| GENUS PEDIGREE: |
Pterippus (winged horse). |
| KNOWN ALIASES: |
Baby Pegasus |
| KNOWN RELATIVES: |
Mr. & Mrs. Pegasus (parents); Pink Pegasus, Blue Pegasus & Yellow Pegasus (siblings). |
| KNOWN PETS: |
unknown
|
| CITIZENSHIP: |
Elysian Fields at the foot of Mount Olympus, Fantasia.
|
| KNOWN CONFIDANTS: |
Centaurs & Centaurettes; Baby Unicorns; Cupids; Fauns (satyrs). |
| KNOWN RIVALS: |
unknown
|
| PARAPHERNALIA: |
unknown |
|
|
| 1st PRINT APPEARANCE: |
"Mickey Mouse Adventures" #9 tale called "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (Feb. 1991 - as a tribute to Fantasia's 50th anniversary, Peter might be one of the winged horses depicted on the splash page, but it is highly unlikely). |
| 1st FILM APPEARANCE: |
"Fantasia" segment "Pastorale Symphony" (Nov. 13, 1954).
|
| VOICE ACTOR: |
N/A
|
| SIGNATURE: |
Encouraging himself to fly by tugging on his own tail.
|
| BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS: |
Not much is really known about Peter save what is shown in the film. He certainly has a strong personality and won the hearts of most fans of Fantasia. In fact "Pastorale Symphony," "Dance of the Hours" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" were the three most popular segments in the movie. Which is possibly why strong characters from only those segments were actually named (i.e., Ben Ali Gator, Hyacinth Hippo, Elephanchine the Elephant, Mlle. Upanova the Ostrich, Brudus & Melinda the Lonely Centaurs, the Greek Gods: Zeus, Vulcan, Iris, Apollo, Morpheus, Diana and Bacchus, and Bacchus' faithful unicorn donkey, Jacchus. The Film "Hercules" added to the godly list to include Hera, the Muses, Venus, Ares, Hades and Hermes. An early Silly Symphony gave us Persephone, "The Goddess of Spring" (Nov. 3, 1934), Hades' (a.k.a. Pluto) wife. Neptune was also introduced in several early Silly Symphonies. |
| HISTORICAL FACTS: |
Peter was retroactively named after his popularity grew from the release of "Fantasia." As such, several Peter Pegasus shorts were planned and went into pre-production in the early 1940s, including one titled "Peter Pegasus" as a segment to "Invitation to Dance" which would have also brought back the dancing mushrooms from the "Nutcracker" segment of "Fantasia." The basic plot involved a series of misadventures after sneaking out of his nest, including following a family of ducks a la "The Ugly Duckling," and accidentally disturbing an angry bee. It never progressed beyond the storyboard. As they say, "If wishes were horses..." (sigh). Recently, another "Baby Pegasus" was introduced in the film "Hercules" (June 27, 1997) as the Hero's childhood playmate who grows up to become his faithful companion. This one was formed from the clouds by Zeus, and is not known for his intelligence, but loyalty certainly counts. The only occasions I can think of where Disney used a winged horse was in "Donald Duck" #27 (Jan. 1953) in a tale called "The Flying Horse," where Donald, $crooge and the Nephews encounter a mechanical one. An inventor trades Donald the metal horse for Uncle $crooge's helicopter and later reneges. Another time was in the time travel tale in "Uncle Scrooge" #75 (June 1968), where Gyro, Uncle $crooge, and Huey, Dewey & Louie tavel to ancient Greece during "The Battle of Marathon" (hence the title of the story) and an ancient inventor has likewise created a mechanical winged horse which carries them all from the battlefied to safety, before they return to the present. And finally the "real" Pegasus appeared in "Super Goof #34 (June 1975) in "The Golden Apple-Picker" when the evil Emil Eagle tests his Fantasy-Fact Fixer gizmo which transports him, Clarabelle, Super Goof and Pegasus (who had followed him from a previous attempt), through a portal to the Garden of Hesperides of ancient Greek myth. |
| LITTLE KNOWN SECRETS: |
For more information on the topic of "Pegasus" in general see the webpage devoted to more data than you could possibly imagine: The Pegopedia. |
| WORKING THEORIES: |
Peter Pegasus was included in this list because he is my favorite Disney character. |
Peter Pegasus (a.k.a. Baby Pegasus) 