Pistol Pete is one of the main characters from the animated series Goof Troop.
Background[]
Pistol is the youngest child and only daughter of Pete and Peg and the younger sister of P.J. She is extremely energetic and hyperactive. Pete is also shown to have a very soft spot for her, as he spoils her and pays her absurd amounts of money for no reason. At the beginning of the series, she is 4 1/2 and in preschool, but turns six at the end of the series.
Physical Appearance[]
Pistol is a pale salmon colored cat with long gold drop colored hair in pigtails with supernova hairbows, a black cat nose and wears a grey goose colored long-sleeved blouse with a light orchid collar, sash and cuffs, supernova knee-length skirt, light orchid socks, and grey goose colored Velcro shoes. Pistol's name is generally considered to be a play on one of Pete's aliases in some classic cartoon shorts.
Appearances[]
Goof Troop[]
Pistol is generally a supporting character. She is often seen getting into messes, often having to be bailed out by Max and P.J., or even Pete. She often annoys P.J. into playing with her; however, the two are seen to work together sometimes.
Printed media[]
Goof Troop: Junior Graphic Novel[]
Pistol appears in the two stories featured in the 1993 Goof Troop: Junior Graphic Novel, adapted from the first two Goof Troop comic strips ever published in Disney Adventures (see below), "The Power of Positive Goofing" and "Pavlov's Goof". In the first story, she is seen with the rest of her family having a barbecue lunch at the local Fitness Fun Day event, where she informs Goofy and Max about the Tilting Tile Floor. When the Goofs impress everyone at the event by dancing on the Tilting Tile Floor, Pistol and the rest of her family soon join in on the fun.
In the second story, Pistol receives a new toy—the Hypno-Blaster Instant Slave Gun—which she had ordered from an ad in a comic book. She uses it to try hypnotizing P.J. and Max into being her slaves, but the boys only pretend to be hypnotized so as to fool Pistol. When the boys reveal that they were just kidding around, Pistol is upset but changes her tune when they offer her some ice cream. Later, Pistol, P.J., and Max go shopping with Peg while Pete and Goofy stay home to do yard work.
When they return home, however, Pistol and the others find their house and backyard wrecked; Pete had used the Hypno-Blaster on Goofy to successfully hypnotize him into doing all of Pete's chores, but the mesmerized Goofy kept misinterpreting Pete's commands so badly that he destroyed the whole of Pete's backyard and living room. Amazed that her Hypno-Blaster actually worked on someone, Pistol uses it to de-hypnotize Goofy. She then whispers a suitable punishment for her father into her mother's ear, which delights Peg so much that she uses the toy on Pete to make him clean up all of the messes that he forced Goofy to make.
Disney Adventures[]
From 1992 to 1997, Disney Adventures magazine published a total of thirty comic strips based upon the Goof Troop animated television series. Of these thirty, Pistol appeared in only seven comics. Like in the TV series, Pistol played a mostly supporting role, being full of energy and getting into mischief.
In these comic stories, Pistol attends Fitness Fun Day with her family ("The Power of Positive Goofing"), tries and fails to hypnotize P.J. and Max ("Pavlov's Goof"), witnesses a pig dancing in Max's backyard ("Hamming It Up!"), tells Waffles and Chainsaw a story that she made up about the two getting into all kinds of perilous danger ("The Adventures of Waffles and Chainsaw"), visits a wishing well at the park with her mother ("One Day at the Park"), begs her father not to get rid of Chainsaw after she and the rest of her family were the victims of a burglary ("Good Dog Card"), and runs amok throughout a local toy store as P.J. tries to shop for a birthday present for Max ("Toy Tussle").
The Disney Afternoon[]
Pistol also appeared in only one of the five Goof Troop comic strips published in The Disney Afternoon. In "Woolly Bully", Pistol, P.J., and Max are taken out west to the Woolly Bully Dude Ranch by Pete and Goofy. While Goofy is put in charge of watching Pistol for a moment, Pistol spots the ranch's main attraction, El Loco the bull. She heads over wanting to ride him, but Goofy stops her and accidentally sets El Loco free of his pen. As El Loco runs wild, Pistol becomes jealous when she see Max and P.J. accidentally rope the bull and get sent flying into the air. Once El Loco is returned to his pen, Pistol begs her father to let her ride the bull, but Pete instead decides to try riding the bull himself. After Pete is hurled out of the pen, Pistol enters and realizes that the bell worn around El Loco's neck is on too tight. Once she loosens it a bit, El Loco becomes friendly and allows Pistol to ride him successfully, much to the surprise of everyone.
