Talk:Tale Spin
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INITIAL PLOTS AND CHARACTERS Tale Spin features three characters from Disney's The Jungle Book: Shere Khan (tiger), Louie (orangutan), and Baloo (bear). Shere Khan is the head of a multi-million dollar corporation, and is very much the symbol of big business in the show. Louie runs his own business, a small island resort/bar that has developed into a popular stopover for pilots as they travel the skies. Baloo was head of a company called Baloo's Air Service, but ran into financial difficulties because he was seeking very little work.
Baloo happened upon the right place at the right time for Kit Cloudkicker (bear) to hitch a ride without his knowledge while Baloo was on the way to Louie's. Kit was on the run from the air pirates <explained a bit later> when he stole a supposed 'jewel' from them. Kit hid the jewel when he reached Louie's, and then managed to escape with Baloo in his Sea Duck (Baloo's plane) when the pirates came looking for him.
Baloo's Air Service and the Sea Duck were bought out by Rebecca Cunningham (bear), mother to Molly Cunningham and an up-and-coming businesswoman. Baloo tried to plead his case with Rebecca, but she was already planning to fix the air cargo service into a real moneymaker. She offered to hire Baloo as a pilot. Kit, meanwhile told Baloo about the jewel so that they could collect the reward, and Baloo agreed to be Rebecca's pilot as a reason to take the Sea Duck.
Baloo and Kit inadvertently take Molly along, who stows away. They collect the jewel, and manage to escape from another run-in with the pirates. Baloo tucks the jewel into Molly's doll while he and Kit go to talk with Shere Khan (the true owner of the jewel, or 'the stone') to negotiate a reward.
While Baloo and Kit meet with Shere Khan, the air pirates manage to sneak into Cape Suzette, the safeguarded city where Baloo is, and they kidnap Rebecca and Molly, demanding the stone as ransom.
Baloo and Kit go to save Rebecca and Molly, heading for Pirate Island. No one is supposed to know where it is, but Kit knows... he used to be a pirate. He shows Baloo the back entrance and they sneak in, breaking Rebecca and Molly out. While they try to escape, they're discovered by the pirates. To cover for the others, Kit explains that he'd taken the stone to finagle ransom money out of Shere Khan... a fact which greatly impresses Don Karnage (fox/wolf?), the captain of the air pirates. Kit manages to distract the pirates enough that Baloo finds a way to escape with Rebecca and Molly, returning to Cape Suzette without Kit.
Jaded from Kit's story of how he was using Baloo to get ransom money for himself and the pirates, Baloo drops Rebecca and Molly off, and buys back the Sea Duck with help from some 'borrowed' gold he'd lifted from the pirates. He takes off in his plane for refuge at Louie's.
Don Karnage had been stealing varying items to construct a weapon that would be powered by the stone. The stone, as Dr. Debolt had told Baloo and Kit when they went to negotiate the reward, was a 'sub-electron amplifier, which means that it can create unlimited amounts of electricity... enough to power all of Mr. Khan's businesses'. Karnage was using it to power a lightning gun that he would use to bring his Iron Vulture (the powerful airship of the pirates) to Cape Suzette so that the pirates could plunder the city penniless.
Don Karnage finishes his weapon and prepares to invade Cape Suzette, easily neutralizing the cliff guns that guarded Cape Suzette from invasion. As Karnage begins to rain destruction on the city, Kit, who is supposedly with the pirates again, steals the stone and holes up in a part of the Iron Vulture. Kit radios a S.O.S. message in the hopes that someone, particularly Baloo, would come to help him. Baloo does receive this message, and takes off to try and save Kit. Don Karnage manages to get ahold of Kit, takes the stone back, and dumps Kit overboard... but Baloo manages to snag him before the boy plummets to his death.
Baloo, encouraged by Rebecca and Kit, arms his plane with rubber to help protect it from the electricity generated by the lightning gun, and crashes his plane into the lightning gun to save Cape Suzette. In doing so, Baloo's plane plummets into the ocean, totalled. Without the lightning gun, the pirates are driven back and they retreat to their hideaway.
Rebecca has the Sea Duck put together, but in doing so regains ownership of the plane again. Baloo, realizing that he's grown closer to Rebecca and Kit, agrees to pilot for Rebecca until he can earn enough to buy his plane back.
This is the starting 'movie' for the show TaleSpin. In more depth, the characters are:
BALOO- Fat, lazy bear pilot who is continually scheming to make easy money in order to get his Sea Duck back or strike it rich. He serves as a kind of father figure to the orphaned Kit. Baloo is crude, sloppy, and a bit cocky on his abilities as a pilot, though he is an excellent one. There are hints that he likes Rebecca, although you'd never know it for how often they're arguing with each other.
