Beagle Boys
|
A Beagle family photo, as seen in DuckTales. |
The
Beagle Boys are a group of
fictional characters from the
Scrooge McDuck universe loosely based on the popular image of
Ma Barker and the
Barker-Karpis Gang. They are a gang of criminals who constantly try to rob
Scrooge McDuck and were created by
Carl Barks. Their introduction and first appearance was in
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories Issue number 134.
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. 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.
On
DuckTales, the Beagle Boys were given
names and different personalities. The usual character combination is Bigtime, Burger, and Bouncer, and sometimes Baggy or Babyface, Bebop, and Bankjob. Other known names are Bomber and Blitzkrieg. Their leader is usually Bigtime, Bankjob, or their mother,
Ma Beagle. In other words, the letter
B is the first initial of all Beagle Boys' handles.
The Beagle Boys have lots of relatives who count each other as brothers and cousins: apart from Ma Beagle there are the
Beagle Brats (sons or nephews), the
Beagle Babes (older generation which happens to be a trio of female cousins and a younger generation which happens to be their daughters or nieces) and their grandfather
Blackheart Beagle.
According to
Don Rosa's
Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Scrooge first met The Beagle Boys in his
Mississippi riverboat days. Those Beagle Boys included Blackheart Beagle and his three sons. Scrooge first met the modern Beagle Boys during Christmas 1947, which was when he first met his grandnephews
Huey, Dewey and Louie and met his nephew Donald for the second time. 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,
Black Pete,
Mad Madam Mim, or hire out their services to
Flintheart Glomgold,
Ollie Eiderduck or
John Rockerduck.
Sometimes, they antagonize
Super Goof,
Mickey Mouse, or some other characters from
Walt Disney's
comic books.
Although the characters are obviously based on
dogs, they in no way resemble the actual
Beagle breed.
The Italian ska band
Banda Bassotti takes its name from the Italian name of the band.
There were many Beagle Boys on
DuckTales, but the most common seven consisted of:
| Name | Placard Number | Characteristics |
| Bigtime Beagle | 167-671 | Bigtime is the usual leader of the group, and is distinguished by being rather short for someone with the word "Big" in his name. He often has to correct his companions whenever they get something wrong and mishear his directions. Voiced by Frank Welker. |
| Burger Beagle | 761-176 or 176-761 | As his name suggests, Burger has a large appetite, although it is for more than just hamburgers. He has a habit of rambling about food no matter if any of the others are actually talking about it. 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. catsup on ice cream or peanut butter pizza with gravy). Voiced by Chuck McCann. |
| Bouncer Beagle | 716-167 | Distinguishable for his teeth, one of which is missing. The strongest Beagle after Bankjob. Voiced by Chuck McCann. |
| Baggy Beagle | 617-716 | Baggy is distinguishable for his silly grin as well as his loose-fitting clothing. He's probably the least intelligent of the Beagle Boys as well. Voiced by Frank Welker. |
| Babyface Beagle | 176-167 | As his name suggests, Babyface seems to be the youngest of the primary Beagles, as evidenced by the fact that his own clothing matches those of a baby, including a propellor beanie in place of the usual hat. Like Bigtime, he's also rather short. He is also the only Beagle who hasn't a beard. In spite of this, his voice, provided by Terry McGovern (who also voices Launchpad), sounds more manly than that of Burger. Strangely, one particular comic story in Disney Adventures prominently featured Babyface, wherein he infiltrated Webby's class. But he looked different from how he did on the show, and he also had a conscience, as he ended up rebelling against his brothers during a field trip to Scrooge's Money Bin. (He still ended up being arrested along with his brothers, though.) |
| Bugle/Bebop Beagle | 671-761 | Bebop, occasionally referred to as Bugle, is the poetic member of the Beagle Boys (despite the fact that the comic Beagle with this character trait corresponds by placard to Babyface), and even dresses in a jazz-styled outfit. Voiced by Brian Cummings. |
| Bankjob Beagle | 671-167 | Bankjob usually leads the group in episodes where Bigtime isn't present. He is the largest of the seven main Beagles (by comparison, he is about the same size as Launchpad), and the strongest, complete with a Jay Leno-esque chin. Voiced by Peter Cullen. |
|
Other Beagle Boys consisted of:
*
Megabyte Beagle is the mechanical genius of the clan, and the only one whose name doesn't begin with the letter "B". He appeared in the five-part serial
Super DuckTales, in which he made a remote control with which to take control of
GizmoDuck. He has a habit of confusing his companions with his technobabble, forcing them to make him "say it in Beagle talk!" Surprisingly, he didn't seem to have a comeuppance. His voice was done by Frank Welker.
*
Bomber Beagle looks a lot like Bankjob in that he has a similar jawline and it very large. He appears in less episodes and is more intelligent than most of the other brothers.
* Bullseye
* Bulkhead
* Butterball
In the "Robot Robbers" episode of Ducktales the Beagle Boy trio was led by Ma Beagle and consisted of Bankjob, Babyface and Burger. However, while he is referred to as Burger in the closed captioning and three times in the episode itself, he actually spoke with the voice of Bouncer. While bearing many of the characteristics of Burger, e.g., he was chubby, he had the two protruding teeth and even tried to eat a giant hamburger with his robot, he was missing the bite marks from the name placard. Both Bouncer and Burger are voiced by Chuck Mcann. It is unknown why the character was voiced incorrectly.
Additionally, for one or two lines on the Ducktales episode "The Status Seekers," Bouncer spoke with Burger's voice. The cause of this is also unknown.
