Media Universe Wiki
in: Villains, Rankin/Bass characters, Males,
and 6 more

Jasper (The Emperor's New Clothes)

View source


“With the entire treasury in my pockets, and the princess as my bride, I’ll be sure to rule the empire! (cackles wickedly)”—Jasper revealing his master plan to Marmaduke, Mufti and Busky

Jasper the Clown, or simply known as Jasper, is the main antagonist of the 1972 Rankin/Bass television special The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor’s New Clothes. He is the former court jester to Emperor Klockenlocker who plotted to usurp the throne, marry the emperor’s daughter, Princess Jane, steal the emperor’s money and rule the empire.

He was voiced by Bob McFadden, who voiced many characters in Rankin/Bass specials and films, including Zigzag, Paddy Cake and Old King Cole in the 1967 theatrical film The Wacky World of Mother Goose, Baron Henry von Frankenstein from the 1972 Halloween special Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters, Prince Heinrich and King Casper from the 1972 television special The Red Baron,  the North Pole phone operator from the 1974 Christmas special ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Jingle Bells and the North Pole Doctor from the 1974 special The Year Without a Santa Claus, Plato from the 1976 Christmas special The Little Drummer Boy, Book II, Chugs from the 1977 Easter special The Easter Bunny Is Comin’ To Town, Donner and the singing voice of Santa Claus in the 1979 theatrical film Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July, the Cricket and the Sleigh Driver from the 1980 Christmas special Pinocchio’s Christmas, Old Mag the Hag from the 1981 Christmas special The Leprechauns’ Christmas Gold, Tingler from the 1985 Christmas special The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, and the Magistrate from the 1987 musical television film The Wind in the Willows.

Personality[]

Jasper is a greedy, sneaky, manipulative, scheming, conniving, power-hungry and evil court jester who secretly possesses ambitions and intentions to rule the empire of Bibbentucker with an iron fist. He is also smooth-talking, sly, charismatic, crafty and persuasive, taking advantage of the Emperor’s loneliness and grief after the passing of his wife by flattering him and subliminally convincing his majesty to spend all his money by interesting him in fancy new clothes, thus explaining the reason behind the Emperor’s vanity. This is further elaborated on when Marmaduke, his sidekick Mufti and their adopted apprentice Busky appear at the palace with their ragged, hand-made suit of clothes in hopes of winning the prize money for the tailor who makes the best suit for the for the Emperor, which the sneaky Jasper sees as his chance to obtain the last sack of money being used as the prize for the tailors contest and thus have all the money in order to rule the land, and as such, cons the swindlers into presenting a more reasonable substitute to Emperor Klockenlocker, resulting in the fast-talking Marmaduke inventing the “enchanted” cloth alibi on the spot.

While mostly composed and collected for the most part, Jasper is also shown to be hostile, threatening and aggressive in a few instances. For instance, at one point he confronts Marmaduke about spending time with Princess Jane and threatens to have him beheaded if he disobeys Jasper’s orders. In another instance, Jasper is also shown to be rather impatient, as Marmaduke uses the task of making a new “suit” to his own advantage to simply live the rich life he desired for himself, as well as Mufti and Busky, thus the wicked jester tells them to finish the job in order to proceed with his master plan. It is in this same instance that Jasper is revealed to be genocidal as well, warning the swindlers if they don’t do as he tells them, he’ll order his loyal minion, the mean palace guard Ivan, to fire a cannon at their home in the Boulevard of Rogues, destroying everyone and everything in it.

Jasper’s greed and trickiness extend to loathsome lengths. As shown in the flashback when Princess Jane reveals the Emperor’s backstory during her first meeting with Marmaduke, he is not only capable of manipulating the Emperor, but also the Emperor’s rather single-minded council, as he orders them to sign a new tax order. Also, it is revealed that the tailors who make the Emperor’s fancy clothes all work for him and he pays them slaves wages, resulting in them fighting over the few measly coins he pays them, while he keeps the rest for himself unbeknownst to the Emperor, showing that he is also incredibly selfish and cares more for his own potential gain rather than the well-being of others.

Appearance[]

Jasper is a short man with clear skin, brown hair, though he is half bald (as seen during the aforementioned flashback when he tips his hat and bows for the Emperor), thin brown eyebrows, a large, bulbous nose and chin, and has red circles painted on his cheeks, resembling the painted rogue on a clown’s face.

