- “As long as it's illegal, we'll be happy beagles!”
- ―Big Time[src]
The Beagle Boys are an organized crime family whose ultimate goal is to rob Scrooge McDuck of his fortune. Inspired by the real-life Barker-Karpis criminal gang, they first appeared in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #134, in the Carl Barks comic Terror of the Beagle Boys. When not serving as the central threats, the Beagle Boys often appear as henchmen for Flintheart Glomgold, Magica De Spell, Pete, and the Phantom Blot. Though largely indistinguishable in the comics, the 1987 television series DuckTales established the Beagle Boys as named individuals led by their matriarch, Ma Beagle.
Background
In the comics, the individual Beagle Boys are referred to by their prison numbers, indicated on the tags seen on the chests of their distinctive red shirts, which appeared as orange in the comics. The three most common numbers are 176-167, 176-671, and 176-761. In fact, no digits other than one, six, or seven appeared on their prison ID tags. Carl Barks used to include the words "Beagle Boys, Inc." on their shirts under their numbers, which was later deleted. In later years, they appeared in the comics as a trio (some combination of the most common numbers with 176-176, 176-617, and 176-716), plus cousins and other relatives of various talents as spin-off characters. They live in a small tumbledown hide-out in Duckburg; in 1980s American-produced stories, their pet cat Ratty often lived there as well.
The Beagle Boys have lots of relatives who count each other as brothers and cousins: apart from their mother Ma Beagle, there are the Beagle Brats (their rascal nephews), the Beagle Babes (a trio of female cousins), and their grandfather Grandpa Beagle. The brains of the Beagle clan are Intellectual-176 (or I-176) who wear a mortar-board cap and glasses over his black mask.
According to a flashback sequence in Carl Barks' The Fantastic River Race, Scrooge's rivalry with the Beagle Boys goes back to his Mississippi riverboat days. Those Beagle Boys include Blackheart Beagle and his three unnamed sons. Since then, the Beagle Boys have been a constant threat to Scrooge's huge money bin.
Sometimes they team up with other villains, such as Magica De Spell, Pete, or Madam Mim, or they hire out their services to Flintheart Glomgold, Ollie Eiderduck, or John D. Rockerduck. During these occasions, it should be noted, they continue to operate out of their own interests rather than their employers.
Sometimes they antagonize Super Goof, Mickey Mouse, or other characters from Disney comic books.
Voices
- Will Ryan (Sport Goofy in Soccermania and Swabbies)
- Frank Welker, Chuck McCann, Terry McGovern, Peter Cullen, and Brian Cummings (DuckTales franchise and Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers!)
- Jeff Bennett and Maurice LaMarche (The Three Musketeers and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance)
- Eric Bauza (DuckTales reboot series)
- David Gasman (Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life)
Appearances
Sport Goofy in Soccermania
In the featurette, the Beagle Boys try to win the one-million trophy of the football competition, which was accidentally provided as a prize by Scrooge.
DuckTales
On DuckTales, the Beagle Boys were given names and different personalities and reimagined to be loosely based on the popular image of Ma Barker and the Barker-Karpis Gang. The usual character combination is Bigtime, Burger, and Bouncer and/or Baggy; or Babyface, Bugle, and Bankjob, depending on the episode. Other known names are Bomber and Blitzkrieg. Their leader is usually Big Time, Bankjob or their mother Ma Beagle. Like in the comics, the Beagles sometimes team up with Scrooge McDuck's other enemies to achieve their goals, particularly Flintheart Glomgold.
In "A Drain on the Economy", the Beagle Boys recruit their cousins for an attempted assault on the Money Bin. Over the course of the sequence, several of these Beagles are given the names Boom-Boom (not to be confused with the Beagle Babe), Banzai, Buckeroo, Beanball, Blitzkrieg, Bifocal, Bumpkin, Butterball, and Bullseye. Notably, the Beagles' cousins seen in "A Drain on the Economy" look quite similar to the usual "standard" Beagle Boys from the original comics. Outside the show itself, "standard" Beagle Boys appeared in the Disney Studios-produced stories produced for Gladstone Publishing's DuckTales comic book and even Boom! Studios' two DuckTales story arcs, "Rightful Owners" and "Dangerous Currency".
