Scroop

Scroop is the secondary antagonist of Disney's 2002 animated film Treasure Planet. He is an alien spider/crab-like creature who attempts to stage a mutiny on the ship.

He later serves as the true main antagonist.

Appearance
Scroop's face is insect-like with large, bulbous yellow eyes bearing star-like pupils, two large white fangs, and a lower jaw with slim red fangs. Scroop also has long gray hair, which is possibly an attribute that he is elderly. Scroop's long gray hair also appears to be a reference to the character Israel Hands from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island.

Scroop attributes a spider-like lower body complete with six slender legs which grow from an abdomen with a black shell and a red underbelly and no cephalothorax, unlike real spiders. Scroop also has fang-like red spikes at the tips of his legs. In place of a spider's head is Scroop's hunched and muscular upper body with red claws strongly resembling that of a scorpion or crustacean. Scroop wears a tethered purple jacket, a purple belt, and a pirate hat.

Role in the film
He first appears when the ship's cabin boy, Jim Hawkins, accidentally eavesdrops on the crews's plans for a mutiny while mopping the deck. Scroop discovers the boy and attempts to intimidate him into minding his own business. Jim recklessly insults the alien, provoking him into attempting to kill the boy while the other crew members cheer him on, and is only saved when Silver intervenes. Mr. Arrow soon arrives on the scene and scolds Scroop for his behavior. Scroop is prevented from retaliating by a warning glare from Silver, but when Mr. Arrow turns around, the monstrous alien makes a deep scowling face, foreshadowing Mr. Arrow's upcoming fate. Soon after, when Silver is furiously berating the crew for almost blowing the mutiny, Scroop attempts to defend his actions, explaining that Jim had been "sniffing" about. Silver disregards this, ordering the pirate to stick to the plan while he himself keeps Jim from getting any more suspicious.

Later, during a supernova, Captain Amelia assigns Jim Hawkins to secure everyone's lifelines. Meanwhile, Mr. Arrow and Scroop are among the crew up on the rigging releasing the sails. A wave knocks Mr. Arrow off the ship, but he is saved by the lifeline Jim had carefully secured. This brief relief is short-lived when Scroop cuts Mr. Arrow's rope and sends him flying to his death in the black hole. After they escape the black hole, Scroop then sadly tells the news to Captain Amelia, having covered his tracks by getting rid of the cut lifeline and making it appear that it was not secured. Amelia subsequently blames Jim for Mr. Arrow's death, but Silver realizes the truth after receiving an evil smile from Scroop.

Later that night, when everyone else in inside, Scroop spies on Silver as he comforts Jim. He senses a weakness in the cyborg, and decides to take advantage of it. The next morning, while the crew confront Silver over their impatience to mutiny, Scroop openly expresses his desire to kill Jim, Amelia and Delbert immediately. Silver retaliates by grabbing Scroop by the throat and threatening to kill him if he disobeyed orders again. After being flung into a barrel of purps, an incensed Scroop harasses Silver in front of the alien pirates about his soft spot, but Silver insists that he does not, making it clear that he only cared about Flint's trove. When Scroop mocks Silver's speech to Jim, Silver immediately orders him to "shut his yap," and continues to deny it. Jim, who is hiding in the barrel, hears this, not knowing that Silver was just trying to save himself from Scroop's wrath. The confrontation is interrupted when the ship finally arrives at Treasure Planet.

When Silver discovers that Jim had overheard everything and fails to stop him from alerting the Captain and Dr. Doppler, he calls his crew to begin the mutiny. Scroop is seen a couple of times among the crew members, and is one of those who attempt to melt the lock of the Captain's quarters. Jim and the others eventually escape and land on the planet, with Scroop left alone to watch the ship as the pirates begin their pursuit.

Scroop is not seen again until his final scene when Jim, B.E.N. and Morph return to the Legacy to retrieve the map and disable the cannons. B.E.N. separates from Jim to disable the cannons, but in attempting to find the right wire amongst dozens, accidentally sets off the alarm momentarily. This alerts Scroop that Jim is on board, and he chases the boy through the ship's corridors. Though Morph is able to stall him a couple of times, Scroop gets rid of the small alien by flinging him into the pipes on the ceiling. Scroop is suddenly forced to stop when Jim points a gun at him, but B.E.N. mistakenly cuts the power to the ship. The pirate quickly uses this temporary moment of darkness to his advantage, disappearing from Jim's sight once the emergency lights have reactivated and stealthily preparing to kill him from behind.

Although Scroop is eventually discovered, courtesy of Morph's timely intervention, he manages to pin down Jim, but B.E.N. accidentally saves him by pulling the gravitation wire of the ship. Jim kicks Scroop through the wooden ceiling and sends him outside, but ends up floating outside himself. While Scroop manages to latch himself to the mast, Jim almost floats away from the ship but manages to grab onto the pirate flag, despite losing his pistol. Scroop climbs up the mast and, savoring the moment, slowly begins cutting the flag's rope, telling Jim to 'say hello' to Mr Arrow. Jim manages to pull himself down and grab the top of the mast before Scroop can fully cut through, and the alien angrily leaps at the boy. Jim manages to dodge Scroop and shove him into the flag. The sudden jerk snaps the damaged rope and sends Scroop floating away to his presumed death screaming. He is never heard of again.

Printed media
In a printed storybook adaption of Treasure Planet, which does not follow the film storyline, both Scroop and Mr. Arrow survive, as the RLS Legacy never enters the black hole, nor does Scroop battle Jim Hawkins on the ship.

Scroop is illustrated in the book with a much larger upper torso and arms, whereas his animated model used in the film seems to have a much smaller upper torso and larger and longer legs. In addition, the tips of Scroop's legs remain black, while his model in the film has them red.

Scroop also appears on the cover of Beware the Cyborg.

Trivia

 * Scroop's death seems to be an inverse of other Disney villains because instead of "falling" to his death, he "rises" to his death.
 * Michael Richards was considered to voice Scroop.
 * In the video game, Scroop has a minion called Zoff.
 * In the CD Read Along version, if it's played on the computer, there is a very rare alternate snapshot in which Scroop originally used a knife to slash Mr. Arrow's lifeline. This was likely an early work-in-progress footage because in the final version, Scroop simply used his claw to finish off the first mate.