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Disclaimer#1: All images and characters are copyrighted 1990/1991 Walt Disney Company Inc. and are being used without premission. The webmaster has made sure that no money was made in the creation of this page and all material is used with the upmost affection and respect to the Walt Disney Company and the Tale Spin team.

Disclaimer #2: The following is an editorial about WildCat. The views expressed here are of my own and does not mean that you actually agree by it. If you have any comments relating to this editorial or any other editorial created by me; then E-Mail me at: gweagle@eastlink.ca


WildCat: Most Misunderstood Character in TaleSpin

Most of the characters have something in common; as at one time or another, the main characters in TaleSpin had in fact commited a selfish act. Only one character in TaleSpin has in every episode; was pure-hearted and always gave to others without question. Who could this character be? Where Kit Cloudkicker was the most underrated character in Disney's 70 year history; WildCat may be the most underestimated character in Disney history (Which fits the voice talent since Pat Fraley is the most underestimated voice talent in history. Very few have done what Patrick have done.). While some people will be reminded of the famed Goofy; WildCat not only prove that he is smart (in his own way.); he's funny (because of his wild dialogue) and he actually has a purer heart than Kit and Baloo do. (It shows how much heart TaleSpin has compared to most animated series in history.) WildCat's persona pretty much fits the comedy side of TaleSpin. Not to mention the fact that WildCat shows an even less understood concept that makes him the best character not well known in Disney cartoons: a Paradox. Much like the paradox of too much and too little violence on television (Thank you Barry Zwicker from Vision Television's Insight program!), hot & cold; sweet & sour at the same time (Thank you James Barber for that paradox); WildCat has a Paradox character all in his own right: He's both a comical character and has demonstrated a balanced serious side at the same time. As you will see WildCat is a character in which turely deserved more episodes than he got.....


WildCat At A Glance:

Name: Charles WildCat (Most people in TaleSpin just call him WildCat. Charles was spoken by Molly in Flight Of The Snowduck)
Possible Names: None to speak of.
Age: about early 30's
Height: About 5' 10" (Disney never gave an exact height)
Friends: Rebecca Cunningham , Kit Cloudkicker, Baloo Bear, Clementine, Mrya Foxworthy, Furries
Rivials: Don Karnage, Mad Dog, Dumptruck, O'Roarke, Crazy Eddie, Wendell, Gorman (Although WildCat doesn't usually consider them rivals much due to his warm heart.)
Likes: Fixing stuff, animals, Playing with Molly Cunningham.
Dislikes: Bad guys; that's about it really.
First Quote: "Hey Baloo; I got your sewer pipes fixed." - Plunder and Lightning Part Two
Most Memoriable Quote: "This is my watch; and I am slow!"- For A Fuel Dollars More
Weaknesses: He has a problem with timing (He does say the wrong things at the wrong time; although he has shown many times that he can turn that weakness into a strength.).

WildCat's standard attire is an orange visor-like cap; and he wears white overalls. Most of the time; his attire is clean except when he is really committed to fixing something he can get that attire dirty very quickly.

First Appearance: " Time Waits For No Bear"; Tale Spin Preview Episode on the Disney Channel 05/06/1990.
First National Appearnace: "Plunder and Lightning"; Tale Spin Special TV Movie on CBC/Disney on 09/09/1990.
Person who voiced Baloo: Pat Fraley

Notables: His favorite sport apparently is bowling with Kriby and Dutch outside of his hobby of playing with aircraft.


A Seedy But An Effective Paradox in Comic Relief...

Okay; Wildcat is turely seedy as a character and does have a gallon short of a full tank. It is pretty accurate when you consider that WildCat has no formal education beyond grade three (something that was never explained in TaleSpin).However; please notice I didn't use the word stupid? As you will see in this profile; there is more than meets the eye here and ultimately it is morally wrong and actually completely unture. WildCat is without a doubt the most misunderstood character in TaleSpin; even his friend Molly is more clearly understood although not by much. There are many issues with WildCat and some of those extend far beyond the realm of Disney magic. The most painful is how WildCat got this personality of be dimwitted in the first place? That was never really explained proably because Baloo was the main character of TaleSpin and Disney might have tried to force the rest of the characters into the background. Some say that he has a mental illness; which does have some validation considering that 90% of mentally ill patients are not violent nor aggressive. WildCat certainly qualifes here although the timeline refers to the 1930's where mental science was still in its infancy stages; in other words mental illness wasn't a popular word to use at that time. The only time where he came close to being physically aggressive was in the episode "The Sound & The Furry" when he attempted the capture Crazy Eddie who was using small creatures called 'Furries' (one was ironcally named Homer) to sabotage airplanes for a race (and the racers blame Baloo because he was the only one to finish the race.). WildCat's mental problems can be if people let him be a blessing for him because he is the calm in the storm of innocence. His personality has a child-like simplicity and has a heart that is pure as snow. This was a very important lesson in "Flight of the Snowduck" in which WildCat and Molly were arrested in Thembrian territory for 'playing in the snow and smiling' (againest Thembrian law). When Molly was being denounced by Baloo over what he called 'wild and childish ideas'. WildCat attempted to teach a very upset Molly Cunningham how to use her imagination (with a capital e as he would say) and gave Molly the confidence to execute the plan of recreating a plane made out of ice water while WildCat fitted the ice with the nessecary features to get the iceplane off the ground. A combination of techinal know-how and reassurence that they would see Cape Suzette by WildCat made the plan work. Proving that you can be as dense as you want; as long as you know what counts inside, you can do anything within the soul.