In the episode "Once Upon a Dime", which is a flashback to Scrooge's first adventures, Ma Beagle's earlier generation of children is introduced. Two are named Butch (Chuck McCann) and Wild Bill (William Callaway), and the third one is unnamed (Michael Rye).
In "The Good Muddahs", three female cousins of the Beagle Boys are introduced: Bouffant, Boom-Boom, and Babydoll. The three kidnap Webby for ransom, but they soon come to care for her as one of their own. The Beagle Babes appear to be much less evil in nature than their cousins; they show true concern for Webby when she shows signs of going "bad". They, too, are eventually arrested and brought to prison.
In "The Status Seekers", a trio of Blue Blood Beagle Boys appeared named Bonaparte, Bicep, and Bearnaise, who appear to be high-class versions of Big Time, Bouncer, and Burger. The trio worked for Charles Upstart III to get to the Mask of Kufululu before Scrooge, only to be thwarted by Scrooge's friends.
The Beagle Boys have numerous younger relations called the Beagle Brats, which appear in the episode "Take Me Out of the Ballgame". In the episode "Nothing to Fear", there is a character named Bully Beagle, however, he doesn't wear the traditional Beagle outfit and mask, so his exact relationship is unknown.
List of Beagle Boys in DuckTales
Big Time is the second-in-command and usual leader of the group in absence of Ma Beagle, and is distinguished by being rather short for someone with the word "Big" in his name. He is extremely hot-tempered and crooked, and often has to correct his companions whenever they get something wrong and mishear his directions. In the Beagle family, he seems to only take orders from Ma Beagle herself. His prison number is usually shown as 167-671. However, in "Scroogerello" his number says 167-617, and he mentions his first wish would "to be taller".
Big Time was voiced by Frank Welker.
As his name suggests, Burger has a large appetite, although it is for more than just hamburgers. He also isn't very bright. Incidentally, his comic counterpart (who had the second placard number) is known for a special appreciation for prunes and his curious culinary tastes (i.e. ketchup on ice cream or peanut butter pizza with gravy).
Burger was inspired by the Beagle Boy who is often portrayed enjoying prunes (and originated from the Carl Barks story "The Giant Robot Robbers"), and has a slightly different facial expression than the other Beagles. The not-too-bright Burger is named for his habit of talking about food, regardless of whether any of the others are actually talking about it themselves. He is also prone to random hunger tantrums. Due to his appetite, he has even taken a bite out of his license plate, which reads "761-176".
He was voiced by Chuck McCann. Burger has the highest voice out of the Beagle Boys and is meant to sound similar to Curly Howard of the The Three Stooges.
Designated with the placard number of "716-167", Bouncer usually serves as the muscle of the group. Of the regularly recurring DuckTales Beagles, Bouncer bears the most physical resemblance to the standard Beagle Boys seen in the original comics, except that he has one tooth missing.
He was voiced by Chuck McCann. Bouncer has the deepest voice of all the Beagle Boys.
Designated with the placard number of "617-716", Baggy, as his name suggests, wears baggy, loose-fitting clothes and often has a dopey grin on his face. His plate is also askew with one of the corners bent over. Out of all the Beagle Boys, Baggy is probably the least intelligent.
Baggy has lots of trouble communicating what he means to say and has a habit of stumbling over his words and saying the wrong things, which make it hard for his brothers to understand him. This doesn't seem to impede his musical talent, however, and in "Beaglemania" Baggy plays the keyboard.
He was voiced by Frank Welker.
Bankjob is physically the strongest and overall largest of the DuckTales Beagles, being about the same size as Launchpad McQuack. He is distinguishable by his large, Jay Leno-esque chin, and originally has the placard number of 671-167. He is the third-in-command of the Beagle Boys, playing the leader of the group whenever Big Time is absent. However, his methods usually rely less on brains and more on brawn and impulsiveness.
Bankjob appears to be brave and reckless, as seen in "Time Teasers" when he shoots directly at a cop. However, part of this could just be for show, as he is obviously very afraid when he encounters the pirates later in the episode.
