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- “Save me, Smee!”
- ―One of the most prominent quotes of Captain Hook
Mr. Smee is Captain Hook's first mate and the secondary antagonist in Disney's 1953 animated film Peter Pan.
Background
Development
Mr. Smee is one of the most complex characters in one of Disney's early films. Unlike previous villain sidekicks, the filmmakers felt that Smee was the first sidekick to have a truly memorable part in the story. When Walt Disney began character development on the film, animator Ollie Johnston was given the job to animate. He once said that Smee was one of his favorite characters to animate because he wasn't just the villains' lackey, but because he had a solid role in the story and that he was useful as a personality.
Personality
In spite of serving a feared captain and a crew of brutal pirates, Mr. Smee is, ultimately, a kind-hearted character. Though he makes attempts to perform villainous acts, his gentle nature often gets in the way of this; his ultimate agenda usually focusing around keeping peace and some form of stability within Captain Hook's life.
Overly eager to please, Smee can easily be described as a chronic bumbler and appears to have minimal intelligence, overall. Because of this, he often annoys Hook and often finds himself facing the latter's wrath. While Smee clearly fears Hook, mostly as a result of his dangerous temper, he has shown to be outrageously loyal, to the point of unabashedly jumping into action to protect the captain, specifically from the jaws of the crocodile, who is surprisingly docile when dealing with Smee.
Aside from his loyalty and relationship with Hook, Smee was shown to have his own agendas throughout the original film, such as convincing Hook to leave Never Land as he, and the rest of the crew, long for the days of plundering the seven seas, which has been put to a halt as a result of Hook's obsession with killing Peter Pan. Notably, however, this stemmed from the harassment and threats from the crew, who saw Smee as a means to communicate with the captain, as the latter is far more tolerable of his first mate. Even so, Smee has shown to support the idea, for the "health and happiness" of the captain.
According to Jeff Bennett, the current official voice actor for Smee:
| “ | Smee has that bumbling way about him. He’s always trying to keep up and wants to try to make everybody happy—like the Mom who wants everybody to stop fighting and be friends and make nice and for the world to be every color of the rainbow. But every once in a while, you’ll hear—and I try not to do it too often—that little edge of “Boy, this job is really hard and I am a little tired of it." | ” |
Physical appearance
Smee was animated by one of Walt Disney's Nine Old Men, Ollie Johnston. Smee is a diminutive, portly gentleman with an odd, hourglass-shaped head. He has shoulder-length, white hair (though the top of his head is bald) and thick, black eyebrows. His eyes are black and close-set, and they are often half-closed. His nose is round, large and pink (much like the Dwarves from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), and the rest of his skin is slightly pink as well. In terms of attire, Smee wears what seem to be very simple, brown sandals, a short-sleeved shirt with alternating sky blue and white horizontal stripes, and teal shorts. He also wears half-moon glasses and a red stocking cap with a red pom-pom ornament on top.
Appearances
Peter Pan
Smee with Captain Hook in Peter Pan.
Smee's first appearance was in the original Peter Pan movie. He is Captain Hook's first mate and henchman. However, he doesn't seem to be much liked by the rest of the crew. At the beginning of the film, Smee comes out of the cabin, he wishes the Crew a good morning, but the Crew grab him by the shirt and tell him that there's nothing good about the morning because they're stuck on the island of Neverland and not pirating. Wishing to give up the quest for Peter Pan, they bully Smee into trying to persuade their Captain to comply with their demands to go back out to sea again. Smee fails to help Hook forget about his obsession with Peter Pan so that the crew can go to sea like they wish. When Tick-Tock the Crocodile appears, Captain Hook becomes frightened and begs Smee to save him from the creature. Smee shoos off the animal and decides to soothe Hook with a shave. Soon, Peter appears with the Darling children, and Hook orders Smee to gather the crew for an attack.
