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The Beagle Boys are a gang of criminal brothers who constantly try to rob the extremely wealthy Scrooge McDuck. They first appeared in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #134, in the Carl Barks comic Terror of the Beagle Boys. When not serving as the central threats, the Beagle Boys often appear as henchmen for Flintheart Glomgold, Magica De Spell, or Pete.
Background
The Beagle Boys in Carl Barks' Only a Poor Old Man (Uncle Scrooge #1).
In the comics, the individual Beagle Boys are referred to by their prison numbers, indicated on the tags seen on the chests of their distinctive red shirts, which appeared as orange in the comics. The three most common numbers are 176-167, 176-671, and 176-761. In fact, no digits other than one, six, or seven appeared on their prison ID tags. Carl Barks used to include the words "Beagle Boys, Inc." on their shirts under their numbers, which was later deleted. In later years, they appeared in the comics as a trio (some combination of the most common numbers with 671-176, 716-617, and 176-176), plus cousins and other relatives of various talents as spin-off characters. They live in a small tumbledown hide-out in Duckburg; in 1980s American-produced stories, their pet cat Ratty often lived there as well.
The Beagle Boys have lots of relatives who count each other as brothers and cousins: apart from their mother Ma Beagle, there are the Beagle Brats (their rascal nephews), the Beagle Babes (a trio of female cousins), and their grandfather Grandpa Beagle. The brains of the Beagle clan is Intellectual-176 (or I-176) who wears a mortar-board cap and glasses over his black mask.
Accoriding to a a flashback sequence in Carl Barks' The Fantastic River Race, Scrooge's rivalry with the Beagle Boys goes back to his Mississippi riverboat days. Those Beagle Boys include Blackheart Beagle and his three unnamed sons. Since then, the Beagle Boys have been a constant threat to Scrooge's huge money bin.
Sometimes they team up with other villains such as Magica De Spell, Pete, or Madam Mim, or they hire out their services to Flintheart Glomgold, Ollie Eiderduck or John D. Rockerduck. During these occasions, it should be noted, they continue to operate out of their own interests rather than their employers.
Sometimes they antagonize Super Goof, Mickey Mouse, or other characters from Disney comic books.
Voice actors
- Will Ryan (Sport Goofy in Soccermania and Swabbies)
- Frank Welker, Chuck McCann, Terry McGovern, Peter Cullen, and Brian Cummings (DuckTales franchise)
- Jeff Bennett and Maurice LaMarche (The Three Musketeers and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance)
- Eric Bauza (DuckTales reboot series)
Appearances in animation
Sport Goofy in Soccermania
In the featurette, the Beagle Boys try to win the one-million trophy of the football competition, which was accidentally provided as a prize by Scrooge.
DuckTales
The Beagle family as seen in DuckTales.
On DuckTales, the Beagle Boys were given names and different personalities, and reimagined to be loosely based on the popular image of Ma Barker and the Barker-Karpis Gang. The usual character combination is Bigtime, Burger, and Bouncer and/or Baggy; or Babyface, Bugle, and Bankjob, depending on the episode. Other known names are Bomber and Blitzkrieg. Their leader is usually Big Time, Bankjob or their mother Ma Beagle. Like in the comics, the Beagles sometimes team up with Scrooge McDuck's other enemies to achieve their goals, particularly Flintheart Glomgold.
In "A Drain on the Economy", the Beagle Boys recruit their cousins for an attempted assault on the Money Bin. Over the course of the sequence, several of these Beagles are given the names Boom-Boom (not to be confused with the Beagle Babe), Banzai, Buckeroo, Beanball, Blitzkrieg, Bifocal, Bumpkin, Butterball, and Bullseye. Notably, the Beagles' cousins seen in "A Drain on the Economy" look quite similar to the usual "standard" Beagle Boys from the original comics. Outside of the show itself, "standard" Beagle Boys appeared in the Disney Studios-produced stories produced for Gladstone Publishing's DuckTales comic book and even Boom! Studios' two DuckTales story arcs, "Rightful Owners" and "Dangerous Currency".
In the episode "Once Upon a Dime", which is a flashback to Scrooge's first adventures, Ma Beagle's earlier generation of children is introduced. Two are named Butch (Chuck McCann) and Wild Bill (William Callaway), and the third one is unnamed (Michael Rye).
In "The Good Muddahs", three female cousins of the Beagle Boys are introduced: Bouffant, Boom-Boom, and Babydoll. The three kidnap Webby for ransom, but they soon come to care for her as one of their own. The Beagle Babes appear to be much less evil in nature than their cousins; they show true concern for Webby when she shows signs of going "bad". They too are eventually arrested and brought to prison.
