< Classic Disney Shorts

Classic Disney Shorts/Characters


A list of major characters and tropes associated with Disney's classic characters, which has spawned numerous spinoffs and side games. See also Disney Ducks Comic Universe, Mickey Mouse Comic Universe, and Kingdom Hearts for character listings on those versions of the characters.

The Sensational Six

Mickey Mouse

Debut: Plane Crazy [produced], Steamboat Willie [released], both 1928.
Voiced by: Walt Disney (1928-1947 and The Mickey Mouse Club); Clarence Nash (The Dognapper), Jim MacDonald (1947-1977); Wayne Allwine (1977-2009); Bret Iwan (2009-present)

The first (aside from Pete, see "Other Main and Major Characters"), and arguably, the most recognizable of the cast, often depicted as a good-natured, optimistic fellow - but also a determined and often feisty fighter with elements of both Kid Hero and Badass.

Tropes:

Minnie Mouse

Debut: Plane Crazy
Voiced by: Walt Disney; Marcellite Garner (1928-1940); Thelma Boardman (1940-1942); Ruth Clifford (1942-1952); Russi Taylor (1986-present)

Mickey's love interest, who often took on the role of a Damsel in Distress.

Tropes:

Goofy Goof (a.k.a. George Geef and Dippy Dawg)

Debut: Mickey's Revue, 1932.
Voiced by: Pinto Colvig (1932–1938, 1943–1967); George Johnson (1939–1943); Hal Smith (Mickey's Christmas Carol); Tony Pope (Sport Goofy in Soccermania and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?);

Will Ryan (DTV Valentine and Down and Out with Donald Duck); Bill Farmer (1986–present)

An anthropomorphic dog (though his species has been debated), and the world's biggest klutz. He was originally called "Dippy Dawg", but they wisely changed his name.

Tropes:

"AAAAAH-Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-HOOEY!"

Donald Duck

Debut: The Wise Little Hen, 1934.
Voiced by: Clarence Nash (1934-1984); Tony Anselmo (1985-present)

The Ensemble Darkhorse, a hot-tempered waterfowl who often ended up being the Butt Monkey. Though Mickey remains the face of the company, Donald is arguably the true moneymaker as far as long-term commercial success (Walt even once called him "the Gable of our stable"), spawning his own little corner of the Disney Universe that expands towards comics, cartoons, and video games.

Tropes:

  • Badass: When he's determined or angry, he's performed great feats of skill, cunning, strength, and fighting prowess.
  • Badly-Battered Babysitter: What happens to him when he has to babysit Shelby the Turtle, or his nephews.
  • Breakout Character: As mentioned in the book "Mickey and the Gang: Classic Stories in Verse", Walt intentionally planned Donald to be his next star character, even having press kits ready by the day "The Wise Little Hen" was released.
  • Butt Monkey
  • Chaste Toons: Other Disney characters may have nieces and nephews, but only Donald is with any kind of consistency depicted as taking care of his on a permanent basis.
  • The Chew Toy
  • Embarrassing Middle Name: Fauntleroy (for his sailor suite, after the Little Lord Fauntleroy series of children's books). It was first revealed on his draft notice in Donald Gets Drafted.
  • Glass Cannon: Donald can dish it out, but when met with adversity he goes down fast.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck: He talks like this when he's angry, but because of his speech problem it often sounds like he's using real cuss words anyway.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper
  • Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal
  • High-Pressure Emotion
  • Jerkass: In the shorts where he's the one who starts trouble for either Chip and Dale or his nephews. And then of course there's the short Donald's Penguin where he almost ends up shooting his pet penguin with a shotgun for eating his pet fish.
    • One short features Donald making trouble for himself in the kitchen as he gets distracted while listening to a radio cooking show and accidentally adding rubber cement to his waffle batter. The short ends with him running off to beat up the show's host despite the fact that everything that happened to him was directly his own fault.
      • In the comics by Al Taliaferro, Donald was reccurently portrayed as nothing but a jerk (save for a several strips-long failed attempt at redeeming himself in 1937, where every attempt by Donald to do good just got him even deeper into trouble). As well as generally shown with interests in playing pranks, breaking windows, throwing stones at people and other such petty crimes as a source of fun, this also featured comics where Donald would do things like tie an anchor to Goofy's leg and throw him in the river. For accidentally smacking Donald in the back of the head with a fish and then laughing about it.
    • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A good few times he is shown to care about his nephews, and there is no doubt of his love for Daisy, perhaps the one person he doesn't lash out on (sadly the same can't be said for vise versa) A few Crowning Moments Of Awesome show him get over his rivalry with Mickey and stick up for him as well.
  • Kick the Dog: Sometimes has a very cruel sense of humor and likes to mess with smaller animals or his own nephews, which leads to his undoing by the end of the short.
  • Leitmotif: The sea chanty "The Sailor's Hornpipe", particularly moreso in his early days.
  • Limited Wardrobe
  • Literal Ass-Kicking: This tends to happen to Donald...a lot.
  • Morally-Ambiguous Ducktorate
  • The Unintelligible Speech Impediment: Donald's voice is so hard to understand that it has caused at least two Mondegreens in the form of people accusing him of screaming "Fuck you!" in Clock Cleaners and calling Daffy Duck a nigger in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (he actually says "Says who?" and "You doggone stubborn little...", respectively). This does not apply to him in the comics, though.
  • Unstoppable Rage: He's been shown to perform great feats of strength when angry or determined. From ripping up a TELEPHONE POLE in "Cured Duck" to PUNCHING out a shark in "Sea Scouts" and as Paperinik...you do not wanna piss him off! The enemy actually ends up begging him for mercy! Clearly, rage makes him quite intense.

