Penny (The Rescuers)
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Penny is a fictional character and one of the protagonists of Disney's 1977 animated film, The Rescuers.
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[edit] Background
Penny's background is unknown, but what is known is that she was left an orphan at Morningside Orphanage in New York City. Penny would often feel lonely and desperately wanted to be adopted. The end of the film reveals that Penny had a group of loyal friends at the orphanage, but her biggest comfort was found in her friend, Rufus, the cat at Morningside Orphanage. It's to Rufus she tells her heartbreaking story of one adoption day in which a man and a woman looked at her, but instead chose a little red-haired girl. After that, Penny did not think that she would ever be wanted, but things rapidly turned for the worst.
[edit] Kidnapping
How it happened that Penny was kidnapped, no one knows for sure. What is known is that Madame Medusa apparently offered the girl a ride, probably pretending to be a long lost aunt and took the girl far away, into the depths of the Devil's Bayou swamp. In Devil's Bayou, Penny's life became that of a slave, being forced into a scary, underground pirate's cave where she was asked to find the Devil's Eye diamond among many other jewels left there by pirates centuries before. At the old riverboat where Madame Medusa and Mr. Snoops' hideout is, Penny sleeps in an old captain's cabin in an uncomfortable bed, with only Teddy, her little toy bear for company.
[edit] Role in the film
Penny is the center for the film's tone, in the very beginning of the film, Penny sends out a message inside a bottle in which she's written a plea for help, this scene marks the opening credits of the film and the bottle sings its melancholy song, "The Journey", with the words of "Who will rescue me...?". The bottle is found by the Rescue Aid Society, an organization of mice dedicated to providing assistance to individuals in dire peril such as Penny. The RAS quickly assign Miss Bianca and Bernard to assist her. Their first stop in their investigation is the orphanage where Rufus tells his tale about Penny's day in which she wasn't adopted, accompanied by the song/poem, "Faith is a Bluebird." Penny's prayers at the riverboat, as well as her despair and loss of faith are key elements to one of the most touching scenes in the film, finally, all expressed in the song "Someone's Waiting for You." The film features a strong and persistent theme of faith, and at one point, even the rescuers themselves find themselves in loss of it.
[edit] Personality
However, even though Penny and her teddy bear are the key elements to the film's tear jerking atmosphere, it can't be said that Penny is the ordinary, despairing orphan. She has a strong personality and a strong sense of security even when facing Madame Medusa, but specially against Mr. Snoops, Brutus and Nero (The crocodiles who prevent her from escaping). Even in her world of sadness, Penny will not let herself be bossed around by her kidnappers, at least not when she can help it and instead of waiting around for help, she believes that help may never come and several times attempts to scape on her own, every time, however, failing. For some time, Penny tells Teddy that everything will be alright, although deep inside she feels that she can't believe it herself and falls into desperation. It isn't until her two tiny rescuers, Bernard and Miss Bianca, arrive that she feels once again that faith is strong.
[edit] Origin
Penny is a fictional character, but her roots are likely to have come from Patience, the little orphan girl in Margery Sharp's Miss Bianca novel. Patience is also surrounded by the theme of a diamond, many diamonds in her case that she is forced to polish and clean daily. Patience is also key to the book's heartwarming atmosphere.[citation needed]
Penny's looks are based on Michelle Stacy, who provided her voice in the film and was designed and animated mainly by Disney animator, Ollie Johnston.
[edit] Interesting facts
- Although it is never explained or brought up in the film, it is said Penny can speak to the animals because "she asks." In a hardcover storybook of the film, Rufus the cat explains how humans would have been able to rescue Penny on their own, but he was the only one at the orphanage or anywhere who knew what happened to the girl, but he would not speak to the humans, because he hadn't been asked.
- The girl Jenny in Disney's Oliver & Company (1988) is based off of Penny, mainly because at one point, the 1988 film would have been a sequel to 1977's The Rescuers. There are similarities between the two characters, both reside in New York City and both show affection toward cats.
- Penny's stuffed bear, Teddy, was planned as an unimportant object in the film; however, it later served to give Penny a touch of personality by constantly using the bear to express her feelings. For example, when she was asked to go down into the pirate's cave, she says, "Teddy doesn't like it down there; he's afraid, aren't you, Teddy?"
- Early in story development, Bernard and Bianca were supposed to be rescuing a poet, much older than Penny, from a gloomy prison. This storyline was taken directly from Margery Sharp's first novel, The Rescuers, but was changed because the storywriters felt it not captivating and interesting enough, possibly because the Norwegian poem's character in the book was bland and without much personality.
- It was widely believed that the song that opens The Rescuers, The Journey was sung from Penny's perspective, possibly because of the words "Who will rescue me?", but actually, this song is "sung" by the bottle. For this reason, Shelby Flint is credited as the voice of the bottle.