KIT- Kit Cloudkicker is 12. He was an orphan who tried to make his way to fame and fortune with the air pirates, but being a little too moral, realized he couldn't fit in. He hitched a ride with Baloo, and began developing an attachment to 'Papa Bear'. He's a skilled navigator, and loves cloudsurfing. He's often frustrated by being told he's too young to do things, and is very eager to prove himself.
MOLLY- Imaginative and spunky, the age 6 Molly is a handful for anyone, always getting into trouble. She will often take on the role of her heroine, Dangerwoman, and seeks to fight evildoers. She's got a sweet disposition, and she's very smart for her young age.
REBECCA- Unlike Baloo, who has hair-brained schemes to make money, Rebecca comes up with more 'inventive' ways, which are often not a far cry from Baloo's methods. However, she considers it being a risktaker, and she still manages to keep Higher for Hire in the black and out of the red. Very much the feminist of the series, Rebecca continually fights the gender discrimination that rears its ugly head in the fitting 1937 parallel of our own world. Molly means the world to her, and she very much considers Baloo and Kit a part of her family.
WILDCAT (lion)- The incredibly eccentric mechanic used to work for Baloo, and has remained under Rebecca when she took over the business. He's absolutely uncanny at fixing things, but he's known for saying downright bizarre things and in many ways, he's very childlike.
LOUIE- The orangutan is a lowbrow party animal and is not ashamed of it. Louie's Place has become an immensely popular pilot hangout, where they can grab a meal, share a story, and refuel or get repairs. He's made a good living out on that island, and is Baloo's best friend... most of the time.
SHERE KHAN- Reserved and widely feared, Shere Khan is fairly emotionless, unless truly angered... in which case, the claws come out. The businesstiger prides himself on running the largest corporation in Cape Suzette, and does what he needs to do to keep his company cutthroat. While not villainous per se, he does seem to lack some scruples... but prides himself on keeping his word.
DON KARNAGE- Slightly eccentric and very narcisstic, Don Karnage is arguably one of the most popular characters of the series. Known for word and phrase mangling (in more than one language), this pirate will take his other pirates' good ideas and claim them as his own, or will turn on his pirates for bringing down his plans with their incompetence. Don Karnage is as much concerned with looking good as to being well-known and well-feared. He can be very callous, but does show the tiniest glimpse of a softer side every once in a blue moon. He can be somewhat cruel, especially when insulted, but doesn't engage in cruelty for its own sake.
MADDOG (weasel/mongrel dog)- MadDog is one of the more prominent pirates under Don Karnage, but it's unclear if he's Karnage's right hand or not. MadDog is whiny and quite a suckup to Karnage. However, to anyone else he's usually more of a bully, smacking them around and threatening to his heart's content... especially if he's bigger than them or feels he's got an edge. MadDog has quite an aversion to hard work, finding any excuse to avoid it. He's got some desire for power and wealth, and has tried to be a mutineer on at least two occasions. He's most often paired with Dumptruck, and ends up bossing the bigger pirate around.
DUMPTRUCK (mastiff)-Dumptruck's a bigger, burlier pirate who's not known for his intelligence. He speaks with a Swedish accent and seems to waver from being immensely cruel to easygoing, depending on who he's with. MadDog often bosses him around, which Dumptruck takes well enough, until MadDog crosses the line. He then uses physical force to remind the smaller pirate that he can clean MadDog's clock if he needs to.
GIBBER (mongrel dog)- This short, mumbling pirate seems to only be able to be understood if he's whispering in your ear. He's often around Don Karnage, inanely 'advising' him.
COLONEL SPIGOT(warthog)- From the nation of Thembria (which is very much a parody of the U.S.S.R. of 1937), this diminuative warthog seems overly concerned with his reputation, asking anyone he meets if they've heard of him. Being under a communist state, he also likes to take credit where he can for anything good that occurs, and distances himself as quickly as possible from any mishap for fear of being shot. No more sadistic than the next Thembrian, where being shot for misdemeanors is common, Spigot maintains an uneasy cameraderie with Baloo and Kit, as they've helped him out a time or two.
SERGEANT DUNDER (warthog)- A bit of a yes-man to Spigot, Dunder is very good-natured and friendly. He seems to take Spigot's paranoia and erratic moods in stride. He's a good friend to Kit and Baloo.
--Paul A 04:28, 13 May 2004 (UTC)
The correct spelling of this show is 'TaleSpin', with no space. See http://psc.disney.go.com/abcnetworks/toondisney/schedule/index.html for confirmation of this. (i.e., the redirect should likely go the other way.) Skybunny 01:45, 24 May 2004 (UTC)
Okay! It'll go back to TaleSpin. Peter Ellis 04:17, 25 May 2004 (UTC)