Throughout the series, Bankjob has different numbers included; in the episode "Hero for Hire", his number says 614-167 and in some others his number is 618-167.
He was voiced by Peter Cullen.
Designated with the placard number of 176-167, Babyface is the youngest of the seven recurring Beagle Boys, in both appearance and a number of mannerisms. He is slightly taller than Big Time, and is considerably rounder in stature. He has a clean-shaven face and dresses much like a little kid with a distinctive propeller hat worn backwards, hence his name. His shirt also appears to be somewhat small for him, as his belly is constantly exposed. The cuffs of his sleeves are white and folded back, and he doesn't wear gloves, making his outfit unique from the rest of his brothers. He also has two strands of hair on his head.
Babyface is also very enthusiastic and adamant when it comes to breaking into Scrooge's money bin. In "Time Teasers", for example, he is so excited to get his hands on the Time Teaser, he tries to grab it and breaks it. Babyface also seems to be pretty clumsy, often falling or tripping over things. Despite all this, he is one of the smarter of the Beagle Boys and also seems to be rather cheeky, as in "Time Teasers" he comments that Bankjob actually never has brilliant ideas, and he isn't afraid to talk back to others, like Magica de Spell in "Send in the Clones".
Babyface disappeared from the series after the "Super DuckTales" serial, but continued to occasionally appear in DuckTales comic book stories, most notably in the story "Webby's Field Trip" (published in the February 1993 issue of Disney Adventures). In that story, Babyface (who is drawn with a strangely different design) is sent by Big Time to infiltrate Webby Vanderquack's class under the guise of a new student named B.B., because Webby's class is taking a field trip to Scrooge's Money Bin later in the week. Babyface actually ends up becoming friends with Webby, eventually finding out that she suggested to Scrooge that her class take a field trip to his Money Bin. When Webby feels guilty about the Beagle Boys breaking in during the field trip, Babyface, feeling sorry for her, actually rebels against his brothers and helps Webby stop them. However, due to helping the Beagles in the first place, Babyface still goes to jail along with them, and it is unclear if his apparent reform was permanent.
Babyface was voiced by Terry McGovern.
Designated with the placard number of 671-761, Bugle is a tall, lanky beagle with a love of music, particularly jazz and disco, and often speaks in rhyme. He can be identified by the sunglasses he wears in front of his typical mask, as well as his beatnik hat and sandals. His clothes are also rather long and loose-fitting. He also has two or three stands of hair on his head. Bugle is usually seen working alongside Bankjob and Babyface.
One time when the Beagle Boys were spying on an opening of Scrooge McDuck's new bank in order to check for any weaknesses in security, the alarm was set off, to the annoyance of everyone present, including the Beagle Boys. However, Bugle remarked he actually likes the tempo of the alarm sirens "because it has a jazzy rhythm".
In the episode "Scroogerello", he was instead named "Bebop" during Scrooge's dream sequence.
Bugle was voiced by Brian Cummings.
The only Beagle Boy whose name doesn't start with a "B", Megabyte is one of the more minor Beagle Boys. He is arguably the smartest of them, since he's been to college and is able to program and reprogram computers. He has the placard number of the square root of 6 in 716 in 6. He first appears in the DuckTales episode "Full Metal Duck" (part three of the five part serial Super DuckTales). Here, Ma Beagle calls him to make a remote to control Gizmoduck's suit, so he will turn against Scrooge McDuck and his family. Despite his high intelligence, he is not without moments of stupidity, as when Huey, Dewey, and Louie free Gizmoduck by stealing Megabyte's remote and swapping it with an identical one. Megabyte tries to thwart the pair by controlling Gizmoduck, only to find the remote only controls a Gizmoduck toy, to which Megabyte remarks, "What did he do, shrink in the wash?" while failing to realize his sabotage plans had been sabotaged.
He did not appear in any other episodes after Super DuckTales, and was voiced by Frank Welker.
With the placard number of 117-671, Bomber looks a lot like Bankjob in that he has a similar jawline and is very large in size. He is more intelligent than most of the other Beagles, and is a skilled pilot with his own airplane. He was voiced by Robert Ridgely.
