Pete

"Hey, there ain't no law against stealing!"

- Pete

Pete (commonly known as Peg-Leg Pete) is a villainous anthropomorphic cat created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. He is the arch-nemesis of Mickey Mouse, normally characterized as a brutish criminal with an affinity for smoking, money, and power. Pete first appeared in Disney's early cartoon series the Alice Comedies in 1925, three years before the first appearance of Mickey, which makes him Disney's oldest recurring character and the first villain to be conceived by the studio.

Alice Solves the Puzzle introduced Pete as Bootleg Pete, a peg-legged animal resembling a bear that was a frequent troublemaker for Alice. In 1927, Pete was adopted into Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's series of cartoons, playing the role of Oswald's rival. By 1928, the Alice series had ended, while the rights to Oswald were lost. This led to the advent of Mickey Mouse. In Mickey's first cartoon, Steamboat Willie, Pete appeared as the captain of the titular steamboat and Mickey's overbearing boss. In this cartoon, Pete was redefined as a black cat, and would serve as Mickey's nemesis from then on.

In his earliest cartoons, Pete played the role of an archetypical villain; most of his schemes revolved around kidnapping Minnie Mouse and forcing her into courtship, only to be foiled by the gallant Mickey. In other stories, he served as a neutral, yet imposing law-enforcer that carried out his duties in a brash manner. In the 1990's series Goof Troop, Pete was redefined as a suburban husband and father, while his personality was portrayed as more mischievous than villainous. This iteration of Pete proved popular, and has reappeared again in feature films such as 1995's A Goofy Movie.

Over 90 years after his debut, Pete remains one of Disney's most active characters. He regularly features as the quintessential antagonist to Mickey Mouse and his friends, with the severity of his schemes and wickedness greatly dependent of the story—even serving as an ally on some occasions.

Personality
"I was born to cheat and lie! I'm a mean, rotten guy!"

- Pete

Pete is an overbearing, authoritative, loud-mouthed bully who constantly wreaks havoc on those around him. As the definitive foil to Mickey Mouse, Pete encompasses a variety of traits typically associated with a classic, thuggish villain, including an excessive use of cigars, a deep, commanding voice, and a dangerously short temper. Self-serving and arrogant, Pete's villainous acts have varied in scale and depth over the years, and generally depend on the story he's participating in; at times, Pete can be a simple, yet greedy crook looking to become rich beyond belief, a tyrant seeking power and control , or a trigger-happy sadist that causes harm for mere pleasure. In some roles, Pete has a legitimate profession, but tends to carry his business in a ruthless and intimidating manner. Whatever the case, Pete is always up to trouble.

Within the Mickey Mouse universe, Pete is notorious for his monstrous nature, though he takes great pride in this reputation and the reactions it evokes. In recent years, Pete's character has been fleshed out to explain why he acts in such a cruel manner; he believes that those who cannot be loved, should be feared, and that kindness is weakness that will lead to your downfall. In relation to this, some of Pete's ambitions are motivated by his underlying insecurity and a need for attention/validation, and this seems to play a part in his rivalry with Mickey Mouse, a figure with all the success and popularity Pete longs to have.

Aside from his truly villainous nature, there has been a softer side to Pete's character, notably in Goof Troop, which depicted Pete more as a mischievous schemer, rather than a villain. Though he was rather cruel and abusive to his son P.J. (who'd rather "eat glass than go fishing with his father"), he spoiled and doted on his daughter, Pistol and made effort to ensure that his wife Peg Pete was happy and content (though this was partially out of fear). Despite this, Pete was still antagonistic, and at times to a fault. In A Goofy Movie, Pete and Goofy were portrayed as best friends, albeit with opposing viewpoints on parenting. While Goofy cherishes the idea of being both a parent and a friend to his son, Max, Pete believes children should be kept "under your thumb", and by asserting your authority in an overbearing manner, you'd become feared (or "respected" as Pete sees it), and keep them from becoming delinquents. As a result of this, Pete has, on various occasions, treated P.J. more as his servant than his son. Additionally, Pete was unwilling to accept that a relationship between a father and son could work any differently. After Goofy debunked his parenting advice, Pete became rather spiteful and vindictive, as he later relished in having the chance to prove that Max (as a result of Goofy's attempts to form a friendly bond) was a manipulative "bad kid". When revealing this news to Goofy, Pete did so with false sympathy. Even as a suburban family man with a tamer lifestyle, Pete still has the tendency to cause trouble, be it due to his own greed, narcissism or simply due to his unyielding opinions, even ones that are fairly understandable.

Voice
Beginning with the Mickey shorts, Pete was given a distinctive booming voice (in contrast to Mickey's light, falsetto voice). This was provided by Billy Bletcher in most of the classic shorts and subsequent productions involving the character. Afterwards, Pete was voiced by Will Ryan in Mickey's Christmas Carol, Down and Out with Donald Duck, DuckTales, and the unreleased films Swabbies and Mickey Columbus, Arthur Burghardt in The Prince and the Pauper (who would continue to voice the character in a selection of video games until 2003), and currently by Jim Cummings, who began voicing Pete in 1992, with the premiere of Goof Troop.

