The Toy Taker, also known by his real name as Mr. Cuddles, is the main antagonist of the 2001 computer-animated Christmas movie Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. He was originally a teddy bear who was eventually abandoned and unintentionally discarded by his former owner, Steven, as he outgrew him who dressed up into an outfit and began kidnapping many toys to prevent them from going through said process, taking on the identity of the Toy Taker, becoming infamous for his toy kidnappings.
He was voiced by Rick Moranis while his vocal sound effects were provided by Don Brown and his singing voice was provided by Bruce Roberts.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
- He has quite a few evil is cool factors to boost, having a cool design (in disguise form) with his outfit being a big coat that covers his whole body and even covers his legs from view and a cool hat that leaves his face in the shadows with only his eyes being visible, a wicked-sounding voice, and an epic maniacal laugh.
- He has a sympathetic motivation as when he would be discarded by his former owner Steve as the child grew older, having abandoned him, causing him to be thrown away.
- He has a noble objective behind his actions as the reason as to why he would kidnap many toys as the Toy Taker is to prevent them from sharing the tragic experience he had when he was abandoned and (albeit unintentionally) discarded by his former owner and to take good care of them himself, better care than he assumes any child would in fact.
- He is shown to be a professional thief, having been successful in stealing lots of toys "from everyone, from everywhere" using methods like either sucking them out from chimneys in houses or from clocktowers to his blimp through a vaccuum or playing a melody on a flute that toys just can't resist being lured to due to them being placed in the deepest of spellbound trances in order to get them to come onto the roof and through the vaccuum to his blimp, managing to do this many times without getting caught.
- When Santa and everyone else were fast asleep, the Toy Taker broke into his warehouse by opening the window from above with his vaccuum and successfully stole all of the toys within without getting caught despite the place being locked and guarded by 2 toy soldiers.
- After taking the toys to his icy hideout, he successfully persuades them to stay with him by singing a song explaining that he stole them because while they'd be adored by children at first, they'll be left in the dust and essentially become outgrown as the children grow older and promising to take good care of them himself in contrast to the children.
- When informed by the kidnapped toys of Rudolph and his friends being on board as intruders, the Toy Taker shows that he has prepared the mechanics of his blimp in cases of emergencies like this by opening up a hole beneath them in an attempt to get rid of them which almost works if not for them flying into the pilot room through one of the blimp's windows.
- He displays another moment that shows he's prepared some of the mechanics of his blimp in cases of emergencies through instantly escaping and evading Rudolph and his friends when they have him cornered in the pilot room by pressing a button which opens a hole in the ceiling and grabbing a rope that pulls him away from them instantly.
- He manages to remain one jump ahead of Rudolph and his friends throughout a majority of the chase in the climax, pulling off clever tricks and/or stunts to get away from them like the aforementioned escaping via hole in the ceiling, jumping off the blimp after being cornered by Rudolph and Clarice on it and then unleashing his parachute at the right time to land by a mine where he would get into a minecart to further get away from them, grabbing a spike in the ceiling of the mine and then using the spike to hit the controls of the railway to get Rudolph and Clarice to go a different route from him, and escaping Rudolph and Clarice once again when cornered by a wall by running off when they were distracted by the arrival of Yukon, Bumble, Santa, and his wife and only gets caught due to Yukon throwing his rope at him to tie him up. What further boosts his magnificence in these instances is that they show his capability of using his surroundings to his advantage.
- He winds up redeeming himself, confessing the reason as to why he kidnapped all the toys that being to save them from being outgrown by children like how he was outgrown by his former owner, Steven, stops being evil and kidnapping toys, and gladly goes with Santa as a present given to Steven's daughter on Christmas Eve.
What Makes Him A Baddie?[]
- He has been kidnapping many toys from many places, taking them away from their homes into his blimp and in a private area without their consent, with this being specified to have ruined Christmas as children would have lost the toys they received as gifts.
- When he spots Rudolph, Clarice, Yukon, and Hermie on his blimp disguised as toys thanks to the other kidnapped toys exposing them, he gets them dropped out of his blimp by opening up a hole beneath them, which given the height they were on, could possibly have endangered them.
- He also throws lanterns at Rudolph and Clarice in a minecart while they were pursuing him in an attempt to get their minecart knocked off, possibly also endangering them as well.
Trivia[]
- He is the only character from the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movies to qualify as a Magnificent Baddie.