In "The Status Seekers", a trio of Blue Blood Beagle Boys appeared named Bonaparte, Bicep, and Bearnaise, who appear to be high-class versions of Big Time, Bouncer, and Burger. The trio worked for Charles Upstart III to get to the Mask of Kufululu before Scrooge, only to be thwarted by Scrooge's friends.
The Beagle Boys have numerous younger relations called the Beagle Brats, which appear in the episode "Take Me Out of the Ballgame". In the episode "Nothing to Fear", there is a character named Bully Beagle, however, he doesn't wear the traditional Beagle outfit and mask, so his exact relation is unknown.
List of Beagle Boys in DuckTales
Big Time is the second-in-command and usual leader of the group in absence of Ma Beagle, and is distinguished by being rather short for someone with the word "Big" in his name. He is extremely hot-tempered and crooked, and often has to correct his companions whenever they get something wrong and mishear his directions. In the Beagle family, he seems to only take orders from Ma Beagle herself. His prison number is usually shown as 167-671. However, in "Scroogerello" his number says 167-617, and he mentions his first wish would "to be taller".
Big Time is voiced by Frank Welker.
As his name suggests, Burger has a large appetite, although it is for more than just hamburgers. He has a habit of rambling about food no matter if any of the others are actually talking about it. He also isn't very bright. Incidentally, his comic counterpart (who had the second placard number) is known for a special appreciation for prunes and his curious culinary tastes (i.e. ketchup on ice cream or peanut butter pizza with gravy).
Burger was inspired by the Beagle Boy who is often portrayed enjoying prunes (and originated from the Carl Barks story "The Giant Robot Robbers"), and has a slightly different facial expression than the other Beagles. The not-too-bright Burger is named for his habit of rambling about food, regardless of whether or not any of the others are actually talking about it. He is also prone to random hunger tantrums. Due to his appetite, he has even taken a bite out of his license plate, which reads "761-176".
He was voiced by Chuck McCann. Burger has the highest voice out of the Beagle Boys.
Designated with the placard number of "716-167", Bouncer usually serves as the muscles of the group. Of the regularly recurring DuckTales Beagles, Bouncer bears the most physical resemblance to the standard Beagle Boys seen in the original comics, except that he has one tooth missing.
He was voiced by Chuck McCann. Bouncer has the deepest voice of all the Beagle Boys.
Designated with the placard number of "617-716", Baggy, as his name suggests, wears baggy, loose-fitting clothes and often has a dopey grin on his face. His plate is also askew with one of the corners bent over. Out of all the Beagle Boys, Baggy is probably the least intelligent.
Baggy has lots of trouble communicating what he means to say and has a habit of stumbling over his words and saying the wrong things, which make it hard for his brothers to understand him. This doesn't seem to impede his musical talent, however, and in "Beaglemania" Baggy plays the keyboard.
He was voiced by Frank Welker.
Designated with the placard number of 176-167, Babyface is the youngest of the Beagle Boys, in both appearance and a number of mannerisms. He is slightly taller than Big Time, and is considerably rounder in stature. He has a clean-shaven face and dresses much like a little kid with a distinctive propeller hat, hence his name. His shirt also appears to be somewhat small for him, as his belly is constantly exposed. The cuffs of his sleeves are white and folded back, and he doesn't wear gloves, making his outfit unique from the rest of his brothers. He also has two strands of hair on his head.
In "Time Teasers", for example, he is so excited to get his hands on the Time Teaser, he tries to grab it and breaks it. Babyface seems to be rather cheeky, as in "Time Teasers" he comments that Bankjob actually never has brilliant ideas, and he isn't afraid to talk back to others, like Magica de Spell in "Send in the Clones".
Babyface is also very enthusiastic and adamant when it comes to breaking into Scrooge's money bin. Despite all this, he appears to be one of the smarter of the Beagle Boys. Babyface also seems to pretty clumsy, oftentimes falling or tripping over things.
Babyface disappeared from the series after the "Super DuckTales" serial, but continued to occasionally appear in DuckTales comic book stories, most notably in the story "Webby's Field Trip" (published in the February 1993 issue of Disney Adventures). In that story, Babyface (who is drawn with a strangely different design) is sent by Big Time to infiltrate Webby Vanderquack's class under the guise of a new student named B.B., because Webby's class is taking a field trip to Scrooge's Money Bin later in the week. Babyface actually ends up becoming friends with Webby, eventually finding out that she suggested to Scrooge that her class take a field trip to his Money Bin. When Webby feels guilty about the Beagle Boys breaking in during the field trip, Babyface, feeling sorry for her, actually rebels against his brothers and helps Webby stop them. However, due to helping the Beagles in the first place, Babyface still goes to jail along with them, and it is unclear if his apparent reform was permanent.