Creation; 1925-1928
Pete first appeared in the Walt Disney-produced 1920's short subject series, "Alice Comedies". He appeared in Alice Solves the Puzzle (February 15, 1925) as Bootleg Pete, the name referencing to his career of bootlegging alcoholic beverages during the United States Prohibition (January 16, 1920 - December 5, 1933). His activities brought him to a beach, where he sees Alice playing with a crossword puzzle. Pete happened to be a collector of crossword puzzles and identified Alice's puzzle as a rare one missing from his collection. The rest of the short focused on him antagonizing Alice and her drunk-on-moonshine cat, Julius, in an attempt steal the puzzle. The menacing, bear-like villain commanded quite a presence on the screen and was destined to soon return.

When Walt Disney needed a villain to stack up against his new star, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Pete was again put to a good use. The introduction to his new adversary came with the sixth Oswald short, The Ocean Hop (September 8, 1927). Inspired by Charles Lindbergh, the two enter a plane race across the Atlantic Ocean.

1928-1940
In 1928, due to legal disputes with distributors over at Universal Studios, Walt Disney lost the character of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and was forced to quickly come up with a new star to take his place. The results came in the form of an anthropomorphic mouse named Mickey. When this new character needed to face an enemy in his second-produced short, The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928), Pete was reinvented once more. To stand against Mickey, Pete's bear-like appearance had been shed, and he became more defined as a cat—sporting a cat-like tail, muzzle, nose, and fur. Though The Gallopin' Gaucho was Pete's first onscreen appearance with Mickey, their first public confrontation came in Steamboat Willie, released on November 18, 1928. In the cartoon, Pete played the role of the hot-headed captain of the steamboat of which Mickey is deckhand. Still considered a landmark of filmmaking even to this day, this early incarnation of Pete remains one of his most famous. Following the success of Steamboat Willie, Pete would go on to regularly appear opposite Mickey and his girlfriend Minnie Mouse throughout the '30s. His professions would vary—from an all-out outlaw to a brutal law-enforcer—and he would normally be identified by his infamous peg-leg, which first appeared in the Mickey series in 1930's The Cactus Kid.

Pete's role in this early era of animation was typically that of a ruthless villain with a romantic attraction towards Minnie Mouse. This was most common with the "damsel-in-distress" formula, in which Pete would kidnap Minnie in attempts to court her, forcing Mickey to come to her rescue. This began with The Gallopin' Gaucho, and would reappear in numerous other Mickey cartoons; three of which (Building a Building, Runaway Brain, and Get a Horse!) would earn Mickey Academy Award nominations.

Like Mickey, Pete would develop gradually as the shorts became more sophisticated. He lost his tail in 1932's The Mad Dog and developed more obese features, including a rounder body, a wider muzzle, and a shorter stature. In 1934's Shanghaied, Pete was redesigned again, this time getting a white face with long cat-like whiskers and cat-like ears. His muzzle and nose were also changed slightly. This design was short-lived, however, as he lost the whiskers in The Dognapper (also released in 1934). The last appearance of Pete's peg-leg in the series' original theatrical run was in 1935's Mickey's Service Station, where Pete antagonized Mickey, Donald Duck, and Goofy in their first trio cartoon.

Pete was not seen again until Moving Day in 1936, which was also his first appearance in color. As Mickey's popularity grew throughout the '30s, he became less of an adventurer and more of an everyman in response to unhappy parents who disapproved of Mickey's more roughish exploits. This transition from adventurer to everyman diminished the need for a larger-than-life antagonist in Mickey's cartoons. As such, Pete would almost exclusively appear in Donald Duck cartoons to remain active.

Pete's first appearance in a solo Donald Duck cartoon came with Officer Duck in 1939. This cartoon also showcases Pete's final and modern form, with a Caucasian colored face and a slightly less round body. Contrast to Pete's dynamic with Mickey, where the two seem to match each other equally, the relationship between Pete and Donald would be established as extremely abusive, as Pete tends to use Donald as a personal punching bag. This cartoon also showcases Pete's final and modern form, with a Caucasian colored face and a slightly less round body.

1940-1980
Pete remained prominent in the new decade. In Bellboy Donald (1942), he was given a son for the first time (though the character would not become recurring until decades later). Most notably throughout the '40s, Pete was among the Disney characters to get "drafted" during the events of World War II. He appeared in a collection of propaganda films where he served as the thunderous drill sergeant of Donald Duck. Pete was also the unofficial mascot of the United States Merchant Marine during this period of time.

In 1952, Pete appeared in his first solo Goofy cartoon, Two Gun Goofy. Two years later, Pete would even pair up with Chip and Dale, in the 1954 cartoon The Lone Chipmunks.

Eventually, with Disney's foray into television in the '50s, production on animated shorts declined to make way for new ventures such as full-length features, television and theme parks. Pete was essentially retired alongside the rest of the classic characters, but would occasionally make appearances in Walt Disney's Disneyland series and the opening of the Mickey Mouse Club.

1980-present
In 1983, Pete made his theatrical return alongside the rest of the classic cast in the final act of Mickey's Christmas Carol, where he played the role of the satanic Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

A few years later in 1987 came the Down and Out with Donald Duck television special, in which Pete briefly appeared in to discuss his hatred with Donald.