Daisy Duck

Debut: Don Donald, 1937, as "Donna Duck"; Mr. Duck Steps Out, 1940, as Daisy.
Voiced by: Clarence Nash (1937-1940); Gloria Blondell (1945-1950); Ruth Peterson (Donald's Dream Voice); Patricia Parris (Mickey's Christmas Carol); Tress Mac Neille (1988-present); Kath Soucie (Quack Pack).

Donald's love interest, with a similar - but more controlled - temper. Minnie is her best friend.

Tropes:

Pluto the Pup

Debut: The Chain Gang, 1930.
Voiced by: Pinto Colvig (1930-1939, 1941-1967); Lee Millar, Sr. (1939-1941); Bill Farmer (1990-present).

Mickey's loyal pet dog.

Tropes:

  • Big Friendly Dog: Most of the time. He has a temper and an occasional selfish streak, but is loyal to Mickey and has more limits in his Jerkass tendancies than, say, Donald.
  • Butt Monkey: On occasion, especially later on. Sometimes, like in Pluto's Judgement Day, it went too far.
  • Character Focus: After Mickey's Flanderization Pluto pretty much became the star of Mickey's cartoons.
  • The Chew Toy
  • Furry Confusion: An age old question which has plagued mankind since the 30's; how can Pluto and Goofy share the same universe, if Goofy is also (allegedly) a dog?
    • Not just that, but how can a mouse own a dog?
  • The Speechless: Except for saying "Kiss me!" in The Moose Hunt.
    • Hilariously lampshaded in the 50's-era Mad Magazine spoof "Mickey Rodent" in which he laments being the only animal in the Disney universe who can't talk, by way of holding up signs.


Other Main and Major Characters

Pete

Debut: Alice Solves the Puzzle, 1925.

A large anthropomorphic cat who is constantly causing trouble for Mickey, Donald, and Goofy (all of whom, ironically, he predates).

Tropes:

Chip 'n Dale

Debut: Private Pluto, 1943.

A pair of chipmunks who frequently pester Donald and sometimes Pluto (and Goofy and Mickey on at least one occasion each) during their pursuit of storing food. See also Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers for tropes that refer to them specifically in said cartoon.

Tropes:

Clarabelle Cow

Debut: Plane Crazy, 1928

A cow who occasionally hangs out with Mickey and company. Clarabelle is good friends with Minnie and Daisy, and is sometimes played as either Goofy or Horace's love interest.

Tropes:

Horace Horsecollar

Debut: The Plow Boy, 1929

One of Mickey's friend, Horace is a cheerful know-it-all horse. He used to tag along on Mickey's adventures in early comic strips before Goofy took his place. Often paired with Clarabelle Cow.

Tropes:

Uncle Scrooge McDuck

Debut: The Spirit of '43 (makes a brief, unnamed appearance), Christmas on Bear Mountain (comic book), 1947

Donald's super-rich, adventurous uncle. Better known for his acclaimed comic book series and the animated series DuckTales (1987).

Tropes:

Huey, Dewey & Louie

Debut: Donald's Nephews, 1937

Donald's mischievous nephews. Sometimes paired with Uncle Scrooge instead.

