Jungledyret Hugo - The Characters

The Characters

In the Jungledyret films, many animals talk to each other, but humans can't understand them. This is a standard conceit, seen in such films as Balto. The following character names are from the Miramax Family DVD.

• Hugo

Hugo is a young, rare, apparently unique, fictional mammal of the previously unknown species Hugus Primiticus. His parents are never mentioned. He looks something like a living teddy bear (or a koala), and has yellow fur. In the second film, he mentions to a pig that he only has a summer coat.

He has prehensile (grasping) hands, each with three fingers and a thumb. He has large, fuzzy ears, and human-like feet with four toes. He is bipedal, though he can run in a quadrupedal manner for speed. He can use tools such as levers and skateboards, and can outwit other animals, such as snakes, cats, and squirrels. He is noted for his cleverness, his kind heart, his love of food, his bragging, his mischievousness, and the occasional bout of childish selfishness. He eats mostly fruits and loves bananas (though he is omnivorous, as he won't shy away from eating meatballs).

In the original Danish release, Hugo was voiced by Jesper Klein. On the 2005 Miramax release, Hugo was voiced by Bronson Pinchot, probably best known in the United States for his role as Balki Bartokomous on the sitcom Perfect Strangers.

• Rita the fox

Rita is an adolescent red fox who befriends Hugo on the streets of Copenhagen. She and Hugo quickly become best friends. She's kind, streetwise, spunky and has a decent amount of common sense, unlike Hugo, who is rather impulsive. She lived with her mother and her two younger brothers and sister in a den near some railroad tracks, until the second movie where she escaped alongside Hugo from Cupmann. Her father is never mentioned. A romance between Hugo and Rita is hinted and even implied on the first two films, but the later animated series and third film dimmed down this element to the point where it was only mention on a few occasions.

In the original Danish production, Rita was voiced by Kaya Brüel. On the 2005 Miramax release, Rita was voiced by Holly Gauthier-Frankel.

• Meatball Charlie

Charlie is the cook aboard the cargo ship that transports Hugo to Copenhagen. He finds Hugo, who has escaped the cargo hold, and at the end of the voyage, donates him to the city zoo. He appears toward the end of the first film, and is not present in the second. Though, in the animated series, he appears once again, helping Hugo and Rita on numerous occasions, and in the third film he makes several appearances, nearly coming off as part of the main character cast. Hugo mentions that Meatball Charlie is probably his and Rita's only "human" friend.

In the original Danish production, Meatball Charlie is named Dellekaj (a mixture of "Delle" which is slang for frikadelle, a special kind of Danish meatball and Kaj which is a common Danish name) and was voiced by Jesper Klein who also voices Hugo. On the 2005 Miramax release, Charlie was voiced by Marcel Jeannin.

• Conrad Cupmann

Conrad is the main antagonist in both films. He owns a movie studio in Copenhagen, and dreams of making lots of money. He is morally bankrupt, willing to slash and burn the jungle to capture Hugo. His first relationship started off with Izabella Dehavalot, but rejected her wishes and left her when Hugo manages to escape Copenhagen in the first film. His second relationship is with Barbie Turner, but instead, he is rejected by her, since she did not want him hurting Hugo. On the 2005 Miramax release, Conrad was voiced by Mark Camacho.

• Generalissimo Maximillion Maximus

Generalissimo Maximillion Maximus, or better known as General Maximus, is one of the series most recurrent major antagonists. He is the ruler of the recently founded fictional nation "Junglandia"- the country where Hugo originates from. The symbol of Junglelandia is General Maximus' coat of arms, which depicts the same species as Hugo and, since Hugo is the rarest animal in the world, General Maximus is always seeking Hugo, both to have him as a symbol of the nation and in order to gain a world famous reputation. He has a low moral set, promising a great reward to the ones who gets Hugo, but he will not always keep his promises, either cheating them, or will later break his promises, and displays a ruthless determination in order to capture him.

• Izabella Dehavalot

Izabella is a black-haired starlet with a sharp figure. She is also the wife of Conrad Cupmann during the first film. Her goal is to gain notoriety through the exploitation of an animal co-star; she cites several fictional actors, and then her "good friend Michael" and his chimp. Upon the discovery of Hugo, Izabella brightens at the idea of using him as her co-star and stops at nothing to capture him. Conrad divorced her in the time span between the two films, after she becomes obsessed to the point of madness over capturing Hugo. In all European versions, she is called Izabella Scorpio. On the 2005 Miramax release, Izabella was voiced by Susan Glover.

• Barbie Turner (Miss Sensuella)

Barbie is a stereotypical dumb blonde and, in the second film, is Cupmann Studio's new starlet. It is also implied that she is Conrad's lover. She often chews bubble gum, even on the sound stage. In the original version of the movie, her name is Sensuella. On the 2005 Miramax release, Barbie was voiced by Jennifer Seguin.

• Doctor Loongkoffer

Loongkoffer is an animal psychologist hired by Conrad to tame Hugo. His role is reminiscent of Animaniacs' Dr. Otto Scratchansniff, whose job was to civilize the Warner siblings. On the 2005 Miramax release, Loongkoffer was voiced by Arthur Grosser.

• Professor Strix

Professor Strix is a mad scientist who appears in the last two episodes of the animated series. He is one of two scientists who believe Hugo is an unknown arctic animal. He runs a professional research facility. In the third movie, he tried to eradicate Hugo, make multiple copies of Hugo and sell them all around the world.

• The Jungle Dog

A small jungle dog pup that Hugo and Rita encounter in the third movie. Rita discovers the pup when she hides in a hollow log near the Jungle Dog's nest area. The pup mistakes Rita for its mother and Rita (presuming the pup was abandoned by its real mother) takes it under her wing. Before the movie's release, some fans mistook the pup to be Hugo and Rita's child.