Tex McCormick

Texas "Tex" McCormick is the titular protagonist of the 1982 live-action film, Tex.
==Appearances==
=== Tex ===
One morning before school, Tex rides his horse outside his family’s farmhouse in Bixby, Oklahoma, where his older brother, Mason, fills out an application questionnaire for Indiana University. Although Mason doubts he can achieve his dream of attending the school on a basketball scholarship, Tex assures him that their absent father will soon return with money earned from his five-month rodeo tour. After catching a ride to school with his wealthy friend, Johnny Collins, Tex flirts with Johnny’s impertinent younger sister, Jamie, who teases him for smelling like horses. That afternoon, Mason reveals that he sold their two horses Toyota and Rowdy to pay for bills and groceries. Distraught, Tex demands Mason to bring the animals back but he refuses, justifying his actions by saying the horses would’ve starved along with them, and that he made sure they went to nice homes. Tex then attacks his brother and storms out in search of the animals. Johnny and Jamie ride by on Johnny’s bike and talk to Tex for a little, Johnny even offering to help Tex look but he tells them to leave, which they do. Not long after, Mason drives by and forces him to return home. That night, Tex overhears Mason griping to the eldest Collins boy, Bob, that he may have to sacrifice his chances for a basketball scholarship in order to look after his brother. Around midnight, a family friend named Lem Peters announces the recent birth of his son, and the boys sneak into the Collins’ lavish house to share the news and celebrate with Johnny. Tex creeps down the hallway to wake Jamie, whom is armed with a water gun originally intended for shooting Johnny but continues shooting Tex anyway, laughing about it. Her father hears the noise and enters the room, causing Tex to hide in the closet from her overbearing father, Cole Collins.
Back in Johnny and Bob’s room, Lem and the Collins boys mock Jamie for being a feminist, but Tex warns them to leave her alone. Later that week, Tex and Johnny attend the Oklahoma State Fair in the nearby city of Tulsa, where Jamie convinces Tex to have his fortune read by a psychic. She even offers to pay but Tex declines, saying he can ‘pay for his own damn fortune’ which makes her smile. Although the woman confirms that he will not get his horses back, she urges him to resist the changes that will occur within the next year of his life, saying that some people stay and some will go. Tex returns home intoxicated after a party he attended wirh Johnny and Bob before remembering the fight he witnessed between his parents when he was around 3. Tex discusses it with Mason, talking about how he remembers looking up at a doorknob and wishing he could retrieve their mother who ran away during a rainstorm and fatally contracted pneumonia. The boy awakens early the next morning hungover and groaning while Cole Collins interrogates Mason about why Bob and Johnny came home drunk the night before. Insisting that his sons would never abuse alcohol, Cole blames Tex for their behavior and threatens to report the McCormicks to state welfare officials unless they stay away from his family. Tex tries to stay home from school, claiming he has a ‘24 hour virus’ which Mason says is just a hangover. Mason tells Tex that he has to go to school, especially after what Cole Collins had just said. Tex asks if he can accompany his older brother to school in Indiana, but Mason continues to doubt his chances of attending, despite his relentless dedication to the basketball team. In art class that afternoon, Tex sets fire to his craft project, eliciting a stern warning from the otherwise sympathetic school principal, Mrs. Johnson. Tex talks to Johnny in the hallway but Johnny, who had seemed to have had been scolded by his father made a quip at Tex about his own father, Pop, before walking off. Following two weeks of tense separation between Tex and Johnny, Jamie encourages Tex to confront her brother during a dirt bike race after school. Tex arrives at the track and some kids talk down to Johnny about his bike, saying his bike could never jump over the creek, prompting the boy to attempt it. Tex tries to run after Johnny but has little luck as he has no bike. When Johnny crashes his motorbike, Tex defends him by claiming he ‘hit a bump’ before mounts the vehicle and boldly/successfully jumping over the creek, earning praise for the stunt and instantly rekindling his friendship with Johnny.
