Penny (The Rescuers)
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| Penny | |
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| First appearance | The Rescuers (1977) |
| Created by | Ollie Johnston |
| Voiced by | Michelle Stacy |
Penny is a fictional character and one of the protagonists of Walt Disney Pictures' 1977 animated film, The Rescuers.
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[edit] Character background
Penny's complete background is unknown. She was left an orphan at Morningside Orphanage in New York City. Penny often feels lonely and wants desperately to be adopted by a family. Although she has a group of loyal friends at the orphanage, she finds greatest comfort in her friend, Rufus, the orphanage cat. Penny confides to Rufus that one adoption day a man and woman looked at her, but chose a little red-haired girl instead. Penny does not believe she will ever be adopted, but things rapidly go from bad to worse when she is abducted by Madame Medusa.
[edit] Kidnapping
Held captive in Devil's Bayou, Penny is little more than a slave to Medusa and Mr. Snoops. She is regularly lowered into a cramped, partially-submerged pirates' cave where she must look for the Devil's Eye and other jewels secreted there centuries ago. At the old rotting riverboat where Medusa and Snoops live, Penny sleeps in the old captain's cabin in an uncomfortable bed, with only her teddy bear for company and solace.
[edit] Penny's role in the film
At the very beginning of the film, Penny sends out a message in a bottle, pleading for help. The bottle is found by the Rescue Aid Society, an organization of mice dedicated to providing assistance to individuals in dire peril such as Penny. The RAS quickly assign Miss Bianca and Bernard to assist her. Their first stop in their investigation is the orphanage where Rufus tells what he knows about Penny and mentions her story of not being chosen for adoption.
[edit] Personality
Penny has a strong personality and a strong sense of security even when facing the disconcerting Madame Medusa, but especially against Mr. Snoops and the two alligators, Brutus and Nero. Penny realizes that help may never come, and instead of waiting to be rescued she makes several escape attempts, all of which unfortunately fail. Penny tells Teddy that everything will be all right, although she comes to disbelieve it herself and falls into despair. Once Bernard and Miss Bianca arrive, however, her faith grows strong again.
[edit] Additional information
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
- Penny's stuffed bear, Teddy, was planned as an unimportant object in the film; however, its role was later changed to give Penny a touch of personality by constantly using the bear to express her own feelings. For example, when she is asked to go down into the pirate's cave, she says, "Teddy doesn't like it down there; he's afraid, aren't you, Teddy?"
- Early in story development, Bernard and Bianca were supposed to be rescuing an adult male Norwegian poet from a gloomy prison. This storyline was taken directly from Margery Sharp's first novel, The Rescuers, but the protagonist was eventually changed to Penny because the writers felt the Norwegian poet lacked personality.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Frank and Ollie's Animated Works at Frankandollie.com
- The Rescuers at the Internet Movie Database
- The Rescuers. Disney Archives.
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