Pete's role was expanded in his next appearance, 1990s The Prince and the Pauper, where he played the ruthless captain of the royal guard bent on robbing and terrorizing the kingdom of England with an army of weasels at his disposal. Pete was also scheduled to play significant roles in two scrapped Mickey Mouse projects; the first was the seaman's tale Swabbies (intended for 1989) in which Pete was the employer of Mickey, Donald and Goofy. The second was Mickey Columbus (intended for 1992), where Pete was a disgruntled king (with Clarabelle Cow as his queen).

Pete's true return to relevance came in the 1992 Disney Afternoon premiere of Goof Troop, which featured Pete as an antagonistic, yet considerably tamer suburban husband and father of two. The show marked the debut of Jim Cummings as Pete, who would go on to voice the character for decades. Goof Troop 's 1995 theatrical feature film spin-off, A Goofy Movie, marked Pete's first major role in a full-length feature film (he had an obscured cameo bit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit seven years earlier). With the Goof franchise having become a cult-classic years after its premiere, Pete's role in the series would become one of his most recognizable to date.

Though Pete did not appear in the 1995 cartoon Runaway Brain, he inspired the cartoon's Frankenstein-like monster, Julius; the monster was given a mutilated version of Pete's face, a metallic peg-leg, and even the voice of Jim Cummings.

In the following years of the decade and early 2000s, Pete would continuously appear alongside Mickey and other characters in numerous shows, games and direct-to-video films—one of the most notable being 2004's Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, which marked a return for Pete's peg-leg, though it had made occasional appearances beforehand. In 2013, Pete reappeared as the villain of the theatrical short Get a Horse!, in which he kidnaps Minnie and literally knocks Mickey out of the cartoon. The two then engage in a battle between 2D and 3D worlds. To give voice to Pete, the short utilized archived dialogue from a number of Billy Bletcher's recording sessions as the character, and brought in Will Ryan to provide additional work where needed.

A Goofy Movie
Like in the television series Goof Troop, Pete is Goofy's neighbor. Pete often gives Goofy advice on how to raise his son with discipline, telling him that he should keep Max under his thumb. In the film, it is shown that Pete works with Goofy, taking photos of children. Pete tells Goofy that P.J. asked him to take him camping and comments that camping is the perfect way to make a good father/son relationship and that if a son doesn't want to be with his parents, the boy could be stealing or with a gang. This makes Goofy believe the aggravate comments of Principal Mazur about Max and he tells Pete that he is going to fish with his son. Pete attempts to finish the photography session with the current child (a little girl) after Goofy excitedly declared that he's taking Max on a fishing trip. However, the child managed to unseat her diaper and run off while Pete was distracted.

Pete is then shown arriving in an RV with P.J. to the forest where Max and Goofy are camping. There, Pete tells Goofy that he must control his son. Pete invites the Goofs to dinner, but Goofy goes with Max to practice fishing. This makes the legendary Bigfoot emerge, terrifying Max and Goofy and making Pete drive away.

Pete reappears at a motel where Max and Goofy are staying and is surprised to see Max and Goofy there. When Pete overhears a conversation between Max and P.J. about Max changing Goofy's map route to get to Los Angeles, he tells Goofy about it. Although Goofy didn't believe Pete, he looks at the map and sees the change. Pete is shown for the last time when Max and Goofy are with Powerline. Pete was drinking a root beer, but when he sees the Goofs on TV, he spits the drink on the TV screen, shocked.

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
Taking place before the events of Goof Troop, Pete is Goofy's neighbor, except here, Pete's family is not seen. Pete tells Max that there is no Santa Claus, crushing Max's spirit and having him questioning his existence due to lack of evidence. When Goofy's waiting for Santa, Goofy mistakes a Beagle Boy for Santa, who instead is robbing Pete's house, only to be caught by the police. Pete is present when the real Santa arrives, but doesn't get anything except a front yard full of snow.

Later, Pete appears as Mickey's cruel and uptight boss. Pete tries to sell oversized trees for thrice the amount of an ordinary tree. Thanks to Mickey, a lacking family finds the perfect tree, leaving Mickey to be robbed of his tip money and fired. Pete mistakenly places his cigar in his pocket, causing a fire and leaving his overpriced trees to burn.

An Extremely Goofy Movie
Taking place a few years after the events of A Goofy Movie, P.J., Bobby, and Max are heading for college and Pete is hardly showing any disappointment towards P.J leaving - indeed, he openly plans to turn P.J.'s room into a bowling alley.

Later on, after losing his job, Goofy is forced to finish college in order to get employed once more. He attends the same college as Max, making life increasingly complicated for him. Goofy visits Pete for advice on how to make things work, but Goofy gets a brainstorm himself and heads back to the college, leaving Pete confused.

Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers
In the 2004 direct-to-DVD animated adaptation of The Three Musketeers (with Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy playing the title roles), Pete again appeared under the name Captain Pete as the main antagonist. This also marks the first time Pete was depicted with his infamous peg-leg in animation since the 1930s.

