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#3: GREED
As Gordon Gekko once said, "Greed is good." Those are definitely words that these would-be treasure hunters live by, as they seek their fortunes in gold or jewels or... dead animals?
- FILMS: "Treasure Island" (1950)/"Treasure Planet" (2002)
- ACTOR/VOICE ACTOR: Robert Newton/Brian Murray
- SUPERVISING ANIMATOR: Glen Keane
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Both available separately
- In both Disney versions of Robert Louis Steveson's classic swashbuckling tale, Long John Silver is depicted in contradictory terms: on the one hand, he's orchestrating a mutiny to overtake the ship; on the other hand, he becomes something of a father figure for young Jim Hawkins. But is their relationship just a ruse for Silver to get his hands on the treasure map? Or will his true feelings for the boy outshine his true nature?
- OCCUPATION(S): Cook
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: His fellow mutineers
- QUOTE: From "Treasure Island": "Fortune sits on the shoulders of him what schemes." From "Treasure Planet": "That treasure is owed to me, by t'under!"
- FINAL VERDICT: With Hawkins' help, Silver escapes in a lifeboat.
- FILM: "The Aristocats" (1970)
- VOICE ACTOR: Roddy Maude-Roxby
- ANIMATOR: Frank Thomas
- This butler to Madame Bonfamille manages to get along well with her cats - until he learns that they are to receive her inheritance before he does. Naturally, he is not about to take this lying down and tries to catnap them so he can keep the inheritance for himself.
- OCCUPATION(S): Butler
- GOTTA SING-SING: A twisted take on "Rock-a-Bye Baby"
- QUOTE: "Cats inherit first? And I come after the cats?! It's not fair!"
- FINAL VERDICT: The crooked butler is kicked by Frou-Frou the horse into a trunk intended for Madame Bonfamille's cats, which is promptly taken away to Timbuktu.
- FILM: "Robin Hood" (1973)
- VOICE ACTOR: Peter Ustinov
- ANIMATOR: Ollie Johnston
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available
- While the king's away, the prince will play - and the people of Nottingham will be forced to pay. "P.J." wallows in gold-encrusted richness while his minions tax the poor out of house and home. Their only hope is that meddlesome Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men, who threaten to crash Prince John's selfish little party for good.
- OCCUPATION(S): Would-be monarch
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: Sir Hiss, the Sheriff of Nottingham
- QUOTE: "This crown gives me a feeling of power! POWER! Forgive me a cruel chuckle, heh-heh-heh, power..."
- FINAL VERDICT: The treasonous mama's boy and his pals are sentenced to hard labor in a penal rock quarry.
- FILM: "Escape To Witch Mountain" (1975)
- ACTOR: Ray Milland
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available
- This eccentric multi-millionaire has a passion for the paranormal. To that end, having caught wind of twin siblings with psychic powers, he vows to exploit them for his own gain. After they escape his grasp, he will not rest until he has them back once more.
- OCCUPATION(S): Land baron
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: Lucas Deranian
- QUOTE: "I'm a vengeful man, Deranian. I don't make idle threats."
- FINAL VERDICT: Just when it looks like Bolt has the twins in his clutches, they escape in a flying saucer, and he has no choice but to give up in humiliating defeat.
- FILM: "The Rescuers" (1977)
- VOICE ACTOR: Geraldine Page
- ANIMATOR: Milt Kahl
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available
- She may not have that cool turn-someone-to-stone stare like her mythological namesake, but this Medusa can still strike fear, especially if you're an orphan. This owner of a skid row boutique intends to move uptown, and she has set her sights on the fabled Devil's Eye diamond to get the job done. Too bad she's afraid of mice.
- OCCUPATION(S): Pawnshop proprietor
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: Mr. Snoops, pet crocodiles Nero and Brutus
- QUOTE: (to Penny) "You get down there and find the big diamond, or you will NEVER SEE THAT TEDDY AGAIN!!!"
- FINAL VERDICT: Last seen sinking into the bayou, with her crocodiles, having apparently turned on her, snapping at her heels.
- FILM: "Pete's Dragon" (1977)
- ACTOR: Jim Dale
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available
- The last thing that quack medicine man Doc Terminus expected to find to find in the town of Passamaquoddy (besides a tongue twister of a town name) was a real-live, fire-breathing dragon. He salivates at the potential windfall that the magical beast could provide for him and his phony remedies. But first, he must actually capture Pete's dragon...
- OCCUPATION(S): Medicine man
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: Hoagy, the Gogan clan
- GOTTA SING-SING: "Every Little Piece"
- QUOTE: (when Pete tells him that Elliott goes to whoever needs him) "I need him!"
- FINAL VERDICT: The not-so-good doctor is literally blown out of town by Elliott.
- FILM: "The Rescuers Down Under" (1990)
- VOICE ACTOR: George C. Scott
- SUPERVISING ANIMATOR: Duncan Marjoribanks
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available
- Poacher by trade, McLeach specializes in rare, exotic animals, and Marahute, the great golden eagle, is certainly one of the rarest and most exotic creatures he has ever hunted. He just didn't bargain on the pluck of a young outback boy and some mice (?!) out to protect the winged wonder and her nest of eggs.
