Pete (Disney)

Pete
Alice Comedies / Oswald the Lucky Rabbit / Mickey Mouse & Friends character
First appearanceAlice Solves the Puzzle (February 15, 1925)[1][2][3]
Created by
Designed by
Voiced by
Full namePeter Pete Sr.[2]
AliasCaptain Blackheart, Louie the Leg, Pierre the Trapper, Peg-Leg Pedro, Percy P. Percival, Sylvester Macaroni, Terrible Tom, Tiny Tom, Tom Cat
NicknameBad Pete, Big Pete, Big Bad Pete, Black Pete, Bootleg Pete, Dirty Pete, Mighty Pete, Pee Wee Pete, Peg Leg Pete, Petey, Pistol Pete, Sneaky Pete, Piston Pete
SpeciesAnthropomorphic cat[1][3][5]
GenderMale
SpousePeg (Goof Troop)
Significant other
Children
Relatives
  • Maw Pete (mother)
  • Li'l Pete (brother)
  • Zeke (twin brother)
  • Petula (sister)
  • Mabel (aunt)
  • Portis (cousin)
  • Zeke (cousin)
  • Jimbo (nephew)
  • Pierino and Pieretto (nephews)

Pete (also named Peg Leg Pete,[b] Bad Pete and Black Pete,[6] among other names) is a cartoon character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks of The Walt Disney Company. Pete is traditionally depicted as the villainous arch-nemesis of Mickey Mouse, and was made notorious for his repeated attempts to kidnap Minnie Mouse. Pete is the oldest continuing Disney character, having debuted in the cartoon Alice Solves the Puzzle in 1925.[7] He originally bore the appearance of an anthropomorphic bear, but with the advent of Mickey in 1928, he was defined as a cat.[1][3][5]

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.[6] During World War II, he played the long-suffering sergeant trying to make a soldier out of Donald Duck in a series of animated shorts.[8]

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 featurettes Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and The Prince and the Pauper (1990), the feature films A Goofy Movie (1995), An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000), Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999), and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004), and the short film 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.

  1. ^ a b c d e Smith, Dave (2012). Disney Trivia from the Vault: Secrets Revealed and Questions Answered: Secrets Revealed and Questions Answered. Disney Electronic Content. p. 272. ISBN 9781423178576.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gavin, Michael (5 April 2017). "Disney Villain Digest: The always-perilous Pete". InsideTheMagic.com. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
  3. ^ a b c Lyons, Jonathan (2015). Comedy for Animators. CRC Press. pp. 212 (pg. 76). ISBN 9781317679554.
  4. ^ "Funnyworld Revisited: Billy Bletcher". Michael Barrier.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  5. ^ a b Smith, Bob (1958). Walt Disney, the Art of Animation: The Story of the Disney Studio Contribution to a New Art. the University of Michigan: Simon and Schuster. pp. 181 (p47).
  6. ^ a b "Pete - D23". d23.com. September 6, 2015.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gersteinv2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "The Chronological Donald Volume 2 DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved February 13, 2021.


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