Welcome back as we continue to shine the Toon Talk spotlight on the best ‘Scene-stealers, Sidekicks and Supporting Characters’ in Disney Animated Features …

(If you missed part 1, click here)

#25 - JOSE CARIOCA
Saludos Amigos - 1943

The only character to come close to upstaging one Donald Duck, the dashing Brazilian parrot Jose (or Joe) Carioca also appeared in The Three Caballeros and Melody Time. But it is here in his first film that, without the obnoxious distractions of Panchito and the Aracuan Bird, that our amigo Senor Carioca (voiced by Jose Oliveira) really shines.

For sure, Mulan did not lack in sidekicks. And while Mushu got all the good lines, and Cri-Kee and Little Brother had the cute and cuddly thing going for them, it was Yao, Ling and Chien Po (collectively know as ‘The Trio’ and voiced by, respectively, Harvey Fierstein, Gedde Watanabe and Jerry Tondo) that ultimately steal the show with their outrageous geisha drag reprise of “I’ll Make a Man Out of You�?.

Let’s give this guy a break: first, that ‘new prince of the forest’ gives him a girlie name, and that ham Thumper is always grabbing all the attention. Then he gets ‘twitterpaited’ and disappears for most of the movie. And, oh yeah, there’s that whole ‘stinky skunk stigma’ … Alas, even skunks need some lovin’ too. (Even with his brief screen time, Flower was voiced by no less then three actors: Stan Alexander, Tim Davis and Sterling Holloway.)

These three ‘secret henchmen’ (voiced by Paul Reubens, Catherine O’Hara and Danny Elfman, respectively) of the dreaded Oogie Boogie find devilish delight when they are dispatched, in their walking bathtub, to “kidnap the Sandy Claws�?. You wouldn’t want this trio of trick or treaters showing up on your doorstep on All Hallows Eve …

In a cast toy-boxful of characters, it took a little retro throwback to the original movie to liven up the final third of this exquisite sequel. ‘Our’ Buzz may see his deluded doppelganger as an annoyance, but the ‘other’ Buzz (also voiced by Tim Allen in a duel role) provides an imaginative plot twist … and a great Star Wars joke.