In this film, Pete is the Captain of the Musketeers, who secretly plots to kidnap Princess Minnie and take over France as king. To do so, he hires the bumbling Beagle Boys, whose foolish attempts to murder Minnie drives her to demand Musketeer bodyguards out of fear. Pete assigns three janitors, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, thinking they'll do a terrible job. However, the trio proves to be qualified, forcing Pete to move on to Plan B. Pete orders the Beagle Boys to kidnap Donald and his lieutenant Clarabelle Cow to kidnap Goofy while he goes after Mickey. Donald escapes his capture while Goofy convinces Clarabelle to reform. Together, Donald and Goofy set off to rescue Mickey. They succeed and head for the Opera where Pete has managed to take control and lock Minnie away in a chest. The trio arrives and a battle ensues. Pete defeats Donald and Goofy and holds a single battle with Mickey. Pete nearly murders him, but before he can attempt to do so, Donald and Goofy return to battle. The trio defeats Pete, leaving him to collapse with saying as he falls "I hate happy endings!".

In a cast commentary on the DVD version of the movie, Pete is heard talking with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in their debut scene in the movie. During the commentary, Pete talks with Mickey and friends in a friendlier manner, showing off his softer side. The way they interact with each other implies that Pete seems to be friends with the gang offset.

Other films
Pete made a cameo appearance as a Toontown police officer in the very last scene of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He is viewed from the back, alongside Spike the Bulldog and Horace Horsecollar in security uniforms. This can be seen just before Porky Pig and Tinker Bell close the movie.

DuckTales
In the first season of the 1987 TV series DuckTales, Pete appears in five episodes, albeit portrayed as a different character in each appearance (with two of which even living in different time periods from the others), as Scrooge McDuck never recognizes him despite any previous encounters he may have had with any of the other Petes. Thus, he isn't always a true villain, sometimes merely a selfish individual with no evil agenda, even making peace with Scrooge's group in some cases.

In his first appearance, "Lost Crown of Genghis Khan", Pete is depicted as the historical figure Genghis Khan, and voiced by Jim McGeorge. While leading his army through the snowy slopes of Shadow Pass, he and the army are helpless to stop a monstrous snow beast from stealing Genghis Khan's treasured crown, forcing the army and their leader into retreat. Genghis Khan's crown would not be recovered until it was found by Scrooge eight centuries later.

In all subsequent appearances, the remaining Petes are voiced Will Ryan, beginning with "Pearl of Wisdom", in which the first Pete to make a present day appearances is a nautical thief named Sharkey. After stealing the legendary Pearl of Wisdom from Banana Island, Sharkey (and his partner-in-crime, Yardarm) heads to Duckburg where he (disguised as a salesman named "Monsewer Ratt") sells the pearl to Scrooge McDuck. Upon learning of the pearl's magical properties, Sharkey and Yardarm steal it back from Scrooge and head back to Banana Island to use the Pearl's power to give themselves infinite wisdom. Scrooge chases them back to the island where, during a scuffle with Sharkey, the two are bathed in the Pearl's magic and, in their infinite wisdom, decide to simply give it back to its rightful owners. Afterwards, Sharkey and Yardarm, along with Scrooge and his nephews, join in the island's festivities.

In "Merit-Time Adventure", another Pete appears as a seaman named Dogface Pete who works on Duckensack Island. After one of Scrooge's cargo ships, the Lucky Duck, is attacked and sunk by what appears to be a sea monster, the cargo is salvaged and claimed by Dogface Pete and his crew, much to the ire of Scrooge. Scrooge initially suspect Dogface Pete of being behind the sea monster, but eventually discovers the monster to actually be a construction crane disguised as a sea serpent, and controlled not by Dogface Pete but instead by the Lucky Duck ' s first mate, Archibald Quackerbill. In the end, Dogface Pete, Scrooge, and other sailors all team up to stop Quackerbill's scheme and have him arrested by Captain Tan of the Coast Guard.

In "Time Teasers", after a time travel incident sends Bankjob Beagle, Babyface Beagle, and Bugle Beagle back to the year 1687, along with a ship full of Scrooge's entire fortune, both the trio and the money find themselves taken captive by the next Pete, Captain Blackheart, and his pirate crew. Scrooge and his nephews follow after them with Gyro Gearloose and his Time Tub, but they too are captured by Blackheart. All of the captives are then forced to sing at Captain Blackheart's birthday party, with the Beagle Boys successfully keeping the pirates distracted with their exceptional singing talents, while Scrooge, Gyro, and the nephews hook up the Time Tub to the ship with Scrooge's money. Once they signal the Beagle Boys to make a run for the ship, Captain Blackheart realizes the deception and orders his crew to give chase in their own pirate ship. The time travelers barely make it back to their own time before Captain Blackheart could blast their ship with cannonballs.

The final Pete makes his appearance in "Duck in the Iron Mask" as the evil Captain Pietro, captain of the royal guard for the kingdom of Montedumas, ruled by the evil Count Ray. Ray had bought the services of Captain Pietro during his time in France, before returning to Montedumas with the captain in tow. The two seized power from the kingdom's true ruler, Ray's twin brother Count Roy, and began issuing severe taxes upon its people. When Scrooge McDuck and his family arrive in Montedumas a few years later, Captain Pietro wastes no time issuing them citations and bringing them to Count Ray, who orders the captain to have them all locked up. After an elaborate escape by the captives, Captain Pietro catches Roy, Scrooge, and Launchpad McQuack in the throne room with Ray and a sword fight breaks out, with Scrooge dueling and defeating Captain Pietro himself.