The only Beagle who wears a full mustache, Backwoods has the placard number 167-761. He has a strong Canadian accent and is the twin brother of Binky Beagle and Bacon Beagle. The fact that he actually believes this is true could make him the dumbest of all the Beagle Boys. Backwoods wears a Davy Crocket-like trapper's outfit as opposed to the normal jailhouse outfit of the Beagle Boys. He is also the only person who is able to understand Bacon Beagle. As mentioned by Glomgold in "Ducky Mountain High", Backwoods and his twin brothers are brothers of Duckburg's Beagle Boys.
He was voiced by Danny Mann.
Binky is probably the only Beagle Boy who is never seen speaking. He is roughly the same size as Baggy Beagle, wears a lumberjack outfit and has a full beard. He lives with Backwoods and Bacon Beagle in the Ducky Mountains. His placard number is covered by his beard.
Bacon is, in fact, a pet pig, hence his name. When Glomgold asked how he could be a Beagle Boy, Backwoods explains that Bacon had a bad case of the swine flu as a child. Bacon cannot speak, but his oinks and grunts are, instead, translated by Backwoods Beagle. His number reads 167.
He was voiced by Frank Welker.
A cousin of the Beagle Boys, Baritone appeared in the Disney Adventures comic story Mrs. Beakley's Secret Love. He has muttonchops and a mustache and possesses the ability to mimic anyone's voice. In the story, he falls in love with Mrs. Beakley and sends her many gifts while his cousins want him to use his impression of Scrooge to help them break the new voice lock on Scrooge's money bin. When he finally does help them break in and they are caught and arrested, Baritone vows to give up crime and become a good citizen upon finishing his prison sentence.
Bullseye is one of the many Beagle Boys trying to rob Scrooge's bin in part one of the four-episode serial "Catch as Cash Can". He is among the Beagles who manage to reach the door of the bin, but he gets hit by a giant cannonball before he can enter the bin itself.
Bombshell is one of the Beagle Boys' brothers and Ma Beagle's son, whose picture can be seen on the TV in the Beagle Boys' hideout in the episode "Beaglemania". Ma Beagle seems to favor him over the other Beagles. He appears to be one of Ma's older children, and his clothes suggest he's involved in warfare or the military. His placard number is 677-767.
One of the Blueblood Beagles who appear in "The Status Seekers", Bonaparte and his brothers reside in the posh minimum-security Club Fed Penitentiary prison. They assist Charles Upstart III in seeking out the Mask of Kufululu. He resembles Big-Time, and is also very short; his name is a reference to Napoleon Bonaparte, who was known for being of short stature. In addition, he has the same number on his placard as Big-Time.
One of the Blueblood Beagles who appear in "The Status Seekers", Bicep and his brothers reside in the posh minimum-security Club Fed Penitentiary prison. They assist Charles Upstart III in seeking out the Mask of Kufululu. He resembles Bouncer, and even carries his number on the small placard.
One of the Blueblood Beagles who appear in "The Status Seekers", Bearnaise and his brothers reside in the posh minimum-security Club Fed Penitentiary prison. They assist Charles Upstart III in seeking out the Mask of Kufululu. He resembles Burger, and has his number as well.
Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers
In the direct-to-video film Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, three Beagle Boys appear working as minions for Captain Pete. These three Beagle Boys are different from previous incarnations in that they have grayish skin, yellow eyes, and wear dark cloaks and hoods. Two of the Beagle Boys are tall and speak with British accents (provided by Maurice LaMarche and Jeff Bennett), and the third one is rather short and speaks with a French accent (provided by Jeff Bennett). While none of them are given official names, the smallest beagle is referred to as "Shorty", "Small Fry", or "Shortstop" in a few scenes. However, the Japanese version of the film and KH:3D lists the Beagle Boys separately as "Small", "Medium", and "Large" (despite the fact that two of them are approximately the same size).
