Stinky Pete-The Prospector

Stinky Pete the Prospector is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Al McWhiggin) of Pixar's 3rd full-length animated feature film .
He is a prospector doll who was on the Woody's Roundup TV show, alongside Sheriff Woody, Jessie and Bullseye, and never experienced a child's love, which is what made him bad in the first place. He is also Woody's former friend and also responsible for almost destroying Woody's friendship with Andy Davis and Buzz Lightyear.
He was voiced by , who also played Harold Attinger in Transformers: Age of Extinction, Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons, Rothbart in Barbie of Swan Lake, Dr. Ivan Krank in Teacher's Pet: The Movie and Hunter in Storks. In the video game adaptations, he was voiced by , who later played Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars Rebels.
==Personality==
When he first appeared, Stinky Pete was initially a grandfatherly and mentor-like character, giving support and advice to Jessie, Woody and Bullseye throughout the first half of the film. However, in truth, Stinky Pete merely was a manipulative, traitorous and embittered person. This was caused by the years of emotional pain that he had endured during a lifetime on a dime-store shelf and not being sold to any children due to their preference of space toys after the launch of Sputnik (itself launched in real-life on a modified Russian R-7 ICBM, also simply named Sputnik, not to mention the fact that he was probably seen as less desirable to kids than the toys of more prominent characters like Woody and Jessie as a toy of the show's bumbling comic-relief character).
Along with the shift of interest to space toys, the fact that this resulted in the TV show, Woody's Roundup getting cancelled further contributed to his own hatred of space toys and children. Even while he shrouded his true nature, he secretly plotted to prevent Woody from returning to his owner Andy at any cost, sabotaging his escape by secretly turning on the TV to wake Al up while playing the part of an innocent, incorrupt and impeccable character by claiming that he "didn't know" how the TV turned on and that Woody and Jessie fighting about it would not solve anything.
When Woody finally decided that he would return to Andy and take the other Roundup toys with him, this finally prompted him to snap and reveal his true nature and intentions to the other Roundup toys and Andy's toys. In the process, he sealed the air vent to prevent their escape and allow Al to take the Roundup toys to the toy museum in Japan. The fact that he was willing to spend years of eternity sealed inside a museum away from contact with children also showed that he had developed solitary traits due to spending most of his time within his box. He also believed that rare, unpopular, and collectible toys like him and the other Roundup toys were doomed to either always ending up in storage or remaining unsold to any children similar to his fate before Al found him.
He also turned out to be extremely treacherous, hypocritical, sanctimonious and exploitative, as he was willing to beat up other toys, so that his goal of toys escaping harm from children in the eternal museum life would be fulfilled (which later failed due to Andy's toys rescuing them from Al's airplane taking off), evidenced by him reopening the old rip in Woody's arm and threatening to tear him apart. His own inexperience of being played with by a child, along with hearing Jessie's story of being outgrown by her previous owner Emily lead to him believing that children were only destroyers of toys whose ultimate fate will be spending an eternity rotting in landfills.
Despite his villainous and spiteful nature, Stinky Pete appeared to have redeemable traits as he stated in his online interview after the film that he liked his new owner Amy and her face paint decorations, even though he initially feared it after Andy's toys placed him in Amy's backpack. This can demonstrate that Stinky Pete was a villain who was wronged by rejection and ingratitude, and that he most likely would have been so hospitable in the first place if he had been owned by a child to start off with. However, as this online interview was most likely made by people who weren't involved in the film, it's up to speculate whether this information is canonical or not.
That said, despite Stinky Pete's evil demeanor, he cares deeply about his co-stars and only wants what's best for them. He also can be quite insightful as when he briefly gave Woody a chance to go, he correctly pointed out that Andy will outgrow and lose interest of Woody, pointing out that it would be unlikely for Andy to take Woody to college or on his honeymoon and that Woody can't stop on it, something which Woody agreed on, though as it turned out years later, Andy would have kept Woody even at his college had he decided not to give him away, but later changed his mind by giving him to a little girl named Bonnie.
On Woody's Roundup, Stinky Pete was a regular recurring protagonist. Though depicted mostly as an accident-prone, unpropitious, stereotypical, unsophisticated and simple-minded hillbilly and comic relief, Stinky Pete was established on the show as an overall agreeable, complaisant and good-natured friend and ally of Woody, Bullseye and Jessie.
==Biography==
===Past===
Stinky Pete spent a lifetime on a dime-store shelf, watching every other toy be sold to their new owners. Because of the fact that he was never sold to a kid, he grew to be very bitter, selfish, and angry in nature. Stinky Pete was soon sold to Al McWhiggin, but he never took him out of his box, which made him even more insane and angry. Since Al was grown up, he decided to sell Stinky Pete to a toy museum in Tokyo, Japan.
Stinky Pete found this to be good news, thinking that if kids did not want him, they could not have him. However, Al learned that the museum wanted the whole Woody's Roundup gang and went to collect them all, so Stinky Pete would have to wait. Al eventually found Jessie the cowgirl and Bullseye the horse and Stinky Pete became their friend while they waited for Al to find Woody.