Babyface was voiced by Terry McGovern.
Bankjob is physically the strongest of the DuckTales Beagles, being about the same size as Launchpad McQuack. He is distinguishable by his large, Jay Leno-esque chin, and originally has the placard number of 671-167. Much like Big Time, he plays the unofficial leader of the group whenever the former is absent. However, his methods usually rely less on brains and more on brawn and impulsiveness.
Bankjob appears to be brave and reckless, as seen in "Time Teasers" when he shoots directly at a cop. However, part of this could just be for show, as he is obviously very afraid when he encounters the pirates later in the episode.
Throughout the series, Bankjob has different numbers included; in the episode "Hero for Hire", his number says 614-167 and in some others his number is 618-167.
He was voiced by Peter Cullen.
Also known as Bebop Beagle, Bugle is designated with the placard number of 671-761, he is a tall, lanky beagle with a love of music, particularly jazz and disco, and often speaks in rhyme. He can be identified by the sunglasses he wears in front of his typical mask, as well as his beatnik hat and sandals. His clothes are also rather long and loose-fitting. He also has two or three stands of hair on his head. Bugle is usually seen working alongside Bankjob and Babyface.
One time when the Beagle Boys were spying on an opening of Scrooge McDuck's new bank in order to check for any weaknesses in security, the alarm was set off, to the annoyance of everyone present, including the Beagle Boys. However, Bugle remarked he actually likes the tempo of the alarm sirens "because it has a jazzy rhythm". He was only named "Bebop" in the episode "Scroogerello".
Bugle was voiced by Brian Cummings.
The only Beagle Boy whose name doesn't start with a 'B', Megabyte is one of the more minor Beagle Boys. He is arguably the smartest of them, since he's been to college and is able to program and reprogram computers. He has the placard number of the square root of 6 in 716 in 6.
He first appears in the DuckTales episode "Full Metal Duck" (part three of the five part serial Super DuckTales). Here, Ma Beagle calls him to make a remote to control Gizmoduck's suit, so he will turn against Scrooge McDuck and his family. Despite his high intelligence, he is not without moments of stupidity, as when Huey, Dewey and Louie free Gizmoduck by stealing Megabyte's remote and swapping it with an identical one. Megabyte tries to thwart the pair by controlling Gizmoduck, only to find the remote only controls a Gizmoduck toy, to which Megabyte remarks "What did he do, shrink in the wash?" while failing to realize his sabotage plans had been sabotaged.
He did not appear in any other episodes after Super DuckTales, and was voiced by Frank Welker.
With the placard number of 117-671, Bomber looks a lot like Bankjob in that he has a similar jawline and is very large in size. He is more intelligent than most of the other Beagles, and is a skilled pilot with his own airplane. He was voiced by Robert Ridgely.
The only Beagle who wears a full mustache, Backwoods has the placard number 167-761. He has a strong Canadian accent and is the twin brother of Binky Beagle and Bacon Beagle. The fact that he actually believes this is true could make him the dumbest of all the Beagle Boys. Backwoods wears a Davy Crocket-like trapper's outfit as opposed to the normal jailhouse outfit of the Beagle Boys. He is also the only person who is able to understand Bacon Beagle. As mentioned by Glomgold in "Ducky Mountain High", Backwoods and his twin brothers are brothers of Duckburg's Beagle Boys.
He was voiced by Danny Mann.
Binky is probably the only Beagle Boy who is never seen speaking. He is roughly the same size as Baggy Beagle, wears a lumberjack outfit and has a full beard. He lives with Backwoods and Bacon Beagle in the Ducky Mountains. His placard number is covered by his beard.
Bacon is, in fact, a pet pig, hence his name. When Glomgold asked how he could be a Beagle Boy, Backwoods explains that Bacon had a bad case of the swine flu as a child. Bacon cannot speak, but his oinks and grunts are, instead, translated by Backwoods Beagle. His number reads 167.
A cousin of the Beagle Boys who appeared in the Disney Adventures comic story Mrs. Beakley's Secret Love. He has muttonchops and a mustache and possesses the ability to mimic anyone's voice. In the story, he falls in love with Mrs. Beakley and sends her many gifts while his cousins want him to use his impression of Scrooge to help them break the new voice lock on Scrooge's money bin. When he finally does help them break in and they are caught and arrested, Baritone vows to give up crime and become a good citizen upon finishing his prison sentence.