WildCat's biggest strength is the reason why Baloo hired him to Baloo's Air Service and later Rebecca's Higher For Hire. He is considered a legendary mechanic by airplane circles. Those two services would be out of business without him. He can fix praticually anything from the most complex aircraft (which only a few master technicians working for Khan industries can do) to even fixing 1930 rotary-dial telephones. (Something that only he would want to.) His attire is the equalivant of a stereotypical gas station owner which it can at times become very messy. He joined Baloo's Air Service during the first few years of it business lifespan founded by information from the local pilot hangouts. While he is considered a 'few gallons short of tank'; he does have a good social life. Most mornings he would be bowling with his friends Kirby and Dutch; and the rest of the day he would spend playing around the aircraft. When the SeaDuck returns from a long day of delivering cargo; WildCat will most of the time be found on top of a wing; tinking the engines. He would spend hours doing everything from cleaning clogged pipes, fiddle with corroded electrical contacts or try to extract a cracked 'klinkenhemier' bolt from the inside of an engine. While almost all of his repair jobs end out being perfect; his dimwittness allows him to solve problems in mighty unorthodox methods: using an eggbeater to remove arrows ("The Bigger They Are, The Louder They Oink."), bubblegum, and even jellybeans just to find his way ("Paradise Lost"). In some instances such as "Mach One for The Gipper", "Paradise Lost" and "In Search of Ancient Blunders" WildCat would become a navigator when Kit Cloudkicker is not avialable for flights (maybe for attending school- Disney never fully explained this) however; Baloo would sometime wish that Kit was on board because WildCat sense of direction is very lacking; even if his sense of soul is right on target.

WildCat also has a very short memory as was painfully clear from episode to episode; expect when it came to the great memories and the loving heart that WildCat has. It seemed that Disney intentionally tried to erase whatever bad memories WildCat had with villians or rivials after any episode that he did. That effectively created a constant in WildCat's character; which in this case was good in the sense that he had a sense of right and wrong and a curse because it destoryed the human (or furry) condition that was present in Kit, Rebecca, Baloo and Molly. In an ironic twist ; Disney felt it would work in the TV series 101 Dalimations when they decided to erase Antila's memory of anything concerning Curella D'Vill really awful schemces (in quality and cleverness or a lack thereof) and pretty much keep that series going. The problem with that is that unlike WildCat; Antila wasn't intended to be a dimwitted character and there for created an inconstantity with her character which is nothing but a curse to an already poorly done show. WildCat's mind is fairly slow at times and he can be more prone to mishaps and unintentionally run into dangerous situations. Luckly; unlike some characters who people accused of being dense (Nappa from DragonBall Z) he doesn't actually fit into the word dense nearly as much. He rarely gets angry and only then for a good reason (The Sound & The Furry). While he is a bit naive and that can lead him into some dangerous situations; it can also lead him into situations which make him sound too dimwitted. In "The Balooest of the Bluebloods"; WildCat and Rebecca were invited to the manison in which Baloo supposely inherited from Bruinweld (for the reason that someone was trying to kill him.). WildCat decided that he needed to go to the bathroom (Even furries need the bathroom). Although he was given proper directions; once he got halfway through; he started to lose his direction and for the rest of episode wondered around the manison without even finding the bathroom. It was pretty curel; even more so the fact that it wasn't until Rebecca and Baloo had supper that they realized that WildCat was still at the manison. It is still unknown if Austin Featherridge (The lawyer who stated that Baloo was a member of the Bruinweld clan; and also the person who informed Baloo that the castle owed an extreme amount in back taxes.) inspected the house and found WildCat; but all we know is that WildCat did return to TaleSpin later on. Another much better example of him being dimwitted is the episode Paradise Lost when he drew a trail using yummy jellybeans which in turn were eatten by of all animals: a dinosaur. Unlike the previous episode; I found WildCat to be much less dense and he showed all of his traits of his conditioning in this one. He was kind and gentle and was willing to protect this land from O'Roarake who wanted to bring back some of the rare beauty back to the outside world. Thanks to WildCat; and a furry who broke O'Roarake's talisman which is the only map to find the area; the paradise lost was lost once more. (I know that there's not as much detail in this profile as the others; I've been on other matters during this time.)

In closing; WildCat has shown that behind the vulernableness is that while many people will dimiss his offhand remarks; he has demonstrated many meaningful insights hidden from within. Sometimes they smack in the face of irony. WildCat is special because he represents the paradox that was demonstrated in every episode of TaleSpin that he was in: not only is he funny; he is also serious both in his plain talk and his emotions (WildCat shaking his head while listening to Kit and Baloo arguing in the middle of the "Stormy Weather" episode). There have been many references to where the origin of WildCat came from (Rev. Jim from Taxi as an example from a High Flight Comment Board message from Ted); however, one thing does stand out: Everyone wishes that there were more episodes on him. Maybe that would explain how this great character could explain the relationships of Kit, Rebecca and of course WildCat himself. However; we can only dream. WildCat's heart is turely in the right place; and he might be slow, but he is worthy of being the most underestimated character in Disney's history next to Kit of course. That's my opinion; I welcome yours; see you next time!


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