Eli Squinch

Eli Squinch is a villain from the Mickey Mouse comic strip, introduced in the storyline Bobo the Elephant.

Eli Squinch is a villainous old miser who was introduced in an early Mickey Mouse tale when, at an auction, Mickey mistakenly purchased a baby elephant. Eli comes to town and convinces Mickey that he is the rightful owner of Bobo. However, Eli intends to use Bobo to run his sawmill to save on electricity (using a treadmill which had already killed two horses). Mickey and Horace Horsecollar stall Eli's repossession of Bobo until the baby pachyderm discovers his mother is in a visiting circus. Bobo runs away and is reunited with his mother. After unsuccessfully trying to retrieve the baby, Eli reluctantly sells the calf to the circus owner, Mr. Barnling. Eli's next escapade had him proposing to Clarabelle Cow after learning she had inherited a map to a gold mine owned by her grandfather, Durham. Eli's scam is revealed by Mickey and Clarabelle is steamed. Eli and Bad Pete team up and trouble Mickey & Horace as they seek the gold to save Clarabelle's home from mortgage foreclosure. Eli and Pete have teamed up against Mickey and Goofy on several more occasions since then. Eli has appeared sporadically over the years, and perhaps as recently as March of 1996 in "Walt Disney's Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse" #4 in an Egmont tale called "The Treasure of Shark Reef."