Le Journal de Mickey[]
Of the nine La Bande à Dingo[1] comic strips published in Le Journal de Mickey from 1993 to 1995, Pistol only appeared in the first three. In "À Vos Souhaits!",[2] Goofy finds an old magician's hat and wand buried in the ground of his yard, and which turn out to be actually magical. When Pete finds out, he secretly takes the magic hat and wand for himself and swaps them with ordinary ones. Unaware of the swap, Max and P.J. try to perform a magic show for Pistol, but become frustrated when none of their tricks work. Pistol laughs at the whole deal and goes inside to find her father performing real magic for himself, summoning soda cans and peanut bags from the hat. When Pistol warns her dad about how her mom won't like the mess he's making, Pete laughs at the idea, stating that Peg won't see the mess since she is currently at the gym. But when Pete says Peg's name, he inadvertently taps the magic wand on the hat and magically summons Peg home through the hat, much to Pete's horror and Pistol's delight.
In "C'est Gonflé",[3] Pistol makes only a cameo appearance as she returns home from running errands at the mall with her mother. As she and Peg walk into the house with a bag of groceries, the two are stunned to find the living room overflowing with cake batter after Pete had ignored Peg's earlier instructions by putting far too much of the super concentrated yeast into the batter. As such, Pete, Goofy, Max, and P.J. were all drowning in the mass of batter as Pistol and Peg walked in. To stop the batter, Peg takes a small needle and pops the batter, preventing it from spreading any further.
In "Dr Jekyll et Mr Pat",[4] she again makes only a cameo appearance as, like in the previous story, she returns home from running errands with Peg and P.J. When Peg pulls up to the house, Pistol offers to help carry the groceries. Peg appreciates the offer but politely declines, opting to carry the bag herself and stating that her father will be the one to help her once they get inside.
La Bande à Dingo: Le Visiteur De L'Extra-Temps[]
In this 44-page French-original graphic novel (whose title translates to "The Visitor From Another Time") published in May 1993 by Dargaud as #10 in the Disney Club collection, Pistol plays only a small role in the story. She is first seen watching a dinosaur movie on TV with Peg and yells at her dad to to be quiet when he comes in and loudly starts talking over the movie. At that moment, an earthquake suddenly hits Spoonerville. When night falls, Pistol, Peg, and Pete watch a news report that explains that the quake had been caused by a landslide that occurred at a local quarry in the Bellevue area of town.
Later the next day, after Max and P.J. dash out of Pete's garage with what looks like a baby dinosaur, Peg and Pistol come outside to see what all the commotion is about, as a U.S. Army contingent had also just arrived at their house. Pistol and the others are all shocked when Goofy points out that Max just went by skateboarding with a baby dinosaur. As Pete takes off after the boys in his new car and the Army follows in pursuit, Pistol, Peg, and Goofy take off to follow in Pete's RV. As everyone gives chase, Pistol gleefully bounces around in the back of the RV as Peg yells at her to put on her seat belt.
Pistol is not seen again until the very end of the story, after the whole ordeal with the baby dinosaur is resolved. A week later, Pistol, Pete, and Peg watch a game show contest that Pete had previously attempted to enter. When Pete sees the winner submit the very same object that he had unknowingly had in his possession a week earlier, he is outraged and both Pistol and Peg beg him to calm down before Pistol then spots a dinosaur-shaped shadow in the window, which is actually just Goofy making shadow puppets for Max and P.J.
Darkwing Duck (Boom! Studios)[]
In July of 2011, Pistol, P.J., and Max all made a cameo appearance in the pages of Darkwing Duck issue #14 "Cat-Tastrophe" published by Boom! Studios as part of the story arc Campaign Carnage. In this story, Pistol, P.J., and Max are all seen in the background as fellow classmates of Gosalyn Mallard at her prep school in St. Canard. The three are shown in a flashback describing the backstory of Cat-Tankerous, Darkwing Duck's latest new adversary. However, when this story was later reprinted by Joe Books as part of Darkwing Duck: The Definitively Dangerous Edition in 2015, Cat-Tankerous's backstory was rewritten and the cameo appearance of Pistol, P.J., and Max was omitted and replaced by completely new story content, making their cameo appearance in this comic no longer canon.