Smee is later seen rowing a rowboat with Captain Hook and a captive Tiger Lily past the Mermaid Lagoon as they make their way to Skull Rock. Smee is fooled by Peter's imitation of Hook and begins to free the Indian Princess, before being corrected by the real Hook. As Hook uncovers Peter's identity, Peter offers Smee a pistol with the dare of trying to hit him. He misses, and instead, Smee apparently hits Hook. Hook, however, turns out to be alive, much to Smee's joy, but Smee is forced to rescue Hook when he is being attacked by the crocodile. Captain Hook jumps onto Smee's rowboat and orders Smee to row for the ship before falling back into the water. Smee rows back to Jolly Roger himself, leaving Hook to frantically swim away from the pursuing crocodile.
At some point, Smee learns of Tinker Bell's banishment through the talk from the crew and suggests to a now despondent Hook that they leave. His reasoning is that "an island with women trouble is no place for a respectable pirate". This gives Hook the idea to play on Tinker Bell's jealousy of Wendy. Smee captures Tinker Bell, and Hook is able to convince the fairy to reveal Peter Pan's hiding place (with help from a drunken Smee). Smee then accompanies Hook and assists in the capture of the children. During the final battle, Smee quietly attempts to escape by going aboard a rowboat. As he lowers himself and the rowboat onto the sea, the rest of the pirate crew fall on the rowboat. He is last seen calling for Captain Hook, who swims past them as he tries to flee from the crocodile.
Return to Never Land
Smee in Return to Never Land.
Smee is first seen reluctantly joining Hook and the pirates to London. There, they kidnap who they believe is Wendy and rushes back to Never Land. Once there, Smee pulls out a bucket of chum to lure a giant octopus to devour Wendy. The entire plan was to lure Peter Pan which it does. Peter battles the octopus and is believed dead. Unlike Hook, Smee is saddened by the sight of Peter's apparent death. Right after, Peter returns and Captain Hook is attacked by the octopus, Smee attempts to save the captain but the captain escapes himself and orders Smee to fix the plank so he can make him walk it.
Later on, Smee is giving Hook a massage to calm his nerves but a run in with the octopus prevents this. Smee successfully shoos the creature away and calms the captain. Smee then joins Hook to Never Land to find Peter. Smee openly complains and admits he's tired of searching the island but silenced by the menacing Hook. Later on, Smee and Hook advise a plan to capture Peter and reclaim their treasure.
At the final battle, Smee battles Tinker Bell to save Hook but is thrown overboard. Smee and the pirates then swim away in fear when the octopus envisions them as fish.
House of Mouse
Smee in House of Mouse.
Smee has received numerous cameos alongside Captain Hook in the television series House of Mouse. In "Ask Von Drake" Smee is shown placing the Captain's hook onto his arm. In the episode "Donald Wants to Fly", Smee can be seen witnessing Donald's (with Hook cowering behind him) flight and cheering for the latter when he finally gains the ability through Peter Pan's help. In the episode "Super Goof", Smee stole Scuttle's telescope and gave it to Hook to observe Super Goof flying. In "Pluto vs. Figaro", Hook feared he was under attack, causing himself and Smee to launch a cannon, which landed in Goofy's mouth. In "Goofy's Menu Magic", when the club was flooded with stew, Hook and Smee can be seen rowing a boat through the waves of stew.
Interestingly, though he appeared prominently in the film's trailer, Smee did not appear in Mickey's House of Villains, despite Captain Hook being one of the main villains in that film.
Jake and the Never Land Pirates
Smee as he appears in Jake and the Never Land Pirates.
Smee appears in the series as a secondary antagonist. In the show, Smee is bumbling, but a tad more clever and sensible.
Smee partakes in all of the Captain's schemes and, like Hook is foiled every time. Also despite being loyal, it is shown several times he does not actually enjoy his work. Aside from being Captain Hook's sidekick and best friend, he is also the Captain's cook as in the film and usually the cause of his ultimate failures. However, there was one occasion where Smee actually showed excitement in his work, the episode "The Sword and the Stone".
In spite of being on the villain side, Smee and the young pirates are on good terms ever since Smee teamed up with the "sea pups" to find Captain Hook. It is unknown how Hook feels about the alliance though when Smee thanked the pirates, Hook shouted: "Who's side are you on, Smee!".
