Kit Cloudkicker is the deuteragonist from the Disney animated series TaleSpin.
Background
Kit is a young 12-year old, orphaned bear cub full of spirit and spunk, and is Baloo's best friend, partner, and navigator. Before he met Baloo, he was a member of Don Karnage's air pirates. After spending a year with the air pirates, Kit claims that he "got sick of them", and after Don Karnage stole a valuable jewel from Shere Khan, Kit decided to make his move - to take the jewel, leave the pirates, and begin a new life. While trying to escape Karnage (in the pilot episode, "Plunder and Lightning"), he literally runs into Baloo at Louie's place. Kit initially appears to be fearful and hesitant of trusting adults; but in the same episode, Baloo saves Kit from Karnage, which appears to be a turning point for Kit. He opens up to Baloo and begins to trust and admire him. Kit now refers to Baloo as his 'Papa Bear', and loves him like a father. He and Baloo are close friends.
Personality
Considering Kit is a former pirate, he has surprisingly good manners and is highly respectful of adults - when he initially introduces himself to Rebecca Cunningham, for example, he takes off his hat, and he refers to her as 'Miss Cunningham'. However, he initially has a "tough guy attitude" likely because of the harsh life he lived.
He greatly enjoys a hobby known as air surfing. Air surfing involves Kit soaring through the air (usually towed behind a plane) on his boomerang-shaped board known as his airfoil.
Being on his own and having had to fend for himself all of his life, Kit is very independent and streetwise. Acting much older than might be expected from his young age, he hates being treated like a kid and loathes the fact that he is too young to get his pilot's license.
Appearances
DuckTales (2017)
Kit appears in the Season 3 episode "The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker!" as an adult. Here, his design resembles Baloo. In the series, Kit also knows Della Duck from flight school and helps her and her sons Huey and Dewey to find an artifact he lost during a plane quest. He now works as an official pilot for Higher for Hire.
Kit in the reboot.
Kit is first seen under attack by Don Karnage and his squadron to which, while fending off the Sky Pirates and Karnage, he notices a mutated chicken/goat hybrid caused by a mystical artifact known as the Stone of What Was, and manages to get rid of it before it is able to attack him.
As Della, Huey, and Dewey arrive at the Higher for Hire cargo company area, Huey explains to his mother that according to a F.O.W.L. transmission, the pilot who was hired to transport the Stone was none other than Kit Cloudkicker. Kit appears on television, showcasing the story of Higher for Hire which used to be owned by Baloo, with Kit now as the new owner of the company. Huey and Della approach Kit, who tells Della that he remembers her from Flight School. Della continues explaining that Kit became an Ace Pilot just Baloo, and just like what Molly Cunningham did.
Huey then shows him a book showcasing the Stone of What Was, to which Kit explains that Bradford Buzzard was the one who hired him to find the Stone, which was unfortunately lost during the ambush sent by Don Karnage, followed by the Stone's power fusing a chicken and goat into a monstrous hybrid, which caused Kit to deploy the monster. As Della and her children board the Sea Duck, Della angrily confronts Kit for using a motionless crowbar as his co-pilot, to which Kit refuses to leave the plane under Della's orders. Dewey is then sent to help Kit while being captured by Don Karnage and his pirate squadron. Kit then plans to help Dewey escape from Karnage only for Della and her children to find themselves on an uncharted island.
The four end up getting pursued by a monstrous gorilla/rhino hybrid, Rhinokey chasing them to which the group manages to escape from him. Kit and the rest of the group later spy on Karnage and his henchmen taking the Stone of What Was to which Kit hears Dewey explaining that what the Stone transforms, combines two brings into one. Kit later notices Della riding on a monstrous bear/butterfly hybrid, Butterbear chasing the mutated pirates as she also chases Kit only for her to miss her chance to attack just as the nephews and Kit get back on the Sea Duck.
Back on the plane, Kit explains to Dewey that he is not good at using his airfoil to which Huey explains that Kit is good at doing his skills, telling him to be confident in himself. Dewey then plans to help Kit Cloudkicker fight against Karnage and his pirate squadron. Furthermore, Kit arrives to retrieve the Stone before Karnage does, just as he fights off Karnage's other pirates, followed by Kit engaging in a duel between him and Karnage during battle, while planning to drop the Stone on the Sea Duck in order for Kit to complete his mission. Kit then uses Crow-B, his trusty crowbar, to defeat Karnage once and for all.
Having defeated Karnage and protected the Stone from Karnage and finally completing his mission, Huey congratulates Kit for the teamwork, and Kit sends the Stone to be delivered. With the mission completed, Kit passes his fee on to Della. Despite Della's disgust for the receipt she receives from Kit, he explains to Della that he is running a failing business, and his plane is about to get sold. At that moment, Molly Cunningham appears and explains that somebody already paid to keep Kit's business running, and that somebody is Molly herself. She then explains to Kit that his plane is now part of Danger Woman's Death-Defying Sky Circus, and asks Kit to become part of a new attraction for Danger Woman's circus. Kit then accepts Molly's offer.
He makes a brief cameo in "The Last Adventure!"; having been captured by F.O.W.L., alongside Molly and numerous other McDuck Family allies in an effort to be destroyed by their enemies. However, he is rescued in the end.
Gallery
Trivia
- Despite Kit having formerly been an Air Pirate only being mentioned in the pilot of the show, it is brought up frequently by both him and the pirates in the comics.
- Kit could be seen as TaleSpin's equivalent to Mowgli, considering both are plucky orphans and have a special bond with Baloo. Kit even calls Baloo "Papa Bear" like Mowgli does, while Baloo refers to Kit as "Little Britches", his nickname for Mowgli. The only difference is that while Baloo doesn’t end up adopting Mowgli as his son, he does end up adopting Kit.
- In the DuckTales reboot, adult Kit's design is based off of his original incarnation, as well as Baloo, both in appearance and in personality.
- In the comics, he admits that he never knew either one of his biological parents, and learned how to navigate from stowing away on aircraft.
- Prior to his defection from the pirates, he is shown wearing a red bandana on his neck.
- He is obviously the animal analogue of Mowgli.
- He also shares things in common with Ezra Bridger of Star Wars Rebels and Punch of the nineteen-sixties anime Hustle Punch.
- Kit's name is also an abbreviation of the name "Kristopher", though Kit is never acknowledged like this.
- While he didn't appear in all episodes, Kit is probably the most popular TaleSpin character.
- Initially, Kit was gonna be the biological son of Rebecca, and longing for a father, but the creators found it better if he was made an orphan.
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