Disney Parks[]
Pistol appears in two framed photos at Goofy's Playhouse. In one, she is part of a family photo with Pete, PJ and Peg on a picnic. In the other, she is posing with Max and PJ while trick-or-treating. She is dressed as a cowgirl, while PJ is an astronaut and Max is dressed as Powerline.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Despite being prominent characters in Goof Troop, neither Pistol nor Peg appear in either A Goofy Movie or An Extremely Goofy Movie. In 2020, A Goofy Movie director Kevin Lima revealed on Twitter that Pistol and Peg may indeed have originally been included in an early draft of the film, but were cut as the story began to focus more on how well Goofy and Max contrasted with Pete and P.J., to the point that everyone else (including Pistol and Peg) became a distraction from the dynamic of the two father-son pairs.[5] Lima further explained that "AGM is a father son story. Pete and PJ’s father/son trip (having to always one up Goofy) is a nightmare mirror of Goofy and Max’s emotional journey. Peg and Pistol muddied that intention."[6] This decision to focus on Max and Goofy (as well as Peg and Pistol's absence from A Goofy Movie in the first place) is most likely why the two were also not in An Extremely Goofy Movie.
- Still, since this explanation didn't come until twenty-five years later, the lack of any official word on the matter led fans to speculate about their absence over the years. Common fan theories have supposed that Peg and Pete may have divorced in the time set between Goof Troop and A Goofy Movie, with Peg taking custody of Pistol. The first scene of An Extremely Goofy Movie is often cited in support of this theory since Pete claims that P.J.'s leaving for college marks the end of his life of "babysitting" and the start of his new life as "a free man." If Pistol were still around, then this claim of Pete's makes little sense. However, this claim already makes little sense regardless of Pistol's presence (see here for more), while the divorce theory itself actually goes against the very heart of Pete and Peg's marriage as seen in episodes like "Gymnauseum" and "Peg o' the Jungle".
- When asked directly if Pete and Peg had divorced in A Goofy Movie, Kevin Lima gave the straightforward answer of "I honestly have no idea."[7] When asked again at a later date, he answered with "They didn't."[8] and "Because we were concentrating down on a father/son story, we left what Peg and Pistol were up to up to your imagination."[9]
- On July 27, 2021, the 1996 French graphic novel adaptation of A Goofy Movie was fully adapted into English by Fantagraphics. This new English adaptation added in some deliberate continuity references to Goof Troop not found in either the original French version or in the movie itself. Specifically, in one of the newly-added references, Goofy actually mentions both Pistol and Peg by name during the photo studio scene between him and Pete, referring to them both as if they were still living with Pete and P.J. during the movie's time.
- Her name is a play on one of Pete's names in the original Mickey Mouse cartoons, "Pistol Pete."
- Pistol's surname being "Pete" was never actually attributed directly to her in any episode of Goof Troop or its related media. Only her mother was ever referred to as "Mrs. Pete" in the episode "Terminal Pete", and her brother referred to as "P.J. Pete" in the April 1995 Goof Troop comic strip "Dog Days", published in the sixth issue of The Disney Afternoon comic book series. Logically, their surname being "Pete" would likewise apply for Pistol.
- In the above-described French comic strip "À Vos Souhaits!",[2] Pistol is incorrectly referred to as "Peg" three times by Max and P.J., despite both the real Peg also appearing in the story and Pistol's real name being used correctly two other times in the same story.
References[]
- ↑ The French title of Goof Troop, meaning, "The Dingo Band"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The French phrase meaning "Gesundheit!" or "Bless you!" for when one sneezes, but in this case would more appropriately equate to "As You Wish!"
- ↑ Meaning "It's Bloated"
- ↑ Meaning "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Pete", with "Pat" being Pete's French name
- ↑ Kevin Lima on Twitter, posted Apr 12, 2020: They may have been in a first draft, but as we honed the film, Goofy and Max contrasted well with Pete and PJ and everyone else became a distraction.
- ↑ Kevin Lima on Twitter, posted Sep 30, 2020: I can’t speak to AEGM, but here’s my reasoning... AGM is a father son story. Pete and PJ’s father/son trip (having to always one up Goofy) is a nightmare mirror of Goofy and Max’s emotional journey. Peg and Pistol muddied that intention.
- ↑ Kevin Lima on Twitter, posted Nov 13, 2020: I honestly have no idea.
- ↑ Kevin Lima on Twitter, posted Mar 21, 2021: They didn’t.
- ↑ Kevin Lima on Twitter, posted Mar 21, 2021: There isn’t. Because we were concentrating down on a father/son story, we left what Peg and Pistol were up to up to your imagination.
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