Percival C. McLeach

McLeach Background information Feature films The Rescuers Down Under< The Rescuers III: Cody & Penny Television programs House of Mouse Video games Park attractions Portrayed by Portrayed by Animators Duncan Marjoribanks Voice George C. Scott Frank Welker (singing voice) Performance model George C. Scott Designer Inspiration Honors and awards Character information Full name Percival C. McLeach Other names Personality Brash, grouchy, haughty, greedy, ruthless, evil, funny, slightly arrogant, sadistic, abusive, cruel, sarcastic, uncaring, eccentric Appearance Slender, elderly, careworn face, balding brown hair, hooked-nosed, black eyes, brown eyebrows, brief pot belly, gray drizabone riding jacket, dark gray bandanna facing backwards, cream long-sleeved shirt with two buttons vertically to his neckline and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, brown vest, dark gray pants with brown suspenders attached to them, both brown boots and akubra hat with dark brown band around on its brim, white croc teeth on the front, and a gold feather (which the beautiful giant eagle Marahute once gave to Cody as a "thank-you" gift for her rescue) on it Birthday Occupation Poacher Con man Black market dealer (presumably) Affiliations Bad Goal To get rich by bagging a Great Golden Eagle To kill Cody, so he doesn't tell the Rangers about him Home America (originally), and Abandoned Opal Mine of Australia Relatives Pets Allies Minions His pet goanna lizard Joanna Enemies Bernard, Miss Bianca, Cody, Marahute, Wilbur, Jake, Stromboli (briefly in House of Mouse), the crocs Likes Money, getting his way, killing animals, taxidermy Dislikes Rangers, Joanna's egg heists, Cody's interferences, animals not staying in their cages, not getting his way Powers and abilities Weapons His rifle His knives His double-barrel shotgun Fate Gets swept down a waterfall to his possible death Quote "These are not Joanna's eggs!"

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Percival C. McLeach is the main antagonist in Disney's 1990 feature film the Rescuers Down Under, sequel to the 1977 film the Rescuers, voiced by the late George C. Scott. He has much in common with the first film's villain Madame Medusa.

Background

Personality

He is an evil and eccentric poacher who captures rare animals and sells them, usually for their hides. Truly cruel, he clearly enjoys killing animals, at one point even singing a twisted version of the song "Home on the Range". He is an excellent hunter and tracker, and despite only having a 3rd grade education, he is very intelligent, cunning, able to lie and cheat effectively, also tossing Cody's backpack into the water so that he will be presumed to have been eaten by crocodiles, coming up with the plot to trick him into leading him to the eagle, and being aware that Cody will never believe he is just letting him go out of the 'goodness of his heart', maintains a nasty demeanor even as he releases him. McLeach appears to be perfectly fine with up and slaughtering Cody, as shown in the epilogue and his plots to snuff out information from the child.

He has, for some reason, chosen not to kill his pet lizard whom he calls Joanna and although he threatens her on several occasions it is always when she misbehaves or does something stupid. He is plucky and appears to have a decent sense of humor, making grim jokes and comedic movements, not to mention singing at odd points.

Design

At first glance, he does not appear healthy. He seems to be balding, sports a pot-belly, and is tall and quite lanky despite the grueling nature of his job. However, he is actually quite strong, able to fight off several saltwater crocodiles, which are considered among the most dangerous animals in the world.

He is dressed like an Australian stockman. He wears a brown akubra hat with white crocodile teeth in its dark brown leather band decorated with a rare golden eagle feather. Around his neck is a dark gray backwards facing bandanna. He wears a brown vest over his cream shirt. As seen, from capturing Marahute to trying to feed Cody to the crocodiles in Croc Falls, he wears a drizabone riding jacket but seconds before falling into the river, he took it off.

Appearances

Role in the film

He is first seen on a wanted poster. His first on-screen appearance is him approaching one of the traps he has set, only to be surprised by having caught Cody. At first, he tries to persuade him that he's not a poacher, and seems prepared to let him go, but then realizes he knows the location of the great golden eagle Marahute. McLeach admits that he is a poacher, and has already caught the father. He tosses his backpack to the crocodiles to trick the authorities into thinking Cody was eaten and kidnaps him.

