Kit Cloudkicker serves as navigator aboard Baloo's plane, the Sea Duck, which is in the service of the air cargo service, Higher for Hire.
Physical appearance[]
Kit is a 12-year-old, brown furred, anthropomorphic male bear cub. He wears a green sweatshirt, white dress shirt, a blue and red baseball cap worn backwards and has the ability to "cloud surf" (also referred to in the show as "cloud skiing"). The baseball cap was a gift to Kit from Baloo, as a sign of friendship and trust.
Personality[]
His ambition was to become a pilot and to purchase his own aircraft.
Occasionally showing a selfish streak, Kit sometimes puts his dreams ahead of those of his friends. Having lived on his own for most of his life, Kit's distrust of adults was apparent in the show. He warmed to Baloo only after being given the chance to fly the Sea Duck, and even then was ready to leave for greener pastures.
Nevertheless, he looked upon the other members of the "Higher for Hire" company as a surrogate family, affectionately referring to Baloo as "Papa Bear" on occasion. He clearly demonstrated his fondness for Rebecca Cunningham's adorable and very beautiful tomboy daughter, Molly, on a number of occasions, having been seen giving Molly "Piggy back" rides, and on one occasion rescuing her on his airfoil (the device Kit uses for cloud surfing - see below). Baloo gives him the nickname "Little Britches".
Kit once chastised Baloo saying “You can't tell me what to do! You're NOT my dad!” - this was a decision Kit would come to regret[2].
Skills and abilities[]
Kit had the ability to cloud surf; using a crescent shaped metal device called an airfoil and a regular cord attached to the back of the Sea Duck allows him to 'surf' in a similar fashion to someone water skiing, hence this is also referred to in the show as "cloud skiing". It was not made clear where Kit learned this skill, but he demonstrates at numerous times throughout the various episodes that he is incredibly adept at it. Baloo would often give his permission for Kit to tow behind the Sea Duck when appropriate, trusting in Kit's skill to let him have some fun. Baloo also had enough confidence in Kit to keep himself safe on the airfoil when separated and under attack, or when Kit had to be outside for something important. Outside of such situations however, he did not like Kit to take unnecessary risks, such as doing dangerous tricks or stunts.
History[]
Being a homeless orphan, Kit at some point came to live with the Air Pirates, under Don Karnage's tutelage. After a year however, he eventually "got sick" of them and attempted to break out on his own. He first encountered Baloo when he hid in the Sea Duck to escape from the Air Pirates because they were trying to find him.
Relationships[]
Baloo[]
Obviously the two are a father-son team: Kit helps navigate while Baloo pilots and when in a life-and-death situation they'll work together to overcome the odds. Like a real father Baloo does care about Kit's safety, but there are times when they display negativity toward each other, usually over their job when Baloo slacks off from work, whereas Kit is more devoted, and at least once did the two have a fight: this was in "Stormy Weather" when Kit's cloud-surfing attracted the attention of Daring Dan Dawson, whom Kit began idolizing which made Baloo jealous, and it got worse when they began arguing over Dan, to which Baloo ordered Kit to stay away from him, but Kit didn't take the command well: he snaps at Baloo, throws his hat into Baloo's face and points out that since Baloo wasn't really Kit's dad, he didn't have to listen to him. It isn't fully known how affected Baloo was from this, but Kit himself was devastated for doing it. Ironically Baloo was right to be wary of Dan when he discovered he was a criminal, and similarly Kit's idolization of Dan began to diminish when Dan started becoming reckless with his intentions. Fortunately after they brought Dan's suicidal-performances to an end the two bears were back together.
Rebecca[]
As Baloo's navigator, Kit is Rebecca's employee, and he shows a great deal of respect for her as a boss. Their relationship is somewhat deeper though, with Rebecca showing almost motherly concern at times for Kit. As a result, any misbehavior of his-whether real or perceived-is quick to move her to anger out of her worry for him. It's possible they also have a mutual understanding of each other given that both have lost someone near and dear to them before they met (Kit having lost his parents, Rebecca having lost her husband).
Molly[]
They seem to have a brother-sister relationship, given that Molly appears to be an only child while Kit's biological relatives are a complete mystery. Like a big brother Kit does care about Molly greatly, like in "It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck" when the Giant Squid threw her into the air, Kit dove out of the Sea Duck to save her, and like Baloo Kit tends to freak out whenever Molly stows away on the plane during a cargo-run. While close Molly does tend to annoy Kit with her spunkiness, which was seen in the same episode, but to date there hasn't been any indication of them getting into a fight or even be mad at each other.
