Frank is a secondary character from Disney's 1990 animated feature film, The Rescuers Down Under. He is a green frill-necked lizard (Frilled Dragon Lizard) who was captured by Percival C. McLeach.
Background[]
Personality[]
Frank is terrified of being killed and turned into a purse. He is also extremely cowardly and hyperactive.
Physical appearance[]
He is a small green frilled lizard, who frequently gets his frill stuck in things. He is very fast, hyperactive, a bit of a motor-mouth, and a coward, though he does try to help and shows some guts when he ends up on Joanna's back and pulls a cowboy act with her.
Role in the film[]
Frank is first seen in the middle of the film after Cody is thrown into a cage with him by McLeach. Frank is one of the many animals that McLeach has poached for various ways of making money. He quickly joins in Cody's yelled defiances of McLeach, though he becomes frightened at first when approached by the boy. After Cody tells McLeach he'll never tell him where Marahute is, Frank pops out of the hay and joins in. Cody then asks Frank where he came from, and he says he was from the desert. Frank covers his ears when he hears Krebbs tell him he is going to be made into a purse. Cody then tells Frank they're going to get out of here. Frank uses his tail to pick the lock on the cage and frees himself. He then hatches a plan to get the key. After successfully retrieving the key, while making a boisterous racket, he gets caught by McLeach and, after being chased and nearly snatched up by Joanna, shuts himself back in the cage out of fear. He isn't seen again for the rest of the film. Since he managed to use his tail to pick the lock, it’s possible that he freed himself again after McLeach left and eventually freed the rest of the animals.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the Aladdin TV series episode "Do the Rat Thing", Iago was turned into a frill-necked lizard and bore a similar resemblance to Frank.
- During the "Pomp and Circumstance" suite of Fantasia 2000, not only does Frank make a cameo, but he appears to have a wife as well.
- Before Frank panics of becoming a purse, he hums the Australian song "Waltzing Matilda".
- The animation on both Frank and Joanna is actually more realistic than it might appear to some viewers, since real frilled lizards can actually run on their hind legs to escape from predators and real monitor lizards can also run fast on all fours to chase prey.
