Friar Tuck is the tritagonist in Disney's 1973 animated feature film Robin Hood.
Background[]
Personality[]
Friar Tuck is a kind-hearted priest and a good friend of Robin Hood and Little John. He is very kind and gives money (from Robin Hood) to the villagers of Nottingham and wishes nothing but the best for the people. He is also very brave and will fight for what he thinks is right. Though a man of peace, Friar Tuck has his limits to how much he can stand, such as when he attacked the sheriff for taking the money intended for the poor from his church's collection, resulting in his arrest for "treason". He also may be a father figure to Robin Hood since he calls him "son" in one scene. Friar Tuck has a heart of gold.
Physical appearance[]
Friar Tuck is an obese and corpulent salmon anthropomorphic badger with a half bald head with white hair and sideburns, thick white eyebrows, brief black hair around his bald spot, a lavender marking that covers his upper face (around his head), a fore nose that leads to his black nose, and wears a sienna hooded monk-style robe with brown innards, an ochre long-sleeved inside shirt with a lavender patch on his right elbow, and black sandals.
Appearances[]
Robin Hood[]
Friar Tuck is one of Robin Hood's merry men. He is first shown delivering gold to Otto, an injured blacksmith, courtesy of Robin Hood. He appears to have a bit of a temper, as Friar Tuck later attempts to lecture the Sheriff of Nottingham for stealing the gold as tax money.
Friar Tuck later travels to Robin Hood's hideout to inform Robin Hood of Prince John's archery tournament. Although Robin Hood tells Little John that they aren't invited, Friar Tuck tells the former that there's someone who'll be disappointed if he doesn't come: not "Ol' Bushel Britches", as Little John guesses, but rather, Maid Marian, whom Friar Tuck says is going to give a kiss to the winner. Friar Tuck is shown to attend the tournament, teaming up with Alan-A-Dale to trap Prince John's snake henchman Sir Hiss in a barrel of ale, to prevent the snake from causing trouble. When the townspeople gather after the tournament and mock Prince John, Friar Tuck participates by creating a puppet of Prince John and makes fun of the Prince in a play.
Friar Tuck is next shown at his church after Prince John imprisons the majority of the townspeople for non-payment of taxes in retaliation for the town making fun of him. Even though no one is coming, he believes ringing the church bell will help keep the hopes of the townspeople alive. Two church mice named Sexton and Little Sister, who assist Tuck agree and give their last farthing to the poor box. However, the Sheriff of Nottingham soon arrives and steals the farthing in the name of Prince John. Friar Tuck is exasperated at the crown interfering in church affairs and protests that the money was earmarked for the poor box. When the Sheriff smugly responds he is stealing the money for "poor Prince John", Tuck is furious and starts denouncing Prince John. The Sheriff warns Friar Tuck to stop unless he wants to have his neck in a hangman's noose. These words are the final straw for Friar Tuck before forcing the Sheriff out of the church and attacking him with a quarterstaff. However, Trigger, one of the sheriff's vulture henchmen, blinds Friar Tuck by pulling the hood of his robe over his head before being swatted away by the now flailing blindly friar, and the Sheriff arrests Tuck for "high treason to the Crown". Sir Hiss reports this to Prince John, who initially snaps in fury and bellows that he wanted to hear Robin Hood had been arrested, but then realizes that Robin Hood will come and try to rescue him, and so he sentences Friar Tuck to hanging as a trap to lure Robin Hood. Even Sir Hiss is shocked that Prince John will have 'a man of the church' hanged, and it also shocks Robin Hood so much that when he is gathering intelligence in his disguise as the blind beggar, he momentarily breaks character by saying "Hang Friar Tuck??". The Sheriff fails to see this slip in acting, while Nutsy arrogantly remarks to the beggar that "there might even be a double hanging", hinting the true purpose is to lure Robin Hood out into the open, before being silenced by Trigger.
Little John and Robin Hood come to break Friar Tuck out of jail. Alongside Little John, Friar Tuck helps release the townspeople and distributes the taxes that Robin Hood reclaims from the Prince. Friar Tuck helps the townspeople into a cart that will take everyone into Sherwood Forest, pushing it from behind while Little John pulls from the front.
Friar Tuck's last appearance is at the royal wedding of King Robin Hood and Queen Marian, which he presumably officiated. He laughs at King Richard's joke that Robin Hood, a former outlaw, is now his in-law.
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland[]
A human Friar Tuck is portrayed by Dylan Thomas Collingwood on the show and was one of the Merry Men of Robin Hood. With this last, Little John and Will Scarlett, he steals the gold in Maleficent's castle for to help the poor.
Once Upon a Studio[]
After Goofy accidentally destroys the camera intended for a group photo, a disappointed Friar Tuck is seen retuning inside until Alan-A-Dale starts a singalong to "When You Wish Upon a Star". Friar Tuck joins in and can be seen standing beside the Sheriff of Nottingham, Prince John, Little John, Lady Kluck, Robin Hood, and Maid Marian in the final shot.
Disney Parks[]
Friar Tuck has appeared as a walkaround character at many of the parks over the years alongside Robin Hood, Little John and Prince John.
At the Magic Kingdom, Friar Tuck is the namesake of The Friar's Nook fry stand in Fantasyland.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The characterization of Friar Tuck and Robin in the film and many other adaptations is considerably unfaithful to the original Robin Hood ballads and folk-tales. In these stories, Robin Hood held contempt for the clergy and the church due to their taxing and exploitation of the poor and religiously-motivated tortures and executions. When Robin Hood tales became more widespread, the church actively revised and altered the stories for propaganda purposes, introducing more heavily Christian themes and the character of Friar Tuck.
- Friar Tuck was originally envisioned as a pig, but he was instead changed to a badger.
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