The boys are first seen at Princess Minnie's palace preparing to murder her by dropping a safe onto her. Their attempt fails, and they run off to tell their boss, who is revealed to be Pete, the captain of the Musketeers. Pete is outraged by the Beagle Boys as the plan was not to murder the princess, but to kidnap her only. The boys are then banished to a pit as punishment while the pit is actually adequate. Later on, by orders of Minnie, Pete assigns three janitors, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, to protect her as musketeers. Pete believing they'll do a terrible job, orders the Beagle Boys to kidnap Minnie with high hopes of success. However, upon the Beagles' return, Pete realizes the three are better musketeers than he thought and advises a plan to pick them off one by one. Pete and Clarabelle go after Mickey and Goofy respectively, while the Beagles lure Donald into Pete's lair to be decapitated. Time restrictions force Pete's plan to take place at the grand opera where Mickey, Donald, and Goofy reveal to survive their planned deaths and battle the Beagles. Pete interferes and seemingly murders Donald and Goofy along with the Beagles. Pete shows no remorse for the loss of his henchmen and continues with his plans. The Beagles are not seen or mentioned again in the film after that, but in the comic book adaptation, they are shown being arrested along with Pete.
Mickey Mouse
The Beagle Boys appear in the episode "Sock Burglar" as one of the suspects interrogated by Minnie Mouse.
They later reappeared as a member of Pete's football team in the episode "Touchdown and Out". After being freed from prison, a trio of Beagle Boys joins Pete and Chernabog as a football team against Mickey, Donald, and Goofy where they cheat their way to the lead. When Chernabog is handicapped toward the end of the game, he slowly collapses into the ground, taking a horrified Pete and the Beagle Boys down to the fiery depths with him.
DuckTales (2017)
The Beagle Boys return as comedic villains in the reboot of DuckTales, all voiced by Eric Bauza. They retain the names of the Beagles in the original DuckTales series and are once again portrayed as local crooks led by Ma Beagle. However, the Beagle Boys are portrayed as being much less intelligent and competent as criminals than their 1987 incarnations and, as a result, receive far less respect from Ma Beagle. The most notable change of them as a collective group is the inclusion of their southern drawls. Their prison bar code numbers have also been removed, being replaced by a large black print of the letter "B" on the centers of their shirts. They are divided into several gangs as shown in the episode "The Beagle Birthday Massacre!"
List of Beagle Boys in the DuckTales reboot
Big Time returns as the usual leader of the Original Classics and, ironically, short in stature once again. In "Daytrip of Doom", it is shown that Big Time longs for his mother's approval, and often tries to pull off grand schemes in hopes of impressing her and earning said approval. Evidently, he has been met with rejection numerous times, and this has only driven him to continue with even more ambition than before. A particular gag scene at the end of the episode shows that Big Time envies the loving relationship that Huey, Dewey and Louie share with Donald.
Burger is a member of the Original Classics who has perhaps gone through the most drastic change of the returning Beagles shown so far. Unlike his previous incarnation, this Burger is slim and doesn't speak. He instead communicates with grunts, and doesn't appear to be as dim-witted, bubbly or childish as his predecessor. Though he doesn't speak, the other Beagles seem to understand him perfectly. Currently, the only word he properly said was fair, albeit strained.
This was a deliberate choice of the showrunners, who believed the Burger of the original 1987 DuckTales series was a product of his time, and was essentially used as the butt of numerous "fat jokes" of the period, something that wouldn't be appropriate for the rebooted series.[1]
Bouncer is a member of the Original Classics and is essentially the same character seen in the original series. He is the largest of the Beagle Boys shown so far, and acts as the gang's muscle. He doesn't appear to be too bright, best serving as the submissive henchman to higher ranking Beagles such as Ma or Big Time. Compared to his old series design, he is now about the same size as Bankjob.
He is shown to be a decent cook and is the only Beagle Boy to make Santa Claus' "nice" list.
Bomber Beagle is a big hockey player who appeared in issue 13 "The Mighty Ducks of Duckburg".
Butcher Beagle is a little hockey player who apperared in issue 13 "The Mighty Ducks of Duckburg".
Bluescreen Beagle appears as a drawing in "Escape from the ImpossiBin!" as a traitor suspect, suggesting he's a McDucks employee.