One of the many Beagle Boys trying to rob Scrooge's bin in part one of the four-episode serial "Catch as Cash Can". He is one of the Beagles who manage to reach the door of the bin, but he gets hit by a giant cannonball before he can enter the bin itself.
The Beagle Boys' brother and Ma Beagle's son, whose picture could be seen on the TV in the Beagle Boys' hideout in the episode "Beaglemania". Ma Beagle seems to favor him over the other Beagles. He appears to be one of Ma's older children, and his clothes suggest he's involved in warfare or the military. His placard number is 677-767.
One of the Blueblood Beagles who appear in "The Status Seekers". He and his brothers reside in the posh minimum-security Club Fed Penitentiary prison. They assist Charles Upstart III in seeking out the Mask of Kufululu. He resembles Big-Time, and is also very short; his name is a reference to Napoleon Bonaparte, who was known for being of short stature.
One of the Blueblood Beagles who appear in "The Status Seekers". He and his brothers reside in the posh minimum-security Club Fed Penitentiary prison. They assist Charles Upstart III in seeking out the Mask of Kufululu. He resembles Bouncer.
One of the Blueblood Beagles who appear in "The Status Seekers". He and his brothers reside in the posh minimum-security Club Fed Penitentiary prison. They assist Charles Upstart III in seeking out the Mask of Kufululu. He resembles Burger.
Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers
The Beagle Boys in Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers.
In the direct-to-video film Mickey, Donald and Goofy: The Three Musketeers, three Beagle Boys make an appearance working as minions for Captain Pete. These three Beagle Boys are different from previous incarnations as they have grayish skin, yellow eyes, and wear dark cloaks and hoods. Two of the Beagle Boys are tall and speak with a British accent, and the third one is rather short with a French accent. While none of them have been given official names, the smallest beagle is referred to as "Shorty" or "Shortstop" in a few scenes. However, the Japanese version of the film and KH:3D lists the Beagle Boys separately as "Small", "Medium", and "Large" (despite that two of them are approximately the same size).
The boys are first seen at Princess Minnie's palace preparing to murder her by dropping a safe onto her. Their attempt fails, and they run off to tell their boss, who is revealed to be Pete, the captain of the musketeers. Pete is outraged by the Beagle Boys as the plan was not to murder the princess but to kidnap her only. The boys are then banished to a pit as punishment while the pit is actually adequate. Later on, by orders of Minnie, Pete assigns three janitors, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, to protect her as musketeers. Pete believing they'll do a terrible job, orders the Beagle Boys to kidnap Minnie with high hopes of success. However, upon the Beagles' return, Pete realizes the three are better musketeers than he thought and advises a plan to pick them off one by one. Pete and Clarabelle go after Mickey and Goofy respectively, while the Beagles lure Donald into Pete's lair to be decapitated. Time restrictions force Pete's plan to take place at the grand opera where Mickey, Donald, and Goofy reveal to survive their planned deaths and battle the Beagles. Pete interferes and seemingly murders Donald and Goofy along with the Beagles. Pete shows no remorse for the loss of his henchmen and continues with his plans. The Beagles are not seen or mentioned again in the film after that, but in the comic book adaptation, they are shown being arrested along with Pete.
Mickey Mouse
The Beagle Boys in Mickey Mouse.
The Beagle Boys appear in the episode "Sock Burglar" as one of the suspects interrogated by Minnie Mouse.
They later reappeared as Pete's henchmen in the episode "Touchdown and Out". After being freed from prison, a trio of Beagle Boys join Pete and Chernabog as a football team against Mickey, Donald, and Goofy where they cheat their way to the lead. When Chernabog is handicapped toward the end of the game, he slowly collapses into the ground, taking a horrified Pete and the Beagle Boys down to the fiery depths with him.
DuckTales (2017)
The Beagle Boys return as comedic villains in the reboot of DuckTales, and are all voiced by Eric Bauza. They retain the names of the Beagles in the original DuckTales series, and are once again portrayed as local crooks led by Ma Beagle. The most notable change of the Beagle Boys as a collective group is the inclusion of their southern drawls. Their prison bar code numbers have also been removed, being replaced by a large black print of the letter "B" on the centers of their shirts. They are divided in several different gangs as shown in the episode "The Beagle Birthday Massacre!"
