Foulfellow and Gideon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Foulfellow and Gideon are Pinocchio's adversaries during the 1940 Disney animated film, Pinocchio. Although they are arguably not evil, they are without a doubt unscrupulous, living as confidence tricksters and not being too fussy about how low they stoop to get a quick buck. They are also shown smoking cigars, drinking beer, and were responsible for many of the problems that Pinocchio ran into during the story, such as skipping school to be an actor and going off to Pleasure Island when he should have been returning to his father Geppetto. They embody the idea of temptation that Jiminy Cricket warns Pinocchio about early on.

[edit] Foulfellow the Fox

Foulfellow the Fox (voiced by Walter Catlett), is an anthropomorphic sly fox dressed in a ragged overcoat and top hat, and walks with a cane. In the film, he sings the song "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life for Me)" with Pinocchio. He was also known as J. Worthington Foulfellow or Honest John. His full name is likely John Worthington Foulfellow. Despite his cleverness and aristocratic mannerisms, it is heavily implied that he lacks education, since the scene where he holds a book upside-down could be showing him to be illiterate.

The rakish Foulfellow sells Pinocchio to the evil gypsy showman Stromboli, under the pretence of getting him involved in showbusiness, and later in the movie tricks Pinocchio into going to Pleasure Island, where the wayward boys' desires for excess lead them to literally making jackasses of themselves.

[edit] Gideon the Cat

Gideon the Cat is an anthropomorphic crafty cat who is Foulfellow's sidekick. Foulfellow usually addresses him by the nickname "Giddy" in the film. He is seemingly mute and not as intelligent as his cohort, never uttering a word save for the occasional hiccup.

His voice was originally to be supplied by Mel Blanc of Looney Tunes fame, but the directors eventually deleted his dialogue in favour of a mute performance.

His attire, personality and lack of a voice may have been influenced by Harpo Marx.

[edit] Comparisons to Book

• In the original story by Carlo Collodi, these characters are simply referred to as the Fox and the Cat. They do not sell Pinocchio to the puppeteer, nor do they entice him to go to Pleasure Island (or Land of the Toys as it's called in the book) or have any connection with the Coachman. They do, however, swindle him out of 5 gold pieces, by telling him that by burying his gold in the Land of the Simple Simons, it will produce a plant that will multiply his gold pieces by the thousands. Before they try to trick Pinocchio into burying his gold, however, they try to waylay him in a forest (disguised as Assassins) and wrest the gold from his possession. They are unsuccessful in this attempt, however, as Pinocchio hides the gold under his tongue and they are unable to open his mouth; so the pair hang Pinocchio and leave him to die. Pinocchio is then rescued by the Blue Fairy but he isn't able to figure out that the two Assassins are also the Fox and the Cat, and they are able to trick him into burying his gold.
• They are later seen towards the end of the book, in desperate poverty, the fox having sold his tail to buy something to eat and the cat completely blind. They entreat Pinocchio for aid but he shuns them. This is a bit of a contrast to the film, where none of the evil-doers are shown to receive punishment for their crimes.
• Another difference is that the cat was originally female. This is referenced in the live-action film Geppetto, where in the final scene a non-anthropomorphisized female cat and male fox are heard talking to each other, hinting a sequel.