Stinky Pete
Otherwise Known As: The Prospector
Premiered in: Toy Story 2 (1999)
Voiced By: Kelsey Grammer
I admit, I was in a bit of a toss up when it came to this particular film in that I felt that Al was as much a villain as Stinky Pete himself but given how little Al actually interacted with the toys themselves, and a quick vote amongst friends, I decided on reviewing Stinky Pete’s character for Toy Story 2.
Taking aside his role in the show, something that Woody has proven does not define the toy’s character though it does supply them with something of a history to their identity, Stinky Pete is a toy filled to the brim with bitterness. For countless years, he sat on a dime store shelf, watching in silence as other toys were bought and taken home and when his time at last came, in the box he remained as Al sought to complete the collection that would earn him a hefty paycheck. After a time, Stinky Pete became almost obsessed with the idea of maintaining a toy’s version of immortality, being forever preserved in a box and put on display where he may be gazed upon with adoration but never truly played with as any toy ought to be.
All in all… I feel that Stinky Pete is a villain to be sure due to his actions, going so far as to attack Woody and his friends but do I think that he is up to par with the Disney Villains or even the Pixar Villains to follow? Not really. Stinky Pete, no matter how mad he had become, was a toy that never truly experienced love as a toy and had justifiably “grown” without any knowledge or true experience of what the love of a child can do for a toy.
Rather ironic I’d say, that he ended up being strapped to a child’s backpack in the end of the film. A child whom actually adored the sight of the old prospector and promised him a makeover, which the girl’s Barbie showed with a beaming smile as tattoos of paint and marker upon her face. While this might seem as something of a bad end for the likes of Stinky Pete, consider again that was what he had wanted most in the beginning, to be taken out of his box and treated like a toy ought to be treated. True, he might end up garishly redecorated but that’s neither here nor there.