One day, Mason asks Tex if he wants to go to Tulsa with him, Tex agrees and asks if they could see a movie to which Mason says ‘maybe’ as he needs to get some tests done at the hospital. Tex is really worried about his brother, concerned that he may have cancer which amuses Mason, telling Tex people go to the hospital for reasons other than cancer. Mason drops Tex off at the Tulsa shopping mall where he runs into Jamie. Back in the car Tex learns that Mason has contracted an ulcer which concerns him again, asking if it’s serious. Mason says it can get serious before the boys drive to visit Lem’s new baby. Mason criticizes their friend for earning extra money peddling drugs which Lem doesn’t appreciate, making a comment about how he has responsibilities while Mason doesn’t, which makes mason gesture to Tex who wasn’t listening to the conversation. On the ride home, Mason allows Tex to drive where he asks Mason about kissing girls and is shocked to discover his brother is a virgin. Suspicious of Tex’s interest, Mason discourages him from beginning a relationship with Jamie because of their class differences, to which Tex simply says that money doesn’t matter. They then pick up a hitchhiker and the ride is fine for a few short moments but the man points a gun to Mason, instructing Tex to drive to the state border. They pass a diner and people wave at Tex and Mason, recognising the car which irritates the fugitive. To attract the attention of a following police car, Tex suddenly swerves off the road, and the officers shoot the criminal dead. Seeing the boys on that evening’s television news report, their father, “Pop” McCormick, telephones to announce his return from the rodeo. He arrives early the next morning and is berated by Mason for his negligence as a parent. As a result, Pop promises to buy back Tex’s horse, but Tex is heartbroken when the new owners refuse to return the animal, which has been domesticated as a show horse for a young girl and renamed ‘Gentleman’. Tex is devastated and angrily tells Mason that he’ll hate him forever, to which the older boy replies that Tex is still only young, implying he has more troubles ahead. Over the next few weeks, Mason becomes dispirited by an injury and the lack of response from Indiana University, unaware that Tex hid the application form out of revenge. After a basketball game, Tex kisses Jamie in his truck and confesses his love for her. Although she returns his feelings, she refuses to have sex with him at such a young age, citing her need to first discover her own identity. He earnestly suggests they get married later in life, she laughs at him, saying they’d get married and only last a year which disheartens the boy. Tex then tells her the fortune teller was right and that she was one of the ones who will go. 
One day, Tex and Johnny are suspended for vandalizing the school typewriters, and Cole scolds Johnny, demanding he end his friendship with Tex but Johnny says no. Mason shows up, not having faith that their father will arrive and Mason defends Tex, citing a time that Johnny had a troublesome idea. Pop then arrived who Cope also scolds but Pop only laughs dismissively at the punishment. However, Mrs. Johnson tells Tex that she recognizes his love of horses and has recommended him for a job as a ranch hand. Thanking her, he leaves her office and overhears Mason reveal that Pop is not Tex’s biological father. Overwhelmed, Tex runs outside and finds Lem, whom he accompanies on a trip to resolve a disputed drug deal. When Tex attempts to leave, the angry buyer points a gun at him, but Tex wrestles the weapon from his hands. Although Tex momentarily intends to kill the man, he quickly calms down and agrees to leave. In the car, however, he reveals to Lem that he was shot in the scuffle, and Lem complains about how he’ll have to take Tex to the hospital, explaining that cops will check his car and find drugs. Tex gets angered by the boy and gets out of the car, using a pay telephone to calls Jamie to tell her he has been shot, but Cole gets on the line and instructs him to hang up. Just as he sits on the side of the road, doing little to help the bleeding, Lem returns and takes him to the hospital. Once Tex awakens from surgery, Pop explains that Tex’s mother once had a tryst with another man while he served jail time for illegally selling alcohol as a bootlegger. Tex momentarily speaks negatively about his mother but Pop defends her, saying she was only 19 and all alone because Pop made a stupid decision. Pop explains that she wanted to get back at him and that the man meant nothing to her, so Pop stayed. Tex feels a bit better now, especially after Jamie and Johnny surprise him at the hospital. Knowing that Mason now plans to defer his college application another year, Tex pulls the crumpled envelope from his jacket pocket and secretly fills out the form while alone in his hospital room. Upon learning of his unexpected admittance, Mason eventually realizes that Tex was responsible and stops by the ranch to thank him. With a smile, Tex encourages Mason to accept the offer and returns to his duties among the horses.
==Trivia==
* Tex's horse was originally named Negrito in the book.
* Tex's fight with Mason for selling their horses was more violent in the book.
* When Tex is being kidnapped by the hitchhiker and swerves off the road to get the officers' attention, in the book, he distracts him by saying "I think he had his lights on".
Category:Students
Category:Siblings
Category:Heroes
Category:Males
Category:Protagonists
Category:Teenagers
Category:Disney characters
Category:Live-action characters