Tropes:

Ludwig Von Drake

Debut: "An Adventure in Color" (first episode of "The Wonderful World Of Color"), 1961

Another of Donald's uncles. A scientist with countless expertise in numerous subjects.

Tropes:

Max Goof (and Goofy Jr.)

Debut: Fathers Are People, 1951 as Goofy Jr., and Goof Troop, 1992 as Max.

Goofy's son, who originally appeared with red hair in the 1950s, but was later redesigned to better resemble his dad in the 1990s. Starred in Goof Troop and its big-screen sequel, A Goofy Movie.

Tropes:


Oswald The Lucky Rabbit Cartoon Characters

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Debut: Trolley Troubles, 1927.

A rabbit Walt Disney created in 1927 as his first animated star, but ended up losing to Universal after a contract dispute. He has since been reacquired by the Disney company and is now considered Mickey's older half-brother.

Tropes:

Francine "Fanny" Cottontail

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's original Love Interest.

Tropes:

Homer

The orphaned kitten who pesters Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Tropes:

Ortensia (a.k.a. Kitty, Marie, or Sadie)

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's Love Interest

Tropes:

Mickey Mouseworks and House of Mouse Characters

Dennis the Duck

Tropes:

Tiki the Maltese

Debut:"Pluto's Penthouse Sweet," House of Mouse

Tropes:

Mr. Pettibone

Goofy's pet kitten who first appeared in Mickey Mouse Works.

Tropes:

Baby Shelby

An uncooperative child turtle who first appeared in Mickey Mouse Works.

Tropes:

Mrs. Turtle

Shelby the Turtle's mother who first appeared in Mickey Mouse Works.

Tropes:

Hairy Manilow

The Abominable Snowman

The Aliens

Three kittens

Pete's Gram-Gram

Goofy's Pop

Lumiere's relations

Mike Microphone

Soundboard

DVD Player

Thermostat

Canon Immigrants From The Silly Symphonies and Movies

Figaro

Debut: Pinocchio, 1940

Mischevious pet kitten of Minnie Mouse. Originally a minor character in Disney Animated Canon feature film Pinocchio, Disney took note of the cat's popularity and placed him in three shorts of his own. Often acted as a rival of Pluto.

Tropes:

Jose Carioca

Tropes:

Panchito

Tropes:

  • Guns Akimbo: Panchito loves to fire off those guns of his.
  • National Stereotypes: Panchito is Mexican, loud, wears a sombrero and can bullfight.
  • Nice Hat: Panchito's Sombrero, from which he generates 2 more Sombreros for José and Donald.
  • No Name Given: Panchito's name is only given in the opening credits, and none of the official materials for the movie mention a last name. As a result, there have been various full names attributed to him. His first comic book appearance gave him the name El Gayo José Francisco Sandro de Lima y la Loma Pancho Allegre (Where "Panchito" is just a nickname), while modern comics (Such as the Don Rosa stories) went with Panchito Pistoles, while the House of Mouse goes with Panchito Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero González.
    • In strictest grammatical terms his given name is probably Pancho, if nothing else is certain ("ito" or "ita" is the diminutive form; the Spanish-language equivalent of calling someone "Jimmy" instead of "Jim" or "James").
      • Nope. Pancho isn't a name; it's a common nickname for the name "Francisco". So in strictest grammatical terms, his given name is probably Francisco.

Aracuan Bird

Tropes:

Willie The Giant

Debut: Mickey and the Beanstalk, second segment of Fun and Fancy Free

Tropes:

Jiminy Cricket

Debut: Pinocchio, 1940

Tropes:

Zeke Wolf (a.k.a. The Big Bad Wolf)

Debut:Three Little Pigs, 1933

Tropes:

Practical Pig

Debut:Three Little Pigs, 1933

Tropes:

Fiddler and Fifer Pig

Debut:Three Little Pigs, 1933

Tropes:


Pluto The Pup Cartoon Characters

Ol' Benttail the Coyote

Tropes:

Benttail, Jr.

Tropes:

Ronnie the St. Bernard Puppy

Debut: The Purloined Pup, 1946

Tropes:

Fifi The Peke

Minnie's dog and Pluto's girlfriend.

Tropes:

Butch the Bulldog

Large bulldog and frequent antagonist of Pluto.

Tropes:

Dinah Dachshund

Female sausage dog and love interest for Pluto (replacing Fifi).

