- “They will rue the day that they scorned Heimlich Menudo!”
- ―Heimlich Menudo[src]
Heimlich Menudo is a one-shot character from TaleSpin and is the main antagonist of the episode "Vowel Play".
Background[]
Personality[]
Heimlich is a greedy criminal leopard, who has an unhealthy obsession with diamonds, even his teeth are also made of diamonds. He is also shown to be very selfish, as he gives his assistant Weazel a very small diamond instead of a big diamond.
Role in the episode[]
Heimlich is first seen talking to Weazel about his plan in which he organized all of the criminals in Cape Suzette in a crime syndicate to do the "Heimlich Maneuver". He has used the skywriting fad to skywrite messages to the crooks so that the cops won't be able to catch him in the act. He rewards Weazel for finding a foolish bear to skywrite the messages by giving him a very small diamond. Weazel asks why he gets a small one, and Heimlich says the big ones are his and loves them, saying they sparkle and shine. But Weazel accidentally bumps into his desk while looking for his diamond, causing the diamond Heimlich had in his hand to go into his mouth and cause him to choke. He is able to get it out and slaps Weazel for not noticing he could not breathe. Weazel says he was too busy thinking of the Heimlich Maneuver he did not notice Menudo was choking.
Heimlich is next seen with the Heimlich Maneuver in full gear, announcing on a speaker that he is holding Cape Suzette hostage. He demands that every diamond in the city be delivered to his tanker in the harbor. If no one complies, Cape Suzette will be bombed by his army blimps, which are filled with explosive gas. Any attempt to shoot them will result in Cape Suzette being destroyed.
Heimlich is overjoyed with his dream of having every diamond in the city to build a mansion out of diamonds coming true. The pool, icebox, and toaster would all be made of diamonds. He gets a call saying that the police told everyone to stay indoors and refuse his demands, which outrages him (and causes him to break his diamond teeth). He orders Weazel to give Baloo the code to attack Cape Suzette. Initially, the code is "Wait until dark", but they change it to "Weight until dark", which is the code to scrub the operation. However, Baloo ends up spelling "Wieght until dark", which is the code to blow up city hall.
Heimlich sees this through his windows and is confused, since he did not give the orders to attack City Hall, but Kit is able to change it back to "Wait until dark" with his airfoil.
Heimlich realizes he has been tricked, and he and Weazel go in Heimlich's helicopter to tell the crooks to go back. The crooks drop the plan by dropping the bombs in the ocean and deflating the blimps. Heimlich and Weazel ram into the Sea Duck to plow through the plane, but Baloo releases the gas for the skywriting, blocking Heimlich and Weazel's view, and their helicopter lands in the water, immediately surrounded by police boats.
Trivia[]
- His name is play on the "Heimlich Maneuver", which is a well-known choking method.
- His last name, "Menudo", may be derived from the Spanish-language word for a Mexican soup.