Despite their different views of the "sea pups", Smee and Hook seem to be much closer, with a strong bond of both friendship and trust. Smee is always at Hook's side to offer both comfort and a voice of reason to his hot-headed Captain.
In the episode "Mr. Smee's Pet", he has a chameleon named Blinky.
Mr. Smee plays a larger role in the episode "Ahoy, Captain Smee!" Mr. Smee is left in command of the Jolly Roger after Captain Hook gave up his title of captain and abandoned ship with Sharky and Bones, leaving Smee to deal with the sinking ship. Luckily, Jake and his crew were sailing nearby and decided to help. Izzy used her pixie dust to lift the Jolly Roger from the Never Sea allowing Smee to patch the hole. With the danger over, Hook, Sharky, and Bones returned aboard the Jolly Roger. Hook orders Smee to return his title as captain, but Mr. Smee shocks Captain Hook by deciding to remain as captain for a while. It wasn't until Hook saved Smee's life during a treasure hunt that the first mate decided to return Hook to commands.
Smee was also the center of the episode "Smee-erella", which introduced First-Mate Mollie, Smee's love interest.
The Pirate Fairy
Smee in The Pirate Fairy.
Smee makes a brief, special cameo at the end of the film set two decades before the events of the original Peter Pan, after James (the younger version of Captain Hook) meets his defeat at the hands of Tinker Bell and her Pixie Hollow friends. Smee is seen sailing on a ship where he spots James stranded in the middle of the NeverSea. After spotting the washed up captain, Smee compliments the hook he's carrying around (alluding the iconic hook he'll one day gain), to which James replies by furiously demanding Smee to rescue him. Being that Smee was absent during the rest of the movie, it is highly possible this is the moment in which he and Captain Hook meet for the first time. Unlike Hook, however, Smee's appearance hasn't altered whatsoever, revealing he's far beyond Hook in terms of age.
Cameos
Smee appeared in a cameo with Captain Hook at the end of the second episode of Raw Toonage, after Hook defeats Don Karnage in a sword duel to get his treasure. Smee is shown rowing the boat out to sea with Hook and the treasure.
Live-action appearances
Once Upon a Time
Mr. Smee, as he appears in Once Upon a Time
In Once Upon a Time, William Smee, played by Christopher Gauthier, is a criminal who sells stolen goods on the black market. He was an acquaintance of Killian Jones, who was a captain on a pirate ship. Smee helped Rumplestiltskin to track down Killian Jones. Years ago, Rumplestiltskin's wife Milah had run off from him onto Jones' ship, and when Rumplestiltskin pleaded with him to return his wife, Jones refused. Smee had a magic bean and promised to give it to Rumplestiltskin in exchange for eternal life.
Rumplestiltskin eventually confronts Killian Jones about Milah, but he claims she died. He makes Jones duel with him and afterward is ready to rip out his heart, but Milah appears and implores him to stop. She explains why she left him, and then shows him Smee's red hat to prove that she is now in possession of the magic bean he wants. Rumplestiltskin allows Jones to live and follows them onto their ship.
On the ship, Rumplestiltskin and Milah's conflicts reach a boiling point. He has a lot of anger at her for not only leaving him but also disappearing on their son, Baelfire. Milah is remorseful and regrets that she let her misery cloud her judgment enough that she high tailed out of their lives. He asks her why she left him, and she tells him it's because she never loved him. Rumplestiltskin rips out her heart in a fit of anger, and crushes it, killing her. He cuts off Jones' hand that clenches the magic bean and leaves afterward.
Smee is left captured on the ship and is told by Jones he wants him to become part of the crew. Smee is indignant because Rumplestiltskin promised him eternal life, but that isn't possible now since it is shown Jones tricked Rumplestiltskin. The hand Rumplestiltskin cut off did not have the magic bean. Instead, Jones uses it to transport himself and his crew into another world where they will never age—Neverland. He eventually became the most trusted confidante and crewmate in Killian's crew.
Mr. Smee's Storybrooke counterpart.