Tropes:

Salty The Seal

Debut: Mickey's Circus, 1936

Tropes:

Pluto Junior

Debut: Pluto's Quinpuplets, 1937

Pluto's son.

Tropes:

Milton The Siamese Cat

Debut: Puss Cafe, June 9, 1950.

A red Siamese cat and Foil for Pluto the Pup who has a friend named Richard. He even shows up in Epic Mickey.

Tropes:

K.B.

Debut:Pluto's Kid Brother, 1946

Tropes:

Lucifer

Debut:Pluto's Kid Brother, 1946

A lean, red alley cat who antagonized Pluto, KB, and Figaro. Not to be confused the mean, Fat Cat from Cinderella of the same name.

Tropes:

Pluto's conscience


Donald Duck Cartoon Characters

Donna Duck

Debut: Don Donald (1937)

An early prototype of Daisy, Donna was Donald's girlfiend of Spanish descent (considering she literally lives in the middle of a desert) and, surprisingly, has the same speech impediment Donald has, unlike Daisy. Interestingly, one comic strip (including in Mickey and the Gang: Classic Stories in Verse) had her return as a separate character from Daisy, but she had left Donald at this point for a human fiance.

Tropes:

Gus Goose

Donald Duck's cousin who is a goose.

Tropes:'

Joey the Kangaroo

Debut: Daddy Duck

Tropes:

Humphrey the Bear

A fat, freeloading bear always on the lookout for an easy meal. Humphrey tended to run afoul of Donald Duck and fussy ranger J. Audubon Woodlore.

Tropes:

  • Beary Funny
  • Big Eater: When he can get food, that is.
  • Catch Phrase: A very distinctive "heh".
  • Everything's Worse with Bears: Well, sort of. Humphrey may make life harder for those around him, but he's a pest rather than an actual threat.
  • Expy: Not Humphrey himself, but when Humphrey's creator Jack Hannah left Disney for Walter Lantz, he created a new character named Fatso Bear, who was more or less identical to Humphrey.
  • The Unintelligible: Humphrey's speech consists of grunts, mumbles, and whines.

J. Audubon Woodlore

The park ranger of Brownstone National Park, a play on Yellowstone National Park.

Tropes:

Spike The Bee

A bee(!) who tends to run afoul of Donald and (on on occasions Pluto).

Tropes:

Ajax The Gorilla

Debut: Pluto At The Zoo, 1942

One of Donald Duck's antagonists.

Tropes:

Jenny the Burro

Debut: Don Donald (1937)

Tropes:

Witch Hazel

Debut: Trick or Treat (1953)

Tropes:

The Nazis

Debut: Der Fuehrer's Face (1943)


Other Characters

Julius the Cat (a.k.a. Mike)

Debut: Alice's Wonderland, 1923.

A cartoon cat, similar in appearance to Felix the Cat, who was the sidekick to Alice of the Alice Comedies.

Tropes:

  • Depending on the Artist: In some cartoons, he was drawn as black-furred with white paws and a white belly and muzzle. In others, he was all-black with only a white muzzle.
  • Expy: Julius is literally just Felix moonlighting in a Disney cartoon—Pat Sullivan apparently made Disney do this.
    • Actually, it was Charles Mintz. Sullivan was so pissed off by Julius that he cancelled Mintz' contract to distribute Felix cartoons and moved to another company.

Pete Junior (Junior and PJ Pete)

Debut: Bellboy Donald, December 18, 1942 as Junior. Goof Troop in 1992 as PJ.

Pete's son. Originally appeared as a completely rotten little hellion named Junior who bedeviled Donald. Ironically, even though the two characters don't sound the same, both Donald and Junior are voiced by Clarence Nash. In Goof Troop, he is a normal, shy, well-adjusted teenager named P.J. and nicknamed "Peej" who turned out okay in spite of his father. P.J. is Max Goof's best friend.

Tropes that apply to Junior:

Tropes that apply to PJ:

Tropes that apply to both Junior and PJ:

  • Ambiguous Looking Cat: Both Junior and PJ, but PJ more so.
  • Art Evolution: Pete's son first appeared in Bellboy Donald in 1942. In that cartoon, his name is Junior, he is dressed like Little Lord Fauntleroy with blue Mickey Mouse-like shorts. He even looked a lot like Mickey Mouse, but with (decently proportionate) cat ears. In Goof Troop, A Goofy Movie, and An Extremely Goofy Movie, his name is P.J., he looks less like Mickey, is really overweight, and has small-ears like his dad, Pete.
  • Cameo: Pete's (unnamed) son in "Father's Week End." In this cartoon, he is a Dogface rather than a cat and looks like a black haired, black-nosed Goofy jr. and has flesh-toned fur over the rest of his body just like he does.
  • Informed Species: Both Junior and PJ are this, but PJ is this more so.

