Characters / Peter No-Tail

The characters from the Swedish children's book series, Pelle Svanslös, also known as Peter No-Tail, as well as the various animated adaptations.

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Pelle Svanslös (Peter No-Tail)

Voiced by:

Peter No-Tail (1981): Mats Åhlfeldt, Ken Berry (American dub), Steven Pacey (British dub), Tom Pöysti (Finnish dub)

Peter No-Tail in America(t) (1985): Erik Lindgren, Cam Clarke (American dub), Susan Sheridan (British dub), Tom Pöysti (Finnish dub)

The titular cat of the series, Pelle (also known as "Peter", which Pelle is the Swedish form of) is a cat without a tail, or more accurately, an extremely short tail. He gets bullied because of this, especially by Måns, but he manages to find friends.

• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: In most illustrations (particularly the ones based on his design from the 1980s films), Pelle is portrayed with a brown cap and a green bowtie.
• Adaptational Heroism/Adaptational Nice Guy: He obviously isn't a villain or even not nice in the books, but in the books, he is shown to have no problem eating rats, while in the 1981 movie, he actually befriends them.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: "Pelle" is just the Swedish form of "Peter". This is only the case with the animated movies―the English versions of the books still call him "Pelle" (albeit, "Pelle No-Tail" rather than Svanslös).
• Character Tics: In the books, Pelle will lick his nose sometimes, and this can mean two things: it can either mean he's disappointed, or that he's excited.
• Cursed with Awesome: Having his tail been bitten off by a rat when he was a kitten, Pelle does, as the title suggests, have a goofy-looking stump in place of his tail. Which makes him a target for bullies, such as Måns, but he also has advantages due to this: Måns and other cats will sometimes get their tails hurt due to them being in the way, which is something Pelle can obviously avoid, and once, Pelle managed to win a race due to him having no tail, as his entire body had passed the finish line before the opponent. Plus, he looks absolutely adorable.
• Cute Kitten: Duh!
• Deadpan Snarker: Pelle when questioned about his tail by strangers, examples include "I forgot it at home" and "That's just a breed we have down the country. Pure."
• Dragged into Drag: One of the ways Måns tries to humiliate Pelle in the race in the first film is forcing him to wear a pink dress and claiming it's a uniform.
• Humble Hero: Being teased for not having a tail since birth will do that to you.
• I Am What I Am: It happens that Måns gets to him, so that he feels ashamed over having no tail, but he usually quits moping sooner or later and feels his own humble pride over it.
• Inexplicably Tailless: Only in the animated films, which state Pelle was born without a tail. In the books, it was bitten off by a rat.
• Skilled, but Naive: Pelle, while being good at most things he tries and in general being a nice guy to anyone, he's rather gullible, making it easy for Måns to trick him into getting in trouble.
• Vegetarian Carnivore: Averted in the 1981 film. While he is friendly towards rats, a hedgehog, and a crow there, he IS shown to enjoy eating fish.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Pelle will always try to see the good in others, even Måns. See Skilled, but Naive above.

Elaka Måns (Mean Mike/Max)

Voiced by:

Ernst-Hugo Järegård (both 1980s films) Pekka Autiovuori (Finnish dub, both movies)

Peter No-Tail (1981): Larry Storch (American dub), Peter Woodthorpe (British dub)

Peter No-Tail in America(t) (1985): Bill Capizzi (American dub), Jeff Harding (British dub)

Whereas Pelle is a total Nice Guy, Måns couldn't be more different. He is A Nazi by Any Other Name.

• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: In the animated films, he dons a blue baseball cap.
• Bigot with a Crush: At least in the animated films, he's shown to hate housecats―part of his hatred towards Pelle, but still tries to woo Maja―who is shown to be living with humans.
• Cats Are Mean: He's shamelessly prejudiced, both towards tailless cats, and country cats.
• Dub Name Change: Is known as “Mean Mike” in the British dub of the first film, and “Max” in the American dub of both films. Averted with the British dub of the second film, which actually keeps his original name. In the Finnish version he is known as "Monni", which sounds similiar to Måns.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Being voiced by Ernst-Hugo Järegård in the original version and Peter Woodthorpe in the British dub gives him a Vincent Price-sounding baritone voice.
• Evil Is Hammy: Not much in the books, but animated films makes him this thanks to his voice actors clearly enjoying the show.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: The two animated films give him this kind of voice.
• Fantastic Racism: Måns hates both tailless cats―hence why he bullies Pelle constantly, and apparently hates cats from the countryside and housecats.
• Villain Protagonist: The 1993 series tends to focus just as much, if not more, on Måns's schemes, antics and interactions with Bill and Bull, than it does on Pelle.