Goof Troop
Pete is the main antagonist of the 1992 TV series Goof Troop (though he is not portrayed as evil). Like Goofy, Pete has a family of his own; it consists of his wife, Peg, their two children, Peter Junior Pete (or PJ for short) and Pistol, and their dog, Chainsaw. They live next door to Goofy and his son, Max. Pete owns a used-car dealership, and although no longer openly villainous, he is bullying, guiltless, and lacks self-control and integrity. His wife Peg strives to rid Pete of his uncouth attitude but fails.

Pete often exploits his good-hearted and somewhat addled 'friend', Goofy. He frequently openly manipulates, pushes, insults and threatens his son PJ as well. Usually, his schemes will backfire, although very rarely he will just feel guilty about his bullying, oafish behaviour and work to set things right.

PJ often shows fear of his father, of spending time with him, and of disobeying or failing him. Worse, Pete seems to interpret this fear as respect. PJ is eager to leave, and their father-son relationship clearly revolves around fear, abuse, and control. Despite the suburban setting, Pete maintains the basic personality that always leads to violent and destructive behaviour in other portrayals and by extension has the potential for physical as well as emotional abuse towards his son.

Despite this abuse, Pete believes he is a good father and has a strong desire for PJ to be successful. In his narcissism, Pete wants PJ to be just like him; however PJ is nothing like his father and has no desire to be.

It is eventually revealed in the show's pilot episode "Forever Goof" that one of the main reasons why Pete dislikes Goofy so much is that when Pete was a high school quarterback in a big football game, it was Goofy who accidentally caused Pete to fumble the ball and get hit in the face by a pom-pom (Goofy was on the cheerleading squad at the time), causing the team to lose the game. However, he might have put off the grudge in A Goofy Movie and An Extremely Goofy Movie, since he seems to be more friendly with the Goofs.

Jim Cummings provided Pete's booming bass voice in the series and, to date, in all other media.

Mickey Mouse Works
In the Mouse Works series of shorts, Pete was a recurring antagonist, most frequently portrayed as a local thug. In some cartoons, he was given a less controversial profession, such as that of a NASCAR racer, or the co-worker of Donald in a small music shop. In Mickey's Cabin, he was accompanied by his dimwitted cousin Zeke, in a scheme involving a captive Mickey.

He also served as the villain of the short segments Mickey to the Rescue, in which he kidnaps Minnie and traps her within his not-so-hidden lair, forcing Mickey to endure elaborate traps in order to rescue her.

House of Mouse
In House of Mouse, Pete is the titular club's evil landlord. In the series' first episode, "The Stolen Cartoons", Pete legally purchased the club's building and tried to force Mickey and friends out. However, the contract states that, so long as Mickey and his crew put on a show, they can not be removed from the premises. Thusly, several episodes involved Pete's attempts to close down the club by sabotaging the show. His schemes ranged from stealing the cartoons shown at the club to trying to drive the guests away by messing with the air conditioning but they’re always ruined thanks to Mickey, his crew, and even some of the guests.

Pete can also be seen taking part in the Disney Villains' takeover of the club in Mickey's House of Villains. However, despite being the show's primary antagonist, he does not contribute to the movie's plot and he later flees with the rest of the villains when Mickey seals Jafar in Genie's lamp.

However, in a similarly-titled episode, "Pete's House of Villains", Pete did take over the club for a majority of the evening and renamed it "House of Villains." He gathered his closest villain friends to replace Mickey and the gang. Unfortunately for Pete, his bad entertainment skills, his firing of the villain employees and the fact that he was panned by the guests forced him to return the club to Mickey's possession.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Pete appears in numerous episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Disney's 3D animated children's series. He maintains his antagonist role but is significantly toned down for its preschool audience - he is less malicious and more mischievous. Viewers will find that Mickey and gang are very forgiving of Pete and his escapades. They even admit Pete is their friend several times in the show. He often appears as a seller of objects the gang needs and will give them an item in exchange for beans. He is more polite than his previous incarnations. In one episode, he invites the group to a Halloween party. In the most recent episode, Pete would often play, what seems to be a villain role, but this will eventually turn out to be Pete trying to help. However, in all specials and spin-off films, Pete plays the main antagonist. Like most of the show's major characters, Pete has a theme that plays instrumentally every time he appears on screen. Pete also appears in the spin-off series Mickey Mousekersize.

Mickey Mouse
Pete returns in this animated series, as a recurring antagonist. The peg leg makes a triumphant return in every appearance on the show. Additionally, Pete has whiskers, yellow eyes, and a long tail, proudly hallmarking the fact he is a cat, and making it harder for viewers to mistake him for a bulldog. Pete did not have a regular outfit in the first three seasons. By the time of season four, he was given his classic, one-strapped overalls from Steamboat Willie, which would appear in a majority of his episodes.

Like the classic shorts, Pete is typically portrayed as a local thug that repeatedly torments Mickey and his friends, as was the case in "Swimmin' Hole" and "Three-Legged Race". However, he sometimes appears donning a different profession. For example, his first appearance in the series was in the episode "Tapped Out", in which Pete is an undefeated world champion wrestler, but is later soundly defeated and beaten by an enraged Donald after Mickey tricks Pete into ruining Donald's nachos.

