Underappreciated Disney Characters Part 1

At Mouse Troop, we love offbeat Disney Music, oddball park details, and--perhaps most of all--under-appreciated Disney characters! In part one of a threatened series, we're paying tribute to the best supporting players from two Disney classics. First up:

 COLONEL HATHI

Likes: Marching
Dislikes: Man-cubs

Voiced by the amazing J. Pat O'Malley (who also applied his perfect Stuffy-Elder-British-Officer impersonation to Alice in Wonderland and 101 Dalmations), Col. Hathi turns a minor plot moment in The Jungle Book into one of the funniest sequences in Disney filmdom. There's a nice bit of depth to this potentially one-note characterization: Beneath his gruff, loud exterior, Hathi cares very much about his young son. We also get the impression that, deep down inside, Hathi is well aware that he'd be helpless without the common sense input from his wife, Winifred.

APPEARANCES OUTSIDE THE FILM:

Col. Hathi once roamed the parks with Mowgli, long ago. He used to appear in occasional parades, and was last seen doing a soft-shoe (with his twin) in a Goofy dream sequence in Disney's Twelve Days of Christmas. Somewhat out of character, but that's show biz.

 THE HORN DUCKS

Like: Quality Family Time
Dislike: Being Trodden On

The Horn Ducks of Alice in Wonderland look so perfectly natural that it's truly a shame they don't exist in the real world. One of the most endearing species of Tulgey Wood, they express themselves quite well--and raucously--without speaking a word.

APPEARANCES OUTSIDE THE FILM

The Horn Ducks can be briefly glimpsed on Disneyland's Alice in Wonderland dark ride (don't blink!) and at Alice's Curious Labyrinth in Disneyland Paris.

A Pair of Rolly Crump Tikis

I enjoy the Tiki Room's outdoor pre-show nearly as much as the main event. Pele's a big attention-getter as she spouts real fire. Until recently, I hadn't realized that these wonderful tikis had been designed and sculpted by Rolly Crump, one of Disney's most imaginative and innovative artists.

Ngendei is one of my favorite characters in the entire park. Even though he sounds frazzled as he reveals the sad truth about his job, there's something incredibly jolly about the way he rocks to and fro.

Did you know Rolly Crump sculpted these tikis in the Imagineering parking lot--using a plastic cafeteria fork? Book mini-review time!

I'm certainly not the first Disney blogger to recommend this book, but--seriously--Rolly Crump's It's Kind of a Cute Story is one of the most delightful, eye-opening and entertaining behind-the-scenes books I've ever read. His blunt, good-natured, down-to-earth recollections of his work on some of Disneyland's most famous attractions make this a must-read for all Disney fans.

It's available right now on Kindle and iBooks, and it's a gem.

Should the Treehouse Be Remodeled Again?

We're in Adventureland, looking up at the bridge leading to Tarzan's Treehouse, the clever 1999 remodeling of the beloved old Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. It's well done, but has never seemed as compelling to me as it did in its original form -- because it no longer feels like a real, functioning home.

Tarzan didn't live in a treehouse in the film (except briefly as an infant). Filmgoers mainly know this place as the spot where Tarzan's parents were killed. In fact, the killer is actually right there in the treehouse in one of the story scenes.

Tarzan's a terrific and beautifully crafted film, but it hasn't "stuck" in the public consciousness as memorably as other Disney movies -- at least for the time being. The treehouse needs new tenants.

Adam and Andrew at The Disney Hipster Blog recently posted about the lack of a Jungle Book presence in Walt Disney World's Adventureland. Looking at Disneyland's similar under-utilization of a very popular and enduring set of characters, I think Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, Col. Hathi, King Louie, Kaa the Python, Shere Kahn and four harmonizing vultures would make awesome tenants for the Robinson's old digs.

Mowgli spent even less time in a treehouse (none) than Tarzan, but it wouldn't matter. Guests would line up for a Jungle Book encounter of any kind. And the music would be fantastic.

Junkyard Jamboree Spins Its Tale in Book Form

While Christmas shopping the other day, the last thing I expected to find hundreds of miles from Disneyland Resort was a souvenir of Disney California Adventure.

But there it was in the book section of the local Target store. At first glance, Mater and the Little Tractors looks like any other Cars-themed beginning reader book, but it soon becomes clear that the book tells the backstory of Mater's Junkyard Jamboree in Cars Land.

Disneyland Annual Passholders Receive a Free Book

Disneyland Annual Passholders have been finding a nice surprise freebie in the mail this week: A Celebration of a Wish Come True, an 80-page 8 1/2 x 11 1/4 souvenir book commemorating the resort's amazing summer of 2012.