===Present===
====Greeting Woody====
Stinky Pete is first seen when Woody, finally arrives at Al's apartment. He first appears as a good friend to Woody, becoming happy and pleased that he has returned. He welcomes Woody, tells him who he really is, and even shows him the television show called Woody's Roundup, which lasted a few seasons and eventually being cancelled as he tells Woody that children began playing with space toys after the show abruptly ended, due to the arrival of Sputnik with Woody replying of how he knows how that feels (referencing his jealousy towards Buzz in the first film).
====A Hidden Agenda====
When Stinky Pete reveals that Al plans to sell him, Woody, Jessie and Bullseye to the Konshi Toy Museum in Tokyo, Japan, Woody reveals that he is still owned by a 7-year-old boy named Andy Davis and that Al actually stole him from a yard sale while Woody was trying to save a broken squeaky toy penguin named Wheezy from getting sold. Despite learning this, Stinky Pete secretly thinks of a way to stop Woody from going back to Andy. When Al unintentionally rips off Woody's right arm completely (similar to Buzz losing his left arm from the first film), Woody starts to panic, but Stinky Pete calms him down by saying that Al will get his arm fixed as soon as possible.
However, Woody cannot wait and attempts to retrieve his arm while Al is sleeping in his couch. Stinky Pete secretly leaves his box by using his pick and turning on the TV, causing Al to wake up. He also frames Jessie by putting the TV remote near her before getting back in his box. Once Woody is back in his case, he then accuses Jessie of messing up his escape, causing her to attack him (similar to how Woody and Buzz fought at the Gas Station from the first film) until Stinky Pete tells them to stop. Stinky Pete then tells Woody he should just wait until morning as Al has called in a cleaner to fix Woody's arm.
====Convincing Woody To Stay====
The next day, after Woody's arm is repaired (similar to Buzz having his left arm reattached by the Mutant Toys from the first film), Stinky Pete convinces Woody to make amends with Jessie before he leaves. After Woody listens to Jessie's story about when she was abandoned by her owner Emily (similar to Buzz finally discovering that Woody was right as he is just a toy from the previous film), Stinky Pete tells him that Andy would do the same to him one day and Woody agrees to stay.
====Stinky Pete's True Colors====
However, Woody's friends Buzz Lightyear, Rex, Hamm, Slinky Dog, and Mr. Potato Head soon arrive at the penthouse (along with another Buzz Lightyear action figure) to rescue Woody (as Al stole Woody) and convince Woody to go back with them with Buzz using Woody's words from the first film at Woody. At first, Woody refuses but after hearing himself sing "You've Got a Friend In Me" on the TV, Woody decides he will go home and runs to the vent (similar to Buzz choosing to escape Sid's house with Woody after finally learning the truth of being a toy from the first film).
When a panicking and devastated Stinky Pete asks Woody where he's going, he tells him that he's right he can't stop Andy from growing up, but he wouldn't miss it for the world, shocking Stinky Pete. He then persuades Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete to come with him. Unfortunately, this is where Stinky Pete reveals his true colors. He had somehow managed to escape out of his box, and he seals the vents shut, preventing Woody's escape. Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye then learn that Stinky Pete ruined Woody's escape last night and framed Jessie for turning on the TV because Stinky Pete turned the TV back off.
Jessie is outraged by Stinky Pete's betrayal. However, Stinky Pete declares he was never sold to a child and that is why he will go to Japan by any means possible. When Woody calls out to Buzz, Stinky Pete tells Woody that he is too late and calls Buzz's surname Lightweight, causing Woody to yell at him, saying that Buzz's surname is Lightyear, and Stinky Pete tells Woody he always hated those space toys before going back into his box. While the toys try to rescue Woody, Stinky Pete keeps shoving him back into Al's luggage and foiling the toys' rescue plans.
====Your Flight Is Cancelled, Prospector!====
Sooner or later, the toys arrive at the airport to save Woody. They seem to find Al's luggage, but it turns out to be a different one with cameras inside. Buzz goes to find the other luggage, which he does. However, when he opens it to get Woody, Stinky Pete pops out and punches Buzz off the ramp. This makes Woody finally snap that he fights Stinky Pete for harming Buzz, only for Stinky Pete to kick Woody off of him and reopen his old rip in his right arm. He gives Woody a choice: he can go to Japan either together or in pieces, assuring that Al will have him fixed again like before. He orders Woody to get back in the box, but Woody angrily refuses. This left the infuriated Prospector to feel as if he had no choice but to rip Woody apart.
However, Buzz (who survived the fall) and the other toys suddenly show up again and save Woody by flashing the cameras in Stinky Pete's eyes, temporarily blinding him. This gives Buzz a chance to capture Stinky Pete by the collar of his shirt. Stinky Pete rants that the toys are idiots for wanting to go with Andy, saying that children destroy toys and they'll soon be taken away to rot in a landfill.