Pete also appears as a villain in some of the international shorts, such as "Al Rojo Vivo" (where he was a Spanish cat that eyed Minnie) and "Dancevidaniya" (where he was a Russian folk dancer that fell for Minnie).

In "A Pete Scorned", Pete notices Mortimer Mouse picking on Mickey, and he starts to believe that Mickey doesn't consider him (Pete) to be his worst enemy, which results in him becoming depressed. Feeling bad for him, Mickey sets up a table of pies, with the intention that Pete will hit him with said pies, but when Mortimer Mouse starts pieing Mickey and insulting Pete, Pete gets angry, and after punching Mortimer into the sky, he and Mickey reconcile as enemies again.

Mickey and the Roadster Racers
Pete appears as a recurring character in the racing series as the owner of Pete's Junkyard, and Hot Dog Hills' resident tow truck driver. Pete's roadster is known as the Super Crusher. His role varies by episode as he is usually typecast as an antagonistic nuisance, but has also been featured as a friendly acquaintance to Mickey and the others on occasion. Outside of Hot Dog Hills, Pete takes on a number of personas and professions, such as a bullfighter in Madrid or a British criminal in London.

Other shows
Pete made a few appearances in the long-running Walt Disney anthology series, mostly in episodes focusing on Mickey and the gang.

Pete made a few appearances in the animated opening of The Mickey Mouse Club, usually seen singing as well as holding a trampoline that is bouncing Mickey upward.

Pete also made a cameo appearance in the Bonkers episode "Cartoon Cornered".

A female version of Pete appears in the Legend of the Three Caballeros episode "Dope-a Cabana" as an angry mother that berates barber Donald for ruining her unidentified son's haircut just before school picture day. Earlier in the same episode, the real Pete makes a very brief silent cameo appearance in the truck when Donald rushes to work.

Printed media
In the early years of the Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip, Pete was portrayed as Sylvester Shyster's sidekick and looked noticeably more muscular than his screen counterpart. His portrayal was eventually changed in 1934's "The Captive Castaways" to better match his depiction in the cartoons, and he gradually started to work up on his own. In comic strips and comic books, Pete is consistently depicted as a hardened criminal. In the 1943 comic strip story Mickey Mouse on a Secret Mission, he was an agent of Nazi Germany, working as the henchman of Gestapo spy Von Weasel. In the 1950 comic strip story The Moook Treasure, he's even portrayed as the Beria-like deputy chief of intelligence in a totalitarian state on the other side of the iron curtain.

Pete was the main antagonist in Disney Legend Carl Barks' first Donald Duck comic story, Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold (adapted by Barks and Jack Hannah from the unproduced animated film "Morgan's Ghost"), and remained a recurring villain in Barks's comics.

In later Mickey comics, Pete often teams up with Mickey's other enemies, such as Eli Squinch and the Phantom Blot, or sometimes is accompanied by his own henchman, Weasel. Pete sometimes also teams up with other Disney bad guys, such as Scrooge McDuck's enemies (the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell), Mad Madame Mim, Captain Hook and the witch from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In the Italian stories, Pete (called Pietro Gambadilegno, literally Pete Woodleg), is a recurring antagonist: he's a professional criminal, a thief, bank robber and burglar, and in this continuity his activities are seen as a normal, despite despicable and still persecuted, profession; many stories show that Pete's just filling up his spot in the society: being a villain. In his Italian stories, he usually works with his unintelligent pal Weasel, his mad-scientist cousin Portis (original Italian name Plottigat) and his girlfriend, Trudy Van Tubb. Pete alternates in the role of Mickey Mouse's nemesis with the Phantom Blot and is also the main antagonist in many Mickey Mouse stories set in other ages or universes (the so-called Costume Stories) and in retellings of famous tales (known in Italy as Disney Parodies). As per tradition, Pete is depicted with two legs, but it's occasionally mentioned one of them is fake.

Mickey Mousecapade
Pete appears as the captain of a pirate ship in the American version of the NES game Mickey Mousecapade (or simply Mickey Mouse in Japan). The player fights him at the end of the level and, later, has a rematch with him in Maleficent's castle. (In the original Japanese version, Captain Hook was the boss.)

QuackShot
QuackShot follows the adventures of Donald Duck as he, with the aid of his three nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, set out to obtain some treasure from a map he found. Pete appears as the antagonist of the game. Near the end of the game, he kidnaps Donald's nephews and demands to be given the map and must be fought immediately prior to the final stage and boss of the game.

World of Illusion
In this game, he is the main antagonist and is portrayed as the cloaked Master of illusion, though it is only at the final boss stage that his face is revealed. After Mickey and Donald find his magic box and step inside, he throws down a challenge to them that if they find and defeat him, he will help them find their way back home. They succeed and he sends them back home. He is later shown amongst the audience watching Mickey and Donald's magic show and makes a thumbs up at the player.

He is also seen as a Joker Card at the main menu operated by Goofy.

Disney's Magical Quest series
In the Disney's Magical Quest trilogy by Capcom, Pete is the final boss of each game, impersonating a distinct ruler (Emperor, Baron, and King). He serves as an evil ruler who terrorizes the land he reigns and often kidnaps another character. In the first game, he kidnaps Pluto, and in the third game, he kidnaps Donald's nephews. Mickey and, depending on the game, Minnie or Donald, are always set to defeat him. At the end of the first two games, when he is defeated, he simply disappears, but in The Magical Quest 3, after being defeated by Mickey and Donald, he eventually surrenders and promises to become a good person, a promise that was implied in the ending to have been kept.

