Mr. Toplofty

"He may be spineless. But he got what he wanted out of you, and that makes him a troublemaker."
(Mr. Toplofty to Mr. Grasping, concerning Papa Mousekewitz)

Mr. Toplofty is one of the major antagonists (alongside Mr. O'Bloat) in An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island. He is a greedy industrialist who owns the largest cheese factory in the Tri-State Area along with his partners, Mr. Grasping and Mr. O'Bloat. He was voiced by Tony Jay.

Role in the film

Mr. Toplofty is introduced along with his colleagues when Mr. Grasping confronts Tony Toponi for being late. Toplofty believes that allowing Tony's tardiness to go unpunished would set a bad example for the workers, and he is frustrated when Papa Mousekewitz convinces Grasping to let Tony keep his job. Later, he is seen with his colleagues at Les Club Des Grands Fromages paying Chief McBrusque for keeping the poor in line, and he is the one who explains to McBrusque the nature of Scuttlebutt's work for them.

He is next seen announcing that he and his associates had taken control of all cheese manufacturing in the Tri-State Area. When O'Bloat's accompanying announcement that the workers must triple their output leads to protest, Toplofty witnesses a brief confrontation between Papa and McBrusque and warns his colleagues that Mousekewitz is stirring up trouble. That night, Toplofty is distressed to learn about Cholena's presence in the city, but he is quick to sign on to Grasping's plan to turn the workers against her and her people. Toplofty accompanies Grasping as the latter incites the crowd to violence, and is also seated with his associates at Dr. Dithering's trial. However, when Papa turns the crowd against them, Toplofty blames Grasping for turning the mice of Manhattan against them. He is last seen at the celebration of the factory workers' successful strike, and is the first of his colleagues to realize that they must reach a deal with the workers to avoid bankruptcy.

Personality

Mr. Toplofty presents himself as the benevolent face of the factory owners. When his associates take control of the Tri-State Area's cheese industry, he is the one who announces the news to the factory workers, leaving the more controversial announcement that the workers must triple their output to Mr. O'Bloat, and he also provides financial support to Dr. Dithering's research as part of a public "commitment to culture". In reality, however, he is just as greedy and ruthless as his partners. He believes that workers should be fired for even minor infractions, and he sees Grasping's plan to start a war with the Lenape as an opportunity to purge the factory workers of "anarchists".

In general, Toplofty defers to Mr. Grasping, but he does express his disapproval of Grasping's decisions on several occasions, notably blaming him for the workers turning on them. He appears to be more perceptive than his partners as well. For example, when Grasping and O'Bloat laugh Papa off as a "spineless old fool", Toplofty is the one to point out that Papa got exactly what he wanted from Grasping, making him dangerous. When the factory workers unionize and go on strike, Toplofty is the one to realize that negotiating with the new union is necessary to avoid bankruptcy.

Gallery

You can find Mr. Toplofty gallery here.

Trivia

• Mr. Toplofty was voiced by Tony Jay, who is best known for voicing Judge Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Shere Khan from The Jungle Book 2 and TaleSpin.  He died in 2006.
• Mr. Toplofty has some similarity to the character Shere Khan in TaleSpin. Both characters were voiced by Tony Jay, both characters are greedy industrialists who are willing to use unethical and even illegal means to acquire wealth, and both appear in animated productions directed by Larry Latham. However, Khan is shown to have a sense of honor and does not always act against the interests of the main characters, while this has not been shown to be the case with Toplofty.