O'Malley comes off as a smooth-talking, streetwise cat who relishes his life of freedom out in the open with no rules and no responsibilities; all of this changes when he meetsDuchess for the first time. He falls in love with Duchess when he first meets her, and he quickly starts flirting with and serenading her - although he was obviously a little turned off upon learning that Duchess had children.
However, Thomas almost instantly bonds with Duchess' kittens (who return the sentiment), and he becomes like a father to them. Also, when faced with adversity, Thomas will indeed rise to the occasion to protect the ones that he cares for and loves.
In the film, O'Malley appearssinging about himself afterEdgar is chased off bya couple of dogs, trying to get rid of the cats. He is instantly attracted to Duchess because of her appearance but is slightly put off when he learns she has children, despite bonding quickly with them. However, he soon has a change of heart and helps Duchess and herchildren get back toParis safely. During their return to Paris, he becomes smitten with Duchess once again and starts being fond of her children as well as her. In the big fight scene, he,Scat Cat, and theAlley Cats battle Edgar as he tries to send Duchess and her kittens to Timbuktu. He saves Duchess and the kittens just in time and becomes a part of the family.
Thomas O'Malley, along with his alley cat friends, made several appearances on Disney's 2001-2003 animated television seriesHouse of Mouse. As a running gag, he andScat Cat's group were often booked to sing at theclub, but an incident of some sort would always result in them being fired (such asDonald booking theBig Bad Wolf to sing instead) or forced to leave (such as being chased byPluto). In the episode "Max's Embarrassing Date", O'Malley and Duchess are seen next to a tipped table covered in milk afterGoofy has an accident.
Other appearances[]
O'Malley makes a cameo at the start of the comicDarkwing Duck #13, standing over a trash can in front of Madame Kira's House of Psychic Readings.
Thomas O'Malley is a playable character inDisney Heroes: Battle Mode. Introduced in Update 6.11., Thomas O'Malley is a Front-Line Control role hero. O'Malley's skills are:"Hissing Fury","Feline Serenade","Mimic Melody","Collar Class", and"Pure Bloom". These skills allow O'Malley to (in the order):
Thomas O’Malley puffs up, hissing at enemies, dealing Fantastic Damage and Confusing them for a few seconds. Additionally, all enemies have their Evasion and Tenacity reduced to a certain amount for a few seconds. Thomas O’Malley can't be Revived by other sources while he has "Cat Lives".
Thomas sings a beautiful tune, Charming the closest enemies for a few seconds. Additionally, all allies are Cleansed and granted Skill Power for a few seconds. Charmed enemies are Immune to Attack and Movement Speed reductions while Charmed by Thomas O’Malley.
Thomas pretends to play the trumpet with his hands, dealing Fantastic Damage, Distracting the enemy team, and increasing their Damage Taken by a percent for a few seconds. Additionally, enemies that KO Thomas O’Malley while Distracted have their current Basic Damage and Skill Power Reduced by a percent for a few seconds.
Every time Thomas O’Malley loses a "Cat Life" he deals Fantastic Damage and applies stacks of Decay to all enemies. Every additional stack of Decay applied past the stack limit is converted into Fatigue stacks instead. Additionally, each time Thomas O’Malley loses a "Cat Life", he Stuns the closest enemies for a few seconds. Subsequent Stuns have their duration increased by a few seconds each time Thomas O’Malley loses a "Cat Life".
Every time Thomas O’Malley loses one of his "Cat Lives" all enemies lose Energy and are Silenced for a few seconds. Additionally, all allies’ Basic Attacks deal an additional bonus Fantastic Damage per "Cat Life" spent up to a maximum amount of Fantastic Damage. "Hissing Fury" now applies Drain to all enemies for a few seconds. “Feline Serenade” now causes the furthest enemy to Distract all allies and Charmed enemies for a few seconds.
Additionally, Thomas O’Malley has 7 "Cat Lives". Every time Thomas reaches 0 HP, he spends one of his "Cat Lives" to Revive, Remove all Debuffs and Heal a percent of his Max HP over a few seconds. Thomas O’Malley’s Cleanse can’t be Blocked by Decay and his "Cat Lives" reset every wave.
LikeTramp inLady and the Tramp, O'Malley was a street-smart stray. The contrast is Tramp marriedLady and had puppies (includingScamp,Annette, Collette, and Danielle) of his own while O'Malley married Duchess and became a stepfather to her three kittens.
Although O'Malley does not appear inThe Fox and the Hound 2, Zelda, the cat friend ofDixie, briefly mentions that she has been the girlfriend of "a romeo named Thomas O'…" but before she had time to finish its sentence, Dixie cuts the word to her.
In theItalian dub, O'Malley is referred to as "Romeo". He is Roman (notably speaking in a marcate Roman dialect rather than in standard Italian) and his most famous sentence is "'Io so' Romeo, er mejo der Colosseo"("I am Romeo, the best of the Colosseum").
In theFrench dub, his full name is Walter Giuseppe Désiré Thomas O'Malley.
Bing Crosby was considered to voice Thomas O'Malley.
Between the 1970s and early 1990s, Thomas O'Malley served as the sole representative of the film alongsideScat Cat and theAlley Cats. Both eventually got replaced by Marie as the main representation of the film starting in the mid-1990s.
Duchess jokes that his name "cover[s] all of Europe". This is true for most of his name: DeLacey is a Norman name, Giuseppe is Italian in origin, and Casey and O'Malley are Irish. However, Abraham is a Hebrew name and Thomas is Aramaic, which are Middle Eastern languages.
He is the only characterPhil Harris voiced to not be a bear.
Initially, O'Malley was to be drawn with stripes, to resemble a tabby cat. However, asWolfgang Reitherman learned when animation onShere Khan was being done forThe Jungle Book, animating stripes is difficult and expensive. Hadthe sequel gone forward, he would have received the stripes he never got in the original film.
Thomas is the first stepfather featured in a canonical animated Disney film.
Thomas is the only cat who never wore a ribbon until the end.
Thomas resembles an older version ofToulouse, who's completely light orange. Thomas is dark orange with white front paws.
