in "Pete's Beach Blanket Luau", he even invites everyone to the titular party.
While "Clubhouse" has a great deal of fun at Pete's expense (or "expanse", as he is the biggest and fattest character; they use his overalls for a sail in "Mickey and Minnie's Jungle Safari"), it also depicts him in a sympathetic light; he is openly sentimental in "Clarabelle's Clubhouse Carnival", not wanting to part with his "Petey doll" prizes. He even changes Baby Goofy's diaper (willingly) in "Goofy Baby".
The "Carnival" episode also gives us the closest approximation of Pete's weight; he is shown to be the same size and weight as a brown bear.
In "Mickey's Great Clubhouse Hunt", he is the only character not invited to the Easter Egg Hunt (or so he thinks), so he tries to gatecrash, but messes up the secret word, causing the clubhouse to float away. At the end, he apologizes and is invited to the egg hunt after all. He is also revealed as the owner of Butch the Bulldog, who is friends with Mickey's dog, Pluto.
"Mickey and the Roadster Racers".
Pete also appears in "Mickey and the Roadster Racers" as a recurring character, either competing against Mickey and friends in races or as a civilian in various locales. The series also features various alter egos/relatives of Pete:
"Mickey Mouse".
Pete appears in the 2013 "Mickey Mouse" cartoon series. In the show, he is designed based on his appearances in the early Mickey Mouse cartoons, complete with a peg-leg. Like "Mickey Mouse Works" and "House of Mouse", in the series he has reverted to his evil ways, and again his booming bass voice provided by Jim Cummings.
Films.
In the 1983 short film "Mickey's Christmas Carol", an adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel "A Christmas Carol" featuring Disney characters, Pete was cast as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who reveals himself by removing his hood and lighting a cigar, which also lights up the engraving on Scrooge's grave, and having only one line ("Why "yours", Ebenezer. The richest man in the cemetery!", in response to Scrooge's question about whose grave it was) and laughing cruelly while Scrooge struggles to escape from his open grave as the gates of Hell are opening. Pete also made a non-speaking cameo appearance as a Toontown police officer in the very final scene of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" - he is viewed from the back, alongside Tom and Jerry's Spike and Horace Horsecollar in security uniforms, just before Porky Pig and Tinkerbell close the movie. Pete later appeared in "A Goofy Movie" and its sequel where he was shown in a much lighter tone as these movies are based on "Goof Troop". He is Goofy's best friend and confidante in the films. However, he is still arrogant and somewhat grouchy.
"The Prince and the Pauper".
In this Disney version of Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper", Pete once again played as the primary villain, this time as the English king's captain of the guard. When he saw that his ruler's life was slowly diminishing, he and his henchmen, a band of anthropomorphic weasels (from "The Wind in the Willows") who now act as the king's guards, seized the opportunity to terrorize England's citizens and rob them of their goods in "favor" of the king. After kicking out a disguised Prince, whom he mistook for the peasant boy Mickey Mouse, out of his kingdom, he later receives word from one of his guards that the Prince was seen a causing a commotion in the village, as the guard claimed that he "acted like a nobleman and he had the royal ring!" Pete suddenly realizes that it was indeed the Prince he "booted out" and seizes another opportunity out of this. That night, after the king passes away, Pete finds the "phony prince" (Mickey), threatening the life of his dog, Pluto, unless Mickey follows his commands. In the village, he soon finds and captures the real Prince and takes him to the castle's dungeon to lock him up. On the day of the Prince's coronation, Pete plots to get Mickey crowned as king, though Mickey is still subservient to Pete's orders. His plan, however, is thwarted when the Prince suddenly appears in the throne room, having busted out of the dungeon and evading the guards with the help of Goofy (Mickey's peasant friend) and Donald Duck (the Prince's valet). A sudden battle in the throne room (Mickey and the Prince vs. Pete; Goofy and Donald vs. the Weasel Guards) results in Pete's defeat, as Goofy's bumbling antics cause a chandelier to fall on the weasels, bundle them together, and send them rolling towards Pete. Pete, seeing this, tries to flee but is slowed down by his ripped-down pants (courtesy of the Prince's swashbuckling skills) and tripped by both the Prince and Mickey, causing him to get rolled over and caught on the chandelier, which sends him and his men rolling through a stain-glass window and falling out of the castle.
"Mickey's House of Villains".
In the 2002 direct-to-video "House of Mouse" spinoff film "Mickey's House of Villains", Pete and other Disney villains' guest appearances from "House of Mouse" are featured. He takes part in the musical number "It's Our House Now."
"The Three Musketeers".
In the 2004 made-for-video animated film "" (with Mickey, Donald Duck, and Goofy playing the title roles), Pete again appeared under the name Peg-Leg Pete. He served as the main antagonist of the film. Here, he was the Captain of the Musketeers, aiming to take over France, with the help of his lieutenant, Clarabelle Cow, and the Beagle Boys. To do so, he must get Princess Minnie out of the way, but it proves to be difficult for him, even when he hires the film's titular trio to be her bodyguards, believing they will not do a good job protecting her. He received his own "bad guy song", using the classic music piece "In the Hall of the Mountain King".
Video game appearances.
"Kingdom Hearts" series.
Pete is depicted as a recurring villain within the "Kingdom Hearts" video game series. He was originally a steamboat captain, with Mickey Mouse as his deck hand (as they were seen in "Steamboat Willie"), and later the captain of the Royal Musketeers until his plans for a coup were foiled by Mickey (as they were seen in "The Three Musketeers"). After Disney Castle was built in their world, with Mickey its new king, Pete began causing all sorts of mischief until he was banished to another dimension. He was subsequently freed by Maleficent, to whom he became indebted, and vowed to amass an army of Heartless, creatures born from the darkness of people's hearts, to return the favor.