In Storybrooke, when Belle is looking into Storybrooke's library, he asks for some change. When she says she doesn't have any, he puts a hand over her mouth and drags her away. In fact, he was hired by Moe French to bring Belle to him. Moe and Belle have a brief, happy reunion. He wishes for her never to be around Mr. Gold again, which she disagrees with and doesn't want him making choices for her. However, Moe is adamant Mr. Gold will never have Belle again, so he makes Smee take her down to the mines and put her in a mine car so she reaches the Storybrooke town border. Anyone will cross the border will lose their Fairytale Land memories, and he would rather she lose all her memories and not remember anyone than keep them with the possibility of reconciling with Mr. Gold.
After Mr. Gold, Ruby, and David Nolan are able to put a stop to Moe's plan, Belle is saved from losing her memories. Mr. Gold confronts the man Moe hired and wants to know where Captain Hook is now.
Smee was then used as a test subject for Mr. Gold's potion poured onto his hat. He then gives the hat back to Smee and pushes him across the town line and still remembers himself, proving the experiment a success.
Smee later finds Hook and assists in breaking into Mr. Gold's shop to retrieve the shawl he had in the safe as the last thing of Baelfire's. Smee later tries to leave town, but Gold catches him outside and magically throws him up against a wall, asking him where the shawl was. Smee gasps out that he did not know, as he had met Hook on a rooftop in Storybrooke. Rather than kill Smee, Gold turns him into a rat and orders him to scurry away, which Smee promptly does.
Smee returns in the season 3 episode "Jolly Roger" where, after returning to the Enchanted Forest, Smee was returned to human form and rejoined Hook with the remaining pirates of the Jolly Roger's original crew robbing carriages, and eventually joining the rest of the cast back to Storybrooke after the new curse was cast.
Printed Material
Descendants: Isle of the Lost
Mr. Smee is one of the villains imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost. He has a son named Sammy Smee.
He was mentioned by an unnamed African-American student in School of Secrets who seem to be related to him and Sammy, Smee is his uncle, that mean Sammy was the cousin of that student from Auradon.
Video games
Kingdom Hearts series
Mr. Smee appears in Kingdom Hearts as an inhabitant of Neverland, and often plays a minor role.
In the original Kingdom Hearts, Captain Hook and Smee are recruited by Maleficent to assist her in capturing the seven Princesses of Heart in her quest for world domination. As such, Hook and Smee, with a legion of Heartless at their command, capture Wendy. Peter hears of this and travels to the Jolly Roger for her rescue, allying himself with Sora, Donald, and Goody. When Smee learns of their escape, he informs the Captain. While Peter and Wendy manage to escape, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Tinker Bell are captured and ordered to walk the plank, as Smee watches. Peter returns and frees his friends, prompting Smee to flee the scene.
Smee reappears in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep in Neverland, where he antagonizes Terra, Aqua, and Ventus alongside Hook. Quite notably, Smee's role is vastly larger in this game, compared to his original debut in the series.
In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Smee is seen in Neverland, once again, being ordered by the captain to dig up various sites in order to find supposed treasure, and though he does so diligently, the treasure is nowhere to be found.
Epic Mickey (series)
Smee talking with Mickey and Gus in Epic Mickey.
A rejected version of Smee lives in The Wasteland and is a recurring character in the series. Like his real world counterpart was (once) the right-hand man of Wasteland's Captain Hook. This Smee is first seen crying in the hub-world of Ventureland. He explains that he and the other pirates have left Skull Island because of a machine that turns pirates into Beetleworx. He will give Mickey Mouse the mission to go to Skull Island and stop the machine. If you manage to either destroy or reverse the machine, Smee and the other pirates will leave Ventureland to return to Skull Island. If it's left alone or if the pumps get filled with Paint and Thinner for each one, they will remain in Ventureland. Either way, Smee is lastly seen on Mean Street at the game's finale, celebrating Wasteland's renewal with the rest of its citizens.
The version of Smee featured here is a rejected design based on concept art. The stripes on his shirt and the color of his hat are reversed. The Smee from the film had blue stripes and a red hat.