Mickey Mania
Mickey Mania follows Mickey Mouse, who has been catapulted back in time to his earliest appearance in Steamboat Willie. In this game, Pete is the true main villain (although one does also go up against The Mad Doctor in his namesake's short, and also, in the PlayStation release of the game, against Willie the Giant at the end of the Mickey and the Beanstalk level). Pete appears as an obstacle in the first level, based on Steamboat Willie, and again as the boss of the final level, based on the then-recent The Prince and the Pauper.

Mickey's Speedway USA
Pete appears in the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color game as one of the six available characters (the other five being Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy) in which his racing stats are the same as Goofy (4/5 on Speed, 4/5 on Weight, 2/5 on Handling, & 2/5 on Acceleration).

Mickey's Racing Adventure
Pete is the boss of each of the racers (Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Minnie) after the racers defeat Pete's cronies in 3 different races. If beaten, Pete gives back something he stole. Before racing Pete, you must rearrange a picture of Pete that is mixed-up. The clothes that Pete wears changes for each boss.

Kingdom Hearts series
Since his debut in Kingdom Hearts II, Pete has become a major recurring antagonist, acting as the primary minion of Maleficent in her quest to rule the worlds through the power of the Heartless. His story actually begins years before Sora or any of the major characters. Pete and the other inhabitants of Mickey Mouse resided in a world known as Timeless River, where Pete worked as a steamboat captain, actually employing Mickey, who has yet to become king of Disney Castle. Once the castle was built, as well as the new town surrounding it known as Disney Town, leading into Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Pete would eventually leave his job as steamboat captain and become a trouble-making mischief-maker, constantly annoying the citizens of the world until he was eventually banished by orders of Queen Minnie. He was found some time later by Maleficent and was given freedom in exchange for assisting her in her goal to conquest. Since then, Pete began invading various worlds, attacking their inhabitants and turning them into Heartless, thus adding them to Maleficent's army, which led to the events of Kingdom Hearts II.

At some point, Pete's next destination was Mysterious Tower in the world of Twilight Town, home of Master Yen Sid. Though he planned to turn the powerful sorcerer into a demonic Heartless, Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrived and prevented this, also telling him the news of Maleficent, who they had slain whilst he was out dominating worlds. Pete retreats to Maleficent's former lair, Hollow Bastion, to see if the rumors were true. However, though they were, Maleficent was mysteriously revived from the dead and rejoined forces with Pete. Together, they continued their mission to both dominate worlds as well as their new objective to find a new hideaway, preferably a castle, but in every world Pete visited, Sora and his friends were close behind, bumping into the cat various times and defeating him on each occasion. Eventually, Pete and Maleficent found themselves in the stronghold of Organization XIII, The World That Never Was, along with the rest of the main cast. The sorceress planned on taking over the castle, but before she could, she and Pete decided to help put an end to the evil Organization by joining forces with Sora and Mickey to defeat the Heartless minions that they lost control over. In the end, the castle was destroyed and the whereabouts of Pete and Maleficent were unknown until Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, where they once again plotted to dominate the worlds using a special computer device created by Chip 'n' Dale. Pete's portrayal in Re:coded was considerably darker, as well as larger, than his previous appearances in the series. While he retained his comedic elements, he was shown to be far more competent, abusive, as well as murderous throughout the storyline.

Pete would again appear in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance both in his regular form and as a Musketeer's Captain in the world Country of the Musketeers.

Pete returns in Kingdom Hearts III, once again serving as Maleficent's minion. They would travel across the worlds, searching for a Black Box. Pete often got tired of searching for the wrong box in each world. When they learned that the Black Box wouldn't exist until after the Keyblade War, they decided to wait until the event had concluded. Pete and Maleficent visited the Keyblade Graveyard, where they witnessed Luxu and the Foretellers surrounding the Black Box.

Disney TH!NK Fast
In Disney TH!NK Fast, Pete appears as the final secret playable character after you've collected 30,000 points in a single game.

Epic Mickey series
Pete is featured in Epic Mickey as a recurring character in many forms, led by a regular Big Bad Pete on Mean Street. He will give the player various missions throughout the game, such as rounding up the bunny children. Even though he was immediately recognized by Mickey, Pete explains that Wasteland has several different versions of his character.

As Small Pete in the Gremlin Village, he dresses as a Dutch girl doll from It's a Small World, and has gotten into a conflict with the Gremlins after crashing his boat into their village. The player can clear his name if they find his ship's log for him or ignore his request for help and be attacked by his Blotlings in the ride's Colosseum. If the player clears his name, the Gremlins will let him help rebuild their Village during the ending.

In Tomorrow City, Petetronic serves as one of the boss fights, taking on the guise of Sark. If the player befriends him with Paint, Petetronic will help rebuild Tomorrow City.

In Ventureland, he takes on the identity of Pete Pan, and can be called on for help in dealing with the animatronic version of Captain Hook. If the player manages to call on him, he and the animatronic Hook will be shown continuing their duel during the ending.

