Sir Hiss (Robin Hood)

Description

Sir Hiss is a major antagonist in Disney's 1973 animated feature film Robin Hood. He is Prince John's snake advisor and assistant. Hiss has the power of hypnosis, which he uses to send King Richard on a crusade, thus allowing himself and Prince John to rule over England. Sir Hiss is the snake henchman of Prince John. He often attempts to warn Prince John of the dangers of his various traps but is rarely listened to. After a failed plan, Sir Hiss often complains about how Prince John didn't listen to him, but he is usually punished as a result. He is often the target of Prince John's temper tantrums, which he usually tries to halt by reminding Prince John about his mother, which never works. Sir Hiss is often compared to Kaa from the film The Jungle Book, as they share similar appearances as well as hypnotic powers. He is just as heartless as his boss saying that he has an absolute skill for encouraging contributions. Nonetheless, he does have some degree of morality, as evidenced by his horror that Prince John was willing to have Friar Tuck, a man of the church, be executed (though mostly because such an act against clergy at the time would warrant retribution from the church), even if it was to lure Robin Hood out of hiding. A running gag throughout the movie is Hiss hissing in Prince John's ear. Sir Hiss is somewhat immature and pompous, as seen when with his interactions with Little John when the latter was taking a seat in the royal box with Prince John. Hiss also seems to dislike being called names (and took particular offense when Little John called him "Buster"). Sir Hiss was one of only two major characters original to the Disney adaptation (the other being Lady Kluck). Sir Hiss is similar to Kaa from The Jungle Book, not only in physical appearance, but most notably in the use of hypnosis. However, his eyes are smaller than Kaa's. Also, unlike Kaa and real snakes, Sir Hiss has flat human-like teeth and he has a gap in his front teeth, a trademark feature of his voice actor Terry-Thomas. Sir Hiss is shown to be smarter than Prince John, but the evil prince repeatedly calls him an idiot. Sir Hiss is not as evil as Prince John or the Sheriff since he is shown to be shocked when Prince John tells him of his plans of killing Friar Tuck to trap Robin Hood. This implies that he's not really evil; he's merely following an oath he made to Prince John. Sir Hiss' reaction has historical basis: the Church during the 12th Century had influence over the Crown at the time, and for a king to punish and execute clergy on their own authority would lead to excommunication or the possibility of inciting other Catholic nations to war, justifying Sir Hiss' fears. Sir Hiss wears a green stocking hat to bed. Alex Rocco was considered to voice Sir Hiss. When declaring that John has gone "Stark-raving mad", he says the last word with an agonized, drawn out scream, implying alongside the pan out to the burning castle that Hiss may have caught on fire, although his next appearance at the rock quarry confirmed his survival. In Disney Tsum Tsum, Sir Hiss appears as a non-playable Tsum, and was fought as a boss with Prince John (another non-playable Tsum) during the Disney Storybooks Classic Series II event. The fact that Hiss sleeps in a bed in the same room as Prince John is odd, as with Prince John being royalty it would be expected that he and Hiss would be in separate bedrooms.