Oscar Vandersnoot[]
Wildcat[]
Not much is known about Kit's bond with Wildcat as they're rarely seen doing things together, however Wildcat does fill in for Kit in navigating whenever Kit can't do the job, such as when he has school at the same time (though Wildcat's navigation is questionable), and Kit clearly does seem to care about Wildcat, like in "Citizen Khan".
Don Karnage[]
Prior to "Plunder & Lightning", Kit and Karnage may have been quite close, and it's quite possible Kit helped in some of the lootings back then, enough to earn the right to be Karnage's protégé. While it is not exactly known why Kit began to loath the pirates, one theory is he's seen them commit something so heinous that he began having a change of heart. Karnage was even upset at the defection, and seemed quite happy that Kit seemed to return after turning himself in to protect Baloo and the Cunninghams, only to have it happen again during the attack on Cape Suzette. Since then Kit and Karnage began treating each other as sworn enemies, and Karnage clearly isn't above inflicting harm on Kit whenever he has the chance, and at least once Karnage has actually tried to murder Kit: this being in the fourth part of "Plunder & Lightning" when Karnage had ordered Dumptruck to throw Kit off the Iron Vulture. Similarly Karnage also tortured Kit to get vital information out of him as has happened in "Polly Wants a Treasure" and "Captains Outrageous". Despite all this, Karnage may still view Kit as a worthy heir, which was seen in the comic book Pirate For a Day where Karnage actually tried to reintegrate Kit back into the pirates, only to fail.
The Jungle Aces Secret Midnight Club[]
Due to lack of airing time, not much can be said about Kit's relationships with these boys like Ernie, and nothing at all is known on when or how Kit met them all and when they first formed the club. There is the slight exception of Oscar Vandersnoot, but even when he first met Kit isn't explained. What is known however is that Kit seems to treat Oscar more like a little brother much like with Molly, especially when Kit defended him when Ernie and the others resented him. Kit also seems to be the most mature out of them as they all idolize fictional heroes like Bullethead, whereas Kit prefers to idolize an actual hero like Baloo (though this might be due to being forced to live on his own for awhile, while the other Aces don't seem to have experienced any of that), even so none of these setbacks seem to affect their friendship in the slightest.
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Trivia[]
- Despite having formerly been an Air Pirate only being mentioned in the pilot of the show, in the comics it is brought up frequently by both him and the pirates.
- Kit's name is also an abbreviation of the name "Kristopher", though Kit is never acknowledged like this.
- While he didn't appear in all episodes, Kit is probably the most popular Talespin character.
- Kit's orphaning could be based on the fact that orphans were common during the nineteen-thirties, as the Great Depression was responsible for many children being orphaned: some were given up by their families due to depletion of their income, while others chose to orphan themselves on purpose, mainly to avoid burdening their families or to find work to support them, and many had little to no time to enjoy their childhood, some, much like Kit, even had to take care of themselves whether they wanted to or not. They also often suffered from poor health, and some even had to stop going to school (and there is even a book that documents people's childhoods at the time, known as Children of the Great Depression).
- It's possible Kit was surrendered by his parents due to financial problems, and as a baby since he claims in the comic-book The Long Flight Home that he never knew his parents, so it's unlikely he ran away from them because of hardships, even though no reference to the Great Depression was made in the show, or they could've died due to poor health resulting from lack of food or some other means.
- Kit is obviously the animal analogue of Mowgli.
- He also shares things in common with Ezra Bridger of Star Wars Rebels and Punch of the nineteen-sixties anime Hustle Punch.
- Kit's voice actor R.J. Williams, previously played another cartoon bear-cub named Kissyfur from the series of the same name.
- It is revealed in the episode "Polly wants a treasure" that Kit has ticklish feet.
- Initially, Kit was gonna be the biological son of Rebecca, and longing for a father, but the creators found it better if he was made an orphan.
- An adult version of Kit, resembling a cross between his classic depiction and Baloo, appeared in the DuckTales reboot alongside Molly.[3] Voiced by actor Adam Pally, he first appears in the episode “The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker!”[4] - see here for details.