Smee returns in Epic Mickey 2, seen, once again, in Ventureland.
Smee also reappears in the third Epic Mickey game, Power of Illusion. At one point of the game, Mickey is asked by Captain Hook to find Smee. Smee is found by Mickey on the Jolly Roger and was brought to his boss at the fortress.
Kinect Disneyland Adventures
Smee in Kinect Disneyland Adventures.
Smee plays a minor role during the Peter Pan's Flight mini-game. Smee is first seen watching the helpless Cubby nearly meet his end until Pan shows up. Smee is last seen diving into the sea to rescue Hook after he was defeated and thrown overboard. The duo is then seen swimming away from the Crocodile.
Other games
In Disney's Villains' Revenge, Smee makes a vocal cameo during the introduction of Captain Hook's stage, where he tells the captain Peter Pan always wins, responding to Hook's desires to challenge the boy to a sword duel.
In 2012, a costume of Smee was added to Disney Universe as part of the add-on Never Land Pack.
Disney Parks
Mr. Smee poses for a photo at Disneyland Paris.
Smee makes frequent appearances throughout the Disney theme parks around the world, most often featured alongside Captain Hook.
Disneyland Resort
An animatronic version of Smee can be seen constantly throughout the dark attraction Peter Pan's Flight.
Smee appears in the original Disneyland version of Fantasmic!, in the scene with Peter Pan and Captain Hook's duel. During the battle, Smee shouts famous quotes from the movie such as "Give it to him, Cap'n! Cleave him to the brisket!"
Walt Disney World Resort
Smee appeared in the former Dream Along With Mickey show in the Magic Kingdom park. Here, Smee and Captain Hook are working for Maleficent, dreams are dying out and the three villains plot to take over the Magic Kingdom. Once Mickey and Donald defeat Maleficent with the power of dreams, Hook flees, having Smee scream, "Wait for me!"
Smee can also be found in the parade, Festival of Fantasy and commonly seen during Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
He also appeared in the Disney's Hollywood Studios version of Fantasmic, riding Steamboat Willie during the finale from 1998 to 2002 and again in 2014.
Tokyo Disney Resort
In One Man's Dream II: The Magic Lives On!, Smee appears as Hook's sidekick yet again in the live stage show in Tokyo Disneyland. He also makes appearances in the World Bazaar.
Disneyland Paris
Smee accompanied Hook in the Disneyland Paris show Disney's Maleficious Halloween Party. For meet-and-greets, he can often be found in Adventureland and Fantasyland.
Disney Cruise Line
In Villains Tonight, aboard the Disney Magic, Smee is seen during Hook's segment. Later on, Smee and Hook are seen during Jafar and Iago's performance of Wind Beneath My Wings. Smee is lastly seen during the finale song Villains Tonight.
Aboard the Disney Magic cruise ship, Hook and his pirates invade the ship during Mickey’s Pirates In The Caribbean. While Hook makes his entrance on the main deck, Smee breaks into the captain's quarters where he holds the ship's crew captive. After Mickey defeats Hook in a Captains Challenge, the crew members are freed and chase Hook and Smee off the ship.
Smee is also available for meet-and-greets aboard select ships.
Gallery
Trivia
- While appearing in the trailers for Mickey's House of Villains, Smee does not appear in the final film.
- Smee is the polar opposite of his boss; he is actually sweet and kind while Hook is hot-tempered and cruel.
- In the original story of Peter Pan, Smee was depicted with an Irish accent.
- In the original story, Smee was not Hook's first mate but rather the ship's bo'sun. The position of the first mate was held by Starkey.
- Mr. Smee's appearance in the first two Epic Mickey games was later used on the Jake and the Never Land Pirates episode, "Captain Scrooge".
- In the original Novella: Smee named his cutlass 'Johnny Corkscrew' because he wiggled it in the wound.
- In the original Novella: Smee (and another pirate named Starkly) are the only pirates to not be killed by the Lost Boys. Smee retired from piracy; becoming a sea-side merchant.
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