Before visiting Lonesome Manor, Big Bad Pete asks Mickey to find the lost cartoons of a Colonel Pete, though the Digicomics mention a Ghost Pete who made a bet with the Lonesome Ghosts to try and spend a night in a living house.

Pete returns in the game's sequel; Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, initially as allies to Mickey and Oswald. However, in the ending of the game, it shows Big Bad Pete with Small Pete and Pete Pan (with Petetronic joining them in the thinner ending) stating "They won't know what hit 'em," before leaving through a projector on Mean Street, likely heading for Ventureland, while taking Gremlin Prescott hostage.

If Epic Mickey 3 had not been canceled (due to Junction Point Studios being closed on January 29, 2013), Pete and his other selves would have been the main villains of that installment.

In Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Mizrabel uses Illusion versions of Pete in her army of minions. These Petes include massive spiked blocks with Pete's face, a large Pete that attacks by creating shockwaves with his fists and a Pete wearing a spiny shell (similar to those worn by the Spinies in Super Mario Bros.).

Disney Magic Kingdoms
Pete—in search of a quiet escape—enters the kingdom following Maleficent's mysterious purge. He welcomes the darkness and appreciates how it scared away the visiting kids. He thusly decides to make the kingdom a vacation spot and parks his RV near Tomorrowland. During his stay, he repeatedly causes trouble for Mickey and Goofy, despite the latter's attempts to make peace. Eventually, both Mickey and Goofy (with additional help from Pluto) run Pete out of the kingdom by making excessive amounts of noise. He later returns after a jackhammer factory was built next to his house, as he claims the kingdom is much more quiet and peaceful in comparison, as a result of its arrival.

Disney Parks
Despite his prominent role in the cartoons and comics, Pete has oddly never made any live appearances in the parks, and his only known live appearance was in the Walt Disney's World on Ice show Mickey Mouse's Diamond Jubilee. However, his likeness can be found in several spots around the parks.

Disneyland Resort
During the Disney California Adventure expansion, Pete was seen in a mural of him and several other classic Disney characters as construction workers.

In the 2015 rendition of World of Color, Pete made a few cameo appearances during the montage celebrating Mickey Mouse.

Walt Disney World
In the former Mickey's Toontown Fair at the Magic Kingdom, Pete was the mascot of Pete's Garage which was a restroom for park guests. Also, there was Pete's Paint Shop for face painting and removable tattoos.

In Disney Springs, a large Pete statue can be found in the Team Mickey shop.

In 2011, Mickey's Toontown Fair was closed and replaced by Storybook Circus, a new section of Fantasyland. As part of that, Pete is the host of Pete's Silly Sideshow, a meet-and-greet area where one can meet different Disney characters all in circus regalia. However, only his voice is heard in the attraction; as of 2017, he has yet to appear in person.

Shanghai Disneyland
Pete's likeness is featured alongside other classic characters in the Mickey Avenue section of the park.

Trivia

 * Despite officially being a cat, Pete is sometimes mistaken for a dog. He was originally conceived as a bear.
 * Pete and Goofy are the only characters from the classic Disney shorts to have a biological child, instead of a traditional niece or nephew. Pete has P.J. and Pistol, and Goofy has Max.
 * Ironically, while Pete is the taller half of the duo consisting of himself and Mickey, Billy Bletcher and Walt Disney were the opposite (with Walt being much taller than Billy).
 * Jim Cummings has noted in several interviews that he does not consider Pete a true villain.
 * In contrast to virtually all of Pete's other appearances, Goof Troop presents Pete as having no fur below the neck of his body, giving him the bare-skinned look of a human, despite his still being an anthropomorphic cat in that show. However, he is fully furred in A Goofy Movie and An Extremely Goofy Movie.
 * Pete was referenced by Candace Flynn in the Phineas and Ferb episode "The Baljeatles".
 * The disappearance of Pete's peg-leg was addressed by Mickey Mouse comic writer Floyd Gottfredson, in the 1941 story The Mystery at Hidden River; in one panel, Pete tells Mickey that he had his peg-leg replaced with a more realistic prosthetic.
 * Pete does not have a standard outfit akin to the traditional attires worn by other characters from the Disney shorts (i.e. Mickey's red shorts and yellow shoes and Donald's sailor suit).
 * Although in some of the earliest Mickey shorts of the late-1920s, Pete did have a standard outfit, consisting of only a pair of one-strapped overalls and a peg-leg first seen in Steamboat Willie. This design would reappear as Pete's signature look in Mickey Mouse as of the series' fourth season.
 * In printed comics, Pete's standard attire consists of a green coat, orange t-shirt and jeans with yellow shoes.
 * Pete actually did "win" on one occasion, that being the cartoon The Barn Dance, where his elegant dance skills earned him the dance with Minnie, who tired of having her feet stepped on by the less-talented dancer, Mickey (this cartoon notably had Pete depicted as a well-mannered, good-natured gentleman, which is the complete opposite of his usual evil, menacing villain ways).
 * According to David Block, a director on the animated series DuckTales, Pete's names had caused some controversy during the 1980s; his aliases, Peg-Leg and Black Pete, could not be used in licensing or show scripts due to legal issues. As a result, he was referred to as either Bad Pete or simply Pete during this period of time.