Clarice

Tropes:

Clara Cluck

Debut: Orphan's Benefit, 1934.

A full-bosomed chicken who fancies herself a professional actress, opera singer, and cellist. Parody of famed English contralto Dame Clara Butt.

Tropes:

Morty & Ferdie Fieldmouse

Debut: Mickey's Nephews (comic strip), 1932

Mickey's nephews. They look almost exactly like their uncle save for their smaller size and trademark paper crowns.

Tropes:

Mortimer Mouse

Debut: Mr. Slicker and the Egg Robbers, 1930, as Mr. Slicker; Mickey's Rival, 1936, as Mortimer

A tall, smooth-talking mouse who is Mickey's antagonistic rival, usually for Minnie's affections.

Tropes:

The Phantom Blot

A mysterious master criminal who desires to conquer the world. Floyd Gottfredson

Tropes:

  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Actually Justified at the end of his first appearance. When Mickey Mouse asks why he didn't just shoot him instead of using elaborate Death Traps, Blot sadly explains he can't bear to see anything die because of his cursed soft heart.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: At the end of his first appearance, Blot sadly laments now the chemical formula can only be used for good.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: In some continuities. House Of Mouse, in particular had him actually try to kill the heroes in his first appearance onscreen, of course, it was a James Bond type of trap, but the next time, he tries to make sure that they can't survive a fall. And his final plan involved hijacking the machine that gave the characters clues as to where the villain was, or who they were, making sure they didn't know what to do.
  • Depending on the Writer: Is he a Large Ham? Is he a Card-Carrying Villain? Heck, sometimes people write him as a Complete Monster!
  • Dogface: When Unmasked.
  • Evil Is Hammy: Sometimes (see "Depending On The Writer" above)
  • Evil Sorcerer: In Wizards of Mickey
  • Flanderization: Later appearances present his cloak as his actual body, Ducktales even had him with a mouth.
  • Gentleman Thief: To some degree, though gentleman might be pushing it.
  • The Un-Reveal: His face is never really seen. But Subverted in his first appearance, where he is unmasked, having a thin mustache and a gaunt face according to That Other Wiki, apparently, his appearance was also based on Walt Disney himself.
    • A lot of other writers seem to have Retconned his true face as being unknown. In one story it is vaguely implied that his real identity is in fact Goofy.
    • Wizards of Mickey inverts it, with the Blot never using the cloaked diguise until later though it's more him becoming an inky monster similar to the approach in Epic Mickey
  • Villain Decay: In some of his later appearances Blot became rather goofy.

The Mad Doctor (a.k.a. Dr. XXX)

Exactly What It Says on the Tin, this guy is a mad scientist who wanted to see what happens if you put a dogs head on a chicken's body, fortunately, he was just a dream Mickey had.

Tropes:

Louie The Mountain Lion

Debut: Lion Down

Occasional antagonist of Donald and Goofy (more so Goofy).

Tropes:

  • Butt Monkey: In "Father's Lion", the spends most of the short being manhandled by Goofy (with Goofy blissfully unaware he's even doing it.) Louie gets it even worse in "Hook, Lion and Sinker" where he winds up being a fall guy to perpetual fall guy Donald.
  • Cats Are Mean: Kind of.
  • Panthera Awesome: He's a cougar.
  • One Steve Limit: Averted with Louie Duck and Louie the Mountain Lion, even though they don't appear in any cartoon together.
  • The Unintelligible: He sometimes speaks English grumbly.

Wilbur the Grasshopper

Debut:Goofy and Wilbur, March 17, 1939

Goofy's pet grasshopper. According to the special On Vacation with Mickey Mouse and Friends, he is Jiminy Cricket's nephew.

Tropes:

Frankie the Canary

Debut: Figaro and Frankie (1947)

Tropes:

Dolores the Elephant

The tiger

Debut: Tiger Trouble (1945)

The rhinoceros

Debut: My African Diary (1945)

Dogfaces

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