Big Tech Beagle appears in This Duckburg Life, episode five "The Framing of Flintheart Glomgold". He apparently runs a tech store and sold a drone to Mark Beaks for a hefty sum.
The 1987 Beagle Boys appear in the episode "Last Christmas!" to rob McDuck Manor on Scrooge's first Christmas. Among their numbers are Bankjob, Babyface, and Bugle, and are led by Grandpappy Beagle in a role akin to that of Ma Beagle.
Unlike the present day Beagle Boys, who all wear the letter B on their chests, these Beagles wear prison number placards on their chests, in homage to the Beagle Boys of both the classic comics and the original DuckTales TV series.Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life
A Beagle Boy appeared in the short Thou Shalt Nut Steal where, he steals a tire and a harmonica from Pluto's Quin-puplets. At the end of the short, the Beagle Boy is in jail playing the harmonica he stole from the quin-puplets.
Cameos
Some Beagle Boys make cameo appearances in the Darkwing Duck episode "In Like Blunt", along with Magica De Spell and Flintheart Glomgold, among the bidders for the secret S.H.U.S.H. agent list.
Two Beagle Boys made a cameo appearance in the Goof Troop episode "The Ungoofables", in which they were depicted as a couple of bank robbers in 1929 driving around Chicago with several stolen bags of money. While fleeing the police, they were looking to get out of town and briefly stopped their getaway car to ask Eliot Goof (great uncle of Goofy's son Max Goof) for directions before resuming their course.
In the July 1996 Goof Troop comic strip "Good Dog Card" (published in Disney Adventures magazine Volume 6 Number 9), a tall and skinny Beagle Boy breaks into Pete's house late at night, scares off Pete's dog Chainsaw, and robs the house of everything in its living room.
One Beagle Boy also made a cameo appearance in the Bonkers episode "The 29th Page".
In the Quack Pack episode "Nosy Neighbors", Donald tries to train his attack dogs, using an attack dummy that resembles a Beagle Boy.
An unnamed Beagle was seen during the "A Very Goofy Christmas" segment of Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas in a cameo role. In the middle of the short, the Beagle Boy in question robbed Pete's house and was mistaken for Santa Claus by Goofy and Max until the police arrived.
Video games
DuckTales
The Beagle Boys appear as recurring enemies in each of the levels. Getting injured by them will also cause Scrooge to lose some money. The HD remake expands their role in the game, with Big Time, Burger, and Bouncer appearing as sub-bosses in the Transylvania level, where they respectively hold Huey, Dewey and Louie hostage.
Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers!
Three Beagle Boys appear as the boss in the Duckburg level, and the tertiary villains of the overall game, working for Merlock and Magica De Spell.
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
The version of the Beagle Boys from The Three Musketeers appear in Dream Drop Distance, where they appear in the world, Country of the Musketeers as figments of the dream the world is having. Like in the film, they work for Pete, trying to kidnap Princess Minnie for his nefarious plot to seize the throne. However, unlike the film, they fight Sora and Riku; Sora defeats them while saving the princess in the Tower, and they try hiding from Riku to keep the Stage Prop away from him to keep Pete's trap for the Musketeers from being undone.
Disney Parks
Disneyland Resort
During the time of DuckTales and the popular Disney Afternoon block, the DuckTales Beagles occasionally appeared as meet-and-greet characters, as well as taking part in some special promotional material involving other park characters. The Beagles no longer make live appearances at the Disney parks.
Gallery
Trivia
- Although the characters are obviously based on dogs, they in no way resemble the actual beagle breed.
- The Italian band Banda Bassotti based its name upon the Italian name of the gang.
- Their Latin American name is Los Chicos Malos (The Bad Boys). This is referenced in the opening verse of the Latin American theme ("Muchas aventuras hay en PatoLandia/Con los chicos malos y tambien los buenos/Habra misterio, historias reales...")
- The 2017 version of the Beagle Boys resemble the multiple criminal gangs seen in the classic action/thriller film The Warriors.
References
External links
- Virtual journey in the Beagle Boys' hut
- Beagle Boys on The Disney Afternoon Wiki
- Beagle Boys on Kingdom Hearts Wiki
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