At first, he tries to persuade Cody to reveal the location, offering him a 50/50 split. However, Cody continues to refuse his deals, and he contemplates torture. When Joanna steals his eggs, he is inspired to tell Cody the rumor that Marahute is dead, and that there's no point to keeping him, then mentions casually that her eggs will go cold without her. McLeach then follows Cody to the location of her nest, and successfully captures her. Cody tries to save her, but is recaptured by McLeach.

McLeach falls over the waterfall to his death.

MeLeach then attempts to kill Cody to tie up loose ends by feeding him to some crocodiles, but is knocked into the river by Joanna, who was chasing Bernard. There, the crocodiles turn their attention from Cody to McLeach and attack both him and Joanna. He successfully fights them off, not realizing the huge waterfall behind him. Joanna makes it to shore and waves goodbye to McLeach just as realizes his predicament. He tries to escape, but the current sweeps him over the cliff to his death.

House of Mouse

Percival C. McLeach and his pet Joanna appeared in only one episode House of Crime where he is seen arguing with Stromboli. Later in the same episode, Percival was imprisoned with other Disney Villains as suspects of the mysterious disappearances, but he and the others were then suddenly kidnapped by the actual culprit.

Trivia

• During the "Home on the Range" song, his singing voice is not provided by George C. Scott, but Frank Welker, who provided the voice of Joanna in the movie.
• When he first appears, he pulls a feather out of Cody's jacket and puts it in his hat, but in previous shots there was already one there.
• He was left out of Mickey's House of Villains despite appearing in the aforementioned House of Mouse episode.
• He is very similar to his predecessor Madame Medusa from the first film The Rescuers. They are the primary antagonist and slender. He kidnapped a young boy in order to find the Golden Eagle while she kidnapped a young girl in order to find a precious diamond. They both own reptiles as he owns a female goanna, Joanna, while she owns two male crocodiles, Brutus and Nero, thou Joanna was more like Mr Snoops from the first film. They both have shotguns. Although, he's more intelligent and evil as he is willing to kill Cody after he caught Marahute to keep him from being arrested, while she never attempted to kill Penny. She just wanted to make off with the diamond and leave Snoops and Penny on Devil's Bayou, stealing Penny's teddy bear in the process. He is also a slightly superior shot than her, though probably only because his gun has a scope. However, she was ranked as the #16 Disney villain, but he has not been ranked although fans feel he should have been, especially when McLeach was given the traditional Disney Villain Death, while Madam Medusa did not. He is also similar to Gaston, as they are both skilled huntsmen.
• His shotgun is a Winchester Model 1912 but with heavy modifications, such as a scope. One weird fact is when he first appears, it has two barrels. However, when he tries to shoot the rope holding Cody over the crocodile-infested waters, it only has one but still has a scope.
• McLeach shares much in common with Bill Sykes, as they both are the main antagonists, have pets that are the secondary antagonist (Sykes, Roscoe and DeSoto and McLeach, Joanna the Goanna), kidnap children (McLeach Cody and Sykes, Jenny Foxworth) and like money. They also possess guns however although McLeach wants money the money Sykes wants is his own. He is also similar to John Clayton, as both are hunters, like money, own shotguns, and fall to death (McLeach falls down a waterfall trying to escape from the river and Clayton falls from the high trees trying to get out of the vines. Last, McLeach is similar to Amos Slade, as both are hunters with animal sidekicks (McLeach, Joanna the Goanna and Amos, Copper and Chief) and are elderly. He is similar to these villains, as all are the primary antagonist and try to kill one of the main characters (McLeach/Cody who is the deurtagonist, Amos Slade/Tod who is a protagonist, Clayton/Tarzan who is also a protagonist).
• McLeach is similar to Captain Hook from " Peter Pan" in the sense that they are the primary antagonsit, lender, and both kidnap a character (Captain Hook, Tiger Lily/McLeach, Cody), trick them into showing them the location of someone they're after (Captain Hook after Peter Pan, McLeach after Marachute), and are attacked by crocodiles (Captain Hook by Tick-Tock the Crocodile, McLeach by unnamed crocodles).
• Despite his argument with Stromboli, the two have a few similarities
  • Both want money
  • Both kidnap a young boy hostage to achieve their goals.(Pinocchio,Cody)
  • Both nearly endanger the boys with sharp knives. Stromboli cuts off a slice of bread very close to Pinocchio, and McLeach throws knives on a map fairly close to Cody.
  • Both lock the boys in cages.
  • Both shout at the boys at one point to be quiet when they protest.