He wears a jester’s outfit consisting of a pale orange and yellow checkered, long-sleeved shirt, with two fuzzy puffball buttons and a frilled white collar and cuffs, matching long pants and a hat with a bowl-shaped brim and three fronds with a gold bell on each end. He also wears white gloves and red shoes with pointed toes and gold bells hanging from the ankles.

Role in the film[]

Jasper is first seen announcing the 174th monthly presentation of the award for the best-dressed man in Bibbentucker when Marmaduke first arrive in town. He announces the winner as Emperor Klockenlocker, and, his Majesty steps up to address the crowd, presents him with the trophy. As the Emperor carries on with his long, boring (to his daughter Princess Jane) speech, she and Marmaduke meet. Jane proceeds to tell Marmaduke about her father’s grim backstory (see above). When Marmaduke vows to stop Jasper’s evil, he attracts the attention of both the Emperor and Jasper himself. When the Emperor sees Marmaduke dressed in his ragged attire, disgusted, and persuaded by Jasper, the Emperor orders Ivan to arrest him and Mufti and throw them into the Boulevard of Rogues, despite Jane’s protest.

After Marmaduke and Mufti find the Boulevard of Rogues actually rather pleasant, and adopt a lonely boy named Busky, they put together a ragged suit of clothes for the Emperor. That night, the three, after using a little flattery to soften the ferocious creatures in the moat surrounding the Boulevard, make their escape. They arrive at the palace the next morning. After singing “When a Tailor Needs a Tailor,” Marmaduke and his companions present their suit to the Emperor. Disgusted by the ragged suit, the Emperor orders them to leave, but Jasper stops him and asks to speak to them. He asks if they have something else in their sack, leading to Marmaduke concocting a convincing fib about how they have “enchanted” cloth, invisible to anyone who is stupid or unfit to hold office. He pretend to show it off to the Emperor, who cannot see the supposed cloth and refuses to admit it, resulting in the Emperor granting him permission to begin working on the “suit.”

Marmaduke, Mufti and Busky pretend to work on the suit that isn’t there, while the Emperor stays up late to educate himself in order to make himself smart enough to see the cloth. Marmaduke spends time engaging in various activities with Princess Jane, who confides in him that Jasper secretly pans to marry her so that he can inherit the throne, as he must have all the money in the treasury and her hand in marriage in which to do so. Marmaduke promises Jane that he won’t let Jasper have her. Furious by all the time Marmaduke is spending with Jane, Jasper warns him if he doesn’t do as he instructs him he’ll have his head, then tells him he will trick Jane into marrying him.

Jasper tells the Emperor at one point that Marmaduke wishes to marry Jane, and by doing so, he won’t be losing a daughter but gaining a tailor. As the days go by, Jasper, growing impatient, finally confronts Marmaduke. He warns him and his friends if they don’t follow his orders, he order his henchman Ivan to fire his cannon at the Boulevard of Rogues. He also adds that he will pay the three of them one grinklen each and they will turn the rest of the prize money over to him.

Marmaduke and his companions concoct a plan to put an end to Jasper’s evil ways. They make fake coins from brass statues and put them into a large sack, then they hide the real gold in the cannon. Jasper, not knowing the sack is filled with fake money, orders Ivan to take the sack away. Later, the Emperor shows off his new “clothes,” much to everyone’s surprise. Jasper gestures for everyone to applaud.

Later that day, in the town square, under Jasper’s orders, Marmaduke tells the Emperor that he cannot marry Jane because “he’s already married.” Jasper volunteers to marry the princess in his place. As it looks like Jasper and Jane are being married by one of the ministers, Jasper discovers much to his annoyance that it is actually Busky is disguise. Busky laughs at the Emperor and tells him that he is naked, to which the ministers all agree. Furious at being tricked, the Emperor banishes Jasper and orders Marmaduke and Mufti to be taken back the Boulevard of Rogues.

After Busky gives the Emperor a note from Jane, stating that she loves Marmaduke and they are going to marry, the Emperor changes his tune. He leads parade through town to Boulevard of Rogues, where he attends the wedding naked. Furious that his plans are foiled, Jasper angrily orders Ivan to fire the cannon and destroy the Boulevard. But, instead of a cannon ball, the cannon instead shoots out the gold Marmaduke and his friends hid earlier, thus providing the poor folk with gold.

Gallery[]

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.