Deciding that Stinky Pete should learn the true meaning of "playtime", Woody orders his friends to dump Stinky Pete into a Barbie backpack that belongs to a girl named Amy as punishment for his betrayal, much to Stinky Pete's shock and horror. When Amy sees Stinky Pete (calling him a "big, ugly man-doll") in her backpack, she happily decides to take him home with her, declaring that he needs a makeover. Stinky Pete encounters a Barbie doll in the backpack, who assures him that he'll like Amy because she's an artist. She then turns her face, revealing the side of her face painted with tattoos, which frightens Stinky Pete.
Stinky Pete is last seen in the Barbie backpack crying. As Stinky Pete cries while being taken to his new owner's home, Woody happily bids farewell to Stinky Pete by saying, "Happy trails, Prospector!", knowing that Stinky Pete will finally get the love of a child that he was denied so many years ago.
==Other Media==
====Toy Story Mania!/Toy Story Midway Mania!====
Stinky Pete also makes an appearance at the end of the final game on the ride exclaiming "Wow-wee! Look at all that gold!".
==Trivia==
*Stinky Pete is mentioned in one of the phrases of the 2013-current Disney Store Exclusive Woody doll.
*Stinky Pete is one of the three real toy villains in the Toy Story movies, though there was an element of sympathy given the fact that he has been confined to a box since the 1950s when Woody's Roundup was made.
*Stinky Pete is essentially foil to the main heroic characters in Toy Story 2:
**Woody: Woody only wanted to go back to Andy while Pete didn't want to get adopted by a child as he still hates children. If Woody choose to stay in the museum along with the Roundup Gang instead of going back to Andy, then he would've ended up like Stinky Pete.
**Jessie: Jessie, like Woody, only wanted to be played with while Pete only wanted love and adoration. Stinky Pete also represents what Jessie would have became if she didn't want to be played with.
**Bullseye: While Bullseye is a loyal animal, Pete is a traitorous toy. Additionally, while Bullseye had a strong moral, Pete is bitter and angry.
**Buzz Lightyear: Both Buzz and Pete convince Woody to move on with their life. However, while Buzz convinces Woody to go back to Andy as it was the only right thing to do, Pete convinces Woody to go to the museum with the Roundup Gang for his own desire. If Buzz left Woody to be sold to the museum instead of saving him, then Woody would never have returned to Andy, which what could've happen if Pete won in case.
*In the movie credits, Stinky Pete is credited as "Prospector".
*Stinky Pete didn't appear in Toy Story 3, but he coincidentally predicted some of the film's events:
**Pete's talk with Woody about what would happen to him and the gang when Andy grew up became a big plot point in Toy Story 3.
**In one Toy Story 2 outtake, he was talking to two Barbie dolls in his box, promising them a role in Toy Story 3, which one of them did with a Ken doll.
**Also, his prediction of Andy being unlikely to take Woody to college with him as a teenager came true in Toy Story 3, though at first, Andy considered taking Woody along while putting all of his other toys in his attic, therefore almost defying the Prospector's expectations. However, at the end, Andy gave Woody, Jessie and the gang to a little girl named Bonnie Anderson.
**He even predicted the climax of Toy Story 3, where the toys would end up at a landfill.
*Stinky Pete shares similarities with Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear from Toy Story 3, as they both seemed to be kind and caring at first, but were later revealed to be evil villains. They both also became evil because they felt unloved or rejected. However, Stinky Pete is shown to be far less malicious than Lotso, as he had a genuine relationship with Jessie and Bullseye while they were locked away in storage, and he also feels insecurities due to the fact that he has been stored away in storage for over 50 years, which makes his background story sympathetic, while Lotso is a cruel, heartless, and unsympathetic tyrant who cares about absolutely nobody but himself.
*The suitcase that Al put Stinky Pete in has the word "KRUMM" on it. This was also on the truck that Lotso ends up on in Toy Story 3.
*In another Toy Story 2 outtake, while giving Woody a choice to go back or stay, the Prospector accidentally farted, which he guesses is why he is called "Stinky Pete". Then again, it is also implied that he sometimes ate beans on Woody's Roundup.
*Although he is now Woody’s nemesis, Woody did agree with him on the fact that he can't stop Andy from growing up, but saying that he wouldn't miss it for the world.
*While Stinky Pete nearly convinced Woody about staying with him and the Roundup Gang in the Japan toy museum because they would be loved and adored, it would have been really worse for them. Given that museums have security cameras to avoid any kind of theft, this means that the Roundup Gang would have been forced to never move ever again. Of course, given his hatred towards children, Stinky Pete would have easily gone through with this but not his friends, serving this as an example of his extreme selfishness.
*According to his box, he had only a total of nine sayings, such as "There's gold in them hills!", "Help! I think I'm stuck!", "Aw, shucks-a-roo!", and "Oh, boy! Beans for dinner!".
*There is an Epcot and a Lego versions of Stinky Pete.
*Unlike in the film, Stinky Pete had henchmen (Gunslinger and Blacksmith) in the videogame version on Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and PC.
*Stinky Pete is the first main antagonist in a Pixar film who was not revealed to be evil at first.
==External Links==
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