Amos Slade

"No hunting. Well, now, we ain't gonna do none of that, are we, Copper? We're just gonna get us a no-good-fox."

- Amos Slade

Amos Slade (or simply known as Amos) is the main antagonist of Disney's 1981 feature film The Fox and the Hound.

Personality
Amos is an old, crabby, grumpy and bad-tempered man, though we do see somewhat of a softer side in his interaction with his two hunting dogs, Chief and Copper. Later, he showed remorse after Tod saves him and Copper from a dangerous bear.

Physical appearance
Amos is a slender, elderly man with tan skin, gray hair and a mustache. He's almost always seen wearing his olive-green hat.

The Fox and the Hound
Amos is an adjoining neighbor to Widow Tweed and is known to be an avid hunter. At the beginning of the film, he has one hunting dog called Chief and has just obtained a hound puppy called Copper, who he intends to train as a hunting dog. At first, he often has to search for Copper, who runs off to play with Tod, who lives next door with Widow Tweed. Finally, Amos ties Copper up at his doghouse barrel to keep him from running away. When Tod arrives one day, to see what has happened to Copper, Amos is alerted to the young fox's presence by Chief. Amos assumes that the fox is after his chickens, and attempts to kill Tod. Tod is able to escape and jumps into Tweed’s car to hide. Tweed stops her car and confronts Amos, calling him a trigger-happy lunatic, then grabs his rifle, shooting his radiator. Amos accuses Tod that he was after his chickens, but Tweed claims that the fox would never hurt a thing, and warns him that his temper will get him into trouble someday. Amos turns red with rage and threatens Tweed that he will blast Tod if he is on his property again and that he won’t miss next time.

Soon after, Amos takes both Copper and Chief on a long hunting trip for the winter. By springtime, Amos is able to collect a lot of skins and trophies with the help of a now fully grown Copper. The night of their return, Tod comes once again to see Copper, but Amos sees Tod and tries to kill him once more. With the help of Chief, Amos is able to track Tod to a railroad bridge, and Chief traps Tod there. Suddenly, a train comes, and while Tod is able to escape, Chief is badly injured. Amos blames Tod for Chief's near death, and storms over to Widow Tweed’s house on a mad attempt to kill Tod, but Tweed was able to block him out. Amos warns her that she can’t keep Tod locked up forever.

When they see Widow Tweed drop Tod off at the nearby, he breaks in a mad attempt to kill Tod. Amos sets multiple traps along Tod's routes, but Tod is able to escape back into his den. Amos then tries to smoke Tod and Vixey out, setting a fire at one end of the den, while he and Copper wait at the other end. However, Tod shocks the both of them by escaping through the flames with Vixey. As Amos begins to follow, he irritates a bear, which he unintentionally shoots in the arm instead due to his shock and fear. While trying to escape the bear, Amos is caught in one of his own traps and his gun is caught on a twig, slightly out of his reach. However, he is saved from death thanks to the joint effort of Copper and Tod. After defeating the bear, Tod is injured as a result and Amos tries to take advantage and kill Tod. He eventually has a change of heart when he sees Copper proving his loyalty to Tod by standing in the way of the gun and Amos realizes that without Tod, he and Copper would've been killed by the bear moments ago, and that shooting the fox was just not worth it considering what his obsession led to. Amos eventually decides to return home a slightly better and probably grateful man while Widow Tweed doctors his injured leg.

The Fox and the Hound 2
Amos Slade is a character here, without the darker side as portrayed in the first film. Widow Tweed throws a pie in his face and threatens to do so again later. Chief appears but has very few speaking parts and very little screen time. Chief and Slade enter a hunting dog contest, where Chief takes another ribbon (fourth place) for the second time in a row which he seems to think makes him the champion hunting dog in the county. Slade mostly only shows up in the beginning trying to train Copper, becoming increasingly irate with his failures as a hunting dog, yelling at him after a chain of comedic events while chasing Tod (which were his own fault), looking for Copper later when the pup has gone to join the Singin' Strays, and showing up later after being lead by Tod to the Singin' Strays' performance, where he reveals that Copper is not a stray at all and takes him home. After the Singin' Strays perform at the Grand Ole Opry thanks to Tod and Copper's help, Amos is enjoying some pie with Widow Tweed at her place until they are interrupted by a chase started by Tod, Copper, and Chief, which eventually leads to Widow Tweed attacking Amos countless times with a broom.

Once Upon a Time
Amos Slade doesn't appear on the show. However, he appears in the canonical novel Red's Untold Tale. In this version, he was specialized into the wolf hunt with his bloodhound Copper. He lived in the same village as Widow Lucas (who he had tried to seduce in their teenage past), her granddaughter Red and Peter. Amos was slain during a wolf attack.

Trivia

 * He is named after a Christian rock band.
 * Amos' performance model was Art Stevens.
 * Amos was animated by John Pomeroy and Ron Husband.
 * Amos drives a 1923 Ford Model T. However, in the first movie, it is shown never to have a windshield but in the second one, it does. It was either a fix or a replacement.
 * In the second movie, when not wearing his usual brown fur coat and blue pants, Amos is seen wearing a white shirt and pink underwear instead of the usual white underwear-like jammies he always wore in the first movie when not wearing his usual fur coat and pants.
 * Amos Slade is one of only two main antagonists in the Disney Animated Canon to be redeemed, the other being John Silver.
 * Amos' shotgun strongly resembles a Winchester Model 1911 automatic 12-gauge Shotgun. However, it's later shown to have a slide action like a pump action shotgun. So it's possible he also has a pump action shotgun as well.
 * Jack Albertson, the voice of Amos, is widely known for playing Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.