List of Beagle Boys in the DuckTales reboot
Reboot Big Time
Big Time returns as the usual leader of the Original Classics and, ironically, short in stature once again. In "Daytrip of Doom", it is shown that Big Time longs for his mother's approval, and often tries to pull off grand schemes in hopes of impressing her and earning said approval. Evidently, he has been met with rejection numerous times, and this has only driven him to continue with even more ambition than before. A particular gag scene at the end of the episode shows that Big Time envies the loving relationship that Huey, Dewey and Louie share with Donald.
Reboot Burger
Burger is a member of the Original Classics who has perhaps gone through the most drastic change of the returning Beagles shown so far. Unlike his previous incarnation, this Burger is slim and doesn't speak. He instead communicates with grunts, and doesn't appear to be as dim-witted, bubbly or childish as his predecessor. Though he doesn't speak, the other Beagles seem to understand him perfectly. Currently, the only word he properly said was fair, albeit strained.
This was a deliberate choice of the showrunners, who believed the Burger of the original 1987 DuckTales series was a product of his time, and was essentially used as the butt of numerous "fat jokes" of the period, something that wouldn't be appropriate for the rebooted series.[1]
Reboot Bouncer
Bouncer is a member of the Original Classics and is essentially the same character seen in the original series. He is the largest of the Beagle Boys shown so far, and acts as the gang's muscle. He doesn't appear to be too bright, best serving as the submissive henchman to higher ranking Beagles such as Ma or Big Time. Compared to his old series design, he is now about the same size as Bankjob.
He is shown to be a decent cook.
The Glam Yankees
The DĆ©jĆ” Vus
The 6th Avenue Meanies
The 6th Avenue Friendlies
The Longboard Taquitos
The Tumblebums
Botched Job Beagle
Bottle Beagle
Bungle Beagle
Broadway Beagle
Backfield Beagle
Black Art Beagle
Cameos
Some of the Beagle Boys make cameo appearances in the Darkwing Duck episode "In Like Blunt", along with Magica De Spell and Flintheart Glomgold, among the bidders for the secret S.H.U.S.H. agent list.
Two Beagle Boys made a cameo appearance in the Goof Troop episode "The Ungoofables", in which they were depicted as a couple of bank robbers in 1929 driving around Chicago with several stolen bags of money. While fleeing the police, they were looking to get out of town and briefly stopped their getaway car to ask Eliot Goof (great uncle of Goofy's son Max Goof) for direction before resuming their course.
One Beagle Boy also made a cameo appearance in the Bonkers episode "The 29th Page".
In the Quack Pack episode "Nosy Neighbors", Donald tries to train his attack dogs, using an attack dummy that resembles a Beagle Boy.
An unnamed Beagle was seen during the "A Very Goofy Christmas" segment of Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas in a cameo role. In the middle of the short, the Beagle Boy in question was seen robbing Pete's house and was mistaken for Santa Claus by Goofy and Max until the police arrived.
Video game appearances
DuckTales
The Beagle Boys appear as recurring enemies in each of the levels. Getting injured by them will also cause Scrooge to lose some money. The HD remake expands their role in the game, with Big Time, Burger, and Bouncer appearing as sub-bosses in the Transylvania level.
Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers!
Three Beagle Boys appear as the boss in the Duckburg level, and the tertiary villains of the overall game, working for Merlock and Magica De Spell.
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
The version of the Beagle Boys from The Three Musketeers appear in Dream Drop Distance, where they appear in the world, Country of the Musketeers as figments of the dream the world is having. Like in the film, they work for Pete, trying to kidnap Princess Minnie for his nefarious plot to seize the throne. However, unlike the film, they fight Sora and Riku; Sora defeats them while saving the princess in the Tower, and they try hiding from Riku to keep the Stage Prop away from him to keep Pete's trap for the musketeers from being undone.
Disney Parks
Disneyland Resort
During the time of DuckTales and the popular Disney Afternoon block, the DuckTales Beagles occasionally appeared as meet-and-greet characters, as well as taking part in some special promotional material involving other park characters. The Beagles no longer make live appearances at the Disney parks.
Gallery
Trivia
- Although the characters are obviously based on dogs, they in no way resemble the actual beagle breed.
- The Italian band Banda Bassotti based its name upon the Italian name of the gang.
- Their Latin American name is Los Chicos Malos. This is referenced in the opening verse of the Latin American theme ("Muchas aventuras hay en PatoLandia/Con los chicos malos y tambien los buenos/Habra misterio, historias reales...")
- The 2017 version of the Beagle Boys resemble the multiple criminal gangs seen in the classic action/thriller film The Warriors. Specifically, the Tumblebums resemble the Baseball Furies.
References
External links
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