- OCCUPATION(S): Hunter
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: Joanna the goanna
- GOTTA SING-SING: A twisted take on "Home On the Range"
- QUOTE: (lowering Cody toward a river full of crocodiles) "Now, this is my idea of fun!"
- FINAL VERDICT: Crikey! When McLeach goes over the waterfall of a crocodile-infested river, he falls to his doom, mate!
- FILM: "Pocahontas" (1995)
- VOICE ACTOR: David Ogden Stiers
- SUPERVISING ANIMATOR: Duncan Marjoribanks
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available
- Avarice is practically his middle name; all he wants to do is find his own "gold of Cortes" to prove himself in King James' court, and if he has to slaughter savages and pillage their land to do it, so be it. Of course, he leaves most of the heavy lifting to his underlings, because of a crick in his spine.
- OCCUPATION(S): Governor
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: Wiggins, Percy (in a roundabout way)
- GOTTA SING-SING: "Mine, Mine, Mine"
- QUOTE: "I am very well aware this is my last chance for glory. But mark my words, Wiggins: when King James sees the gold these peasants unearth, success will be mine at last."
- FINAL VERDICT: Having accidentally shot Captain John Smith, Ratcliffe is arrested, put in chains, and shipped back to England in disgrace.
- FILM: "Tarzan" (1999)
- VOICE ACTOR: Brian Blessed
- SUPERVISING ANIMATOR: Randy Haycock
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available
- A perfect example of the square-jawed "great white hunter", Clayton serves as the jungle guide to the Porter expedition in their quest for gorillas to study. But he has other plans for the apes, which are anything but scientific, and he's not about to allow some loin-clothed barbarian stand in his way.
- OCCUPATION(S): Safari guide, hunter
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: An army of unscrupulous sailors
- QUOTE: (to Tarzan) "Rounding up your little ape family will be all too easy!"
- FINAL VERDICT: Quite possibly one of the most gruesome in Disney
history: in his final showdown with Tarzan, Clayton accidentally hangs himself in a tangle of vines.
- FILM: "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" (2001)
- VOICE ACTOR: James Garner
- SUPERVISING ANIMATOR: Mike Surrey
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available
- Like Clayton before him, Lyle Rourke, the leader of the Atlantis expedition and a former explorer and mercenary, doesn't really want to come to study of the city's existence. He only went to steal and exploit the very artifact that protects the city, without which the city would be doomed to elimination. Not that he cares much, and he won't let anyone get in his way, not even his own expedition team.
- OCCUPATION(S): Expedition commander, mercenary
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: Helga Sinclair
- QUOTE: "I love it when I win."
- FINAL VERDICT: In trying to fight off Milo Thatch while trying to make off with the sacred crystal, Rourke accidentally breaks part of the crystal. Milo uses a fragment of it to make his enemy one with the crystal and then dissolve into nothingness.
- FILM: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003)
- ACTOR: Geoffrey Rush
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available
- Their lust for treasure led Barbossa and his motley crew to a cove, wherein was located a chest full of cursed gold doubloons. Now the only way to escape eternal walking death is to retrieve every single piece and put it back in the chest. This is a task they'll do anything - kidnap, ravage, not give a hoot - to complete.
- OCCUPATION(S): Former ship's first mate, now ship's captain
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: The crew of the Black Pearl
- QUOTE: "You best start believing in ghost stores, Miss Turner - you're in one!"
- FINAL VERDICT: The curse is finally lifted - just as rival Captain Jack Sparrow blasts Barbossa in the chest with his pistol with the one shot.
- FILM: "Home On the Range" (2004)
- VOICE ACTOR: Randy Quaid
- SUPERVISING ANIMATOR: Dale Baer
HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available - He's the "real rip-roarin' deal to those who moo", a fancy-pants cattle rustler with his sites set on buying up the entire territory. Armed with a hypnotic knack for the art of yodeling, Slim foolishly crosses the wrong critters: a determined trio of bovine bounty hunters out to save their farm from his dastardly designs.
- OCCUPATION(S): Ranch hand, land baron
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: The Willie Brothers (his nephews), Mr. Wesley, Rico
- GOTTA SING-SING: "Yodel-Adle-Eedle-Idle-Oo"
- QUOTE: "Five thousand cattle in the side pocket."
- FINAL VERDICT: Roughed up by the barnyard animals, Slim is arrested and hauled off by the sheriff.
- FILM: "Up" (2009)
- VOICE ACTOR: Christopher Plummer
- HOME VIDEO RELEASE: Available
- A childhood hero of Carl Fredricksen's, he has left for South America to find a specimen of a rare bird. But he has spent so much time in there that his greed and cowardice have taken him over and robbed him of his sanity. He will not let anyone, not even an older version of a fan of his and a young accomplice, interfere with his plans.
- OCCUPATION(S): Inventor, scientist
- PARTNER(S) IN CRIME: Dug (at first) and a pack of other dogs
- QUOTE: "Having guests is a delight! More often I got thieves who come to steal what's rightfully mine."
- FINAL VERDICT: In murderously pursuing Carl's party between the zeppelin and the flying house, Muntz gets tangled in the strings of some stray balloons and falls to his doom.
And thus ends the third deadly sin. You can go back and look at the first two in this link below: Disney Villains and the Seven Deadly Sins, Part One. Stay tuned - there's more to come!
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