| Tonto | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| First appearance | WXYZ radio; Detroit, Michigan, USA; February 25, 1933 |
| Created by | Fran Striker George W. Trendle |
| In-story information | |
| Partnerships | The Lone Ranger[1] |
| Abilities | Expert marksman and horseman Trained hand-to-hand combatant |
Tonto is a fictional character; he is theNative American (eitherTonto Apache,Comanche, orPotawatomi)companion of theLone Ranger, a popular AmericanWestern character created byGeorge W. Trendle andFran Striker. Tonto has appeared in radio and television series and other presentations of the characters' adventures righting wrongs in the 19th-centurywestern United States.[2]
Tonto made his first appearance on the 11th episode of the radio show, which originated on theDetroit, Michigan radio stationWXYZ. Though he became well known as the Lone Ranger's friend, Tonto was originally created just so the Lone Ranger would have someone to talk to.[1] Throughout the radio run (which spanned 21 years), with only a few exceptions, Tonto was played by American actorJohn Todd.[3]
Chief Thundercloud played the character in theRepublic movieserialsThe Lone Ranger andThe Lone Ranger Rides Again. To this point, Tonto had been depicted, on the radio series, as a somewhat elderly sidekick. This serial established the better-remembered image of Tonto as a handsome young tribal warrior in buckskins. The only diversion from this image since then has beenJohnny Depp's depiction in Disney's 2013 film,The Lone Ranger, the most recent portrayal.
Jay Silverheels portrayed the arguably best-remembered version inThe Lone Ranger television series. This was the highest-rated television program on theABC network in the early 1950s and its first true "hit".[4]
Ivan Naranjo, aBlackfoot/Southern Ute actor fromColorado, voiced the character inThe Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour.
Michael Horse portrayed Tonto in the filmThe Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981).
Tonto made his first appearance on the 11th episode of the radio showThe Lone Ranger.[1] Two conflictingorigin stories have been given for the character Tonto and how he came to work with the Lone Ranger. As originally presented, in the December 7, 1938 radio broadcast,[citation needed] Reid had already been well established as the Lone Ranger when he met Tonto. In that episode Cactus Pete, a friend of the Lone Ranger, tells the story of how the masked man and Tonto first met. According to that tale, Tonto had been caught in the explosion when two mendynamited agold mine they were working. One of the men wanted to kill the wounded Tonto, but the Lone Ranger arrived on the scene and made him administerfirst aid. The miner subsequently decided to keep Tonto around, intending to make him thefall guy when he would later murder his partner. The Lone Ranger foiled both the attempted murder and theframing. No reason was given in the episode as to why Tonto chose to travel with the Lone Ranger, rather than continue about his business.
A different version was given in later episodes of theradio drama and at the beginning ofThe Lone Ranger television series: Tonto rescues the sole survivingTexas Ranger of a party that was tricked into an ambush by theoutlaw Butch Cavendish. Tonto recognizes the ranger as someone who had saved him when they were both boys. He refers to him by the title "ke-mo sah-bee", explaining that the phrase means "faithful friend" (radio series) or "trusty scout" (television series) in the language of his tribe. In the 2013 film, Tonto translates the word as meaning "wrong brother". Tonto buries the dead rangers, and the Lone Ranger instructs him to make a sixth empty grave to leave the impression that he, too, is dead.[1]
The radio series identified Tonto as a chief's son in thePotawatomi nation. The Potawatomi originated in theGreat Lakes region, but in the 19th century, most had been relocated to themidwestern states. The choice to make Tonto a Potawatomi seems to come from station owner George Trendle's youth inMullett Lake, Michigan. Located in the northern part of theMidwest, Michigan is the traditional territory of the Potawatomi, and many local institutions use Potawatomi names. Trendle gained the name "Tonto" from the local Potawatomi, who told him it meant "wild one" in their language. Other sources indicate that Camp Kee Mo Sah Bee belonged to the father-in-law of the show's director, James Jewell. According to author David Rothel, who interviewed Jewell a few months before his death,Kee Mo Sah Bee andTonto were the only two words that Jewell remembered from those days.[5] Alternatively, Tonto's name may have been inspired by the name ofTonto Basin, Arizona. In the first novel in a series published byGrosset and Dunlap, Tonto is described as a "half-breed." Though credited toFran Striker, this book was actually written by Gaylord du Bois. Later books in the series were actually written by Striker, and were in line with the continuity from the radio series.
In the2013 theatrical feature film ofThe Lone Ranger, Tonto is depicted as a disgracedComanche tribesman and the last of thewendigo hunters. It's revealed that Tonto is actually suffering severe mental illness and survivor's guilt for inadvertently causing the massacre of his tribe by the film's villains. To rationalize what he had done, he convinced himself that the cannibalistic Butch Cavendish was a wendigo, a non-existent monster used in Native American ghost stories to frighten children. The character wears black-and-white face paint and a deceased crow on his head.[6] According to Johnny Depp, who played him, the inspiration for the costume was a painting entitledI Am Crow by Kirby Sattler.[7]
In Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, "tonto" translates as "dumb", "moron", or "fool". In the Italian version the original name is retained, but in the Spanish dubbed version, the character is called "Toro" (Spanish for "bull") or "Ponto".
Tonto first rode a horse named "White Feller" (White Fella/Fellah). When the 1938Republicmovie serialThe Lone Ranger was being filmed, it was thought that having two white horses would be confusing, so the producers made "White Feller" apinto horse, presumably on the theory that, being partly white, a pinto could still be named "White Feller". The radio series, noting that the pinto in the film had gone over well with audiences, decided that Tonto's mount would henceforth be a pinto. For several episodes, Tonto's new horse went unnamed, referred to only as "the paint horse" or simply "Paint". Eventually the name "Scout" was adopted.[8]
Tonto starred in his own comic book,The Lone Ranger's Companion Tonto, 31 issues of which were published byDell Comics during the 1950s.[9]
Later depictions beginning in the 1980s have taken efforts to show Tonto as an articulate and proud warrior whom the Ranger treats as an equal partner. In theTopps Comics four-issueminiseries,The Lone Ranger and Tonto, Tonto is even shown to be a very witty, outspoken, and sarcastic character willing to punch the Lone Ranger during a heated argument and commenting on his past pop-culture depictions with the words, "Of course, Kemosabe. Maybe when we talk I should use that 'me Tonto' stuff, way they write about me in the dime novels. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"[10]
In theTimeless episode "Murder of Jesse James", Wyatt Logan, one of the main characters, mentions thatNative Americandeputy U.S. marshal Grant Johnson was the inspiration for Tonto.
Jon Lovitz played a comic version of Tonto, in a group of other characters who speak little or broken English, onSaturday Night Live.
The portrayal of Tonto has been seen by someNative Americans and others as degrading, notably by Native American author and poetSherman Alexie.[11]
Tonto was originally depicted as not fluent in English and spoke in apidgin, saying things like, "That right,Kemo Sabe", or "Him say man ride over ridge on horse".
In 1975, poet and science fiction writerPaul O. Williams coined the term "tontoism" to refer to the practice of writinghaiku with missing articles ("the", "a", or "an"), which he claimed made such haiku sound like Tonto's stunted English.
Michael Horse who played Tonto in the 1981 Lone Ranger film had mixed feelings about the role, and worried it was perpetuating stereotypes.[12]
Later adaptations of the character, such asThe Legend of the Lone Ranger and theFilmation animated series,[citation needed] depict him as being articulate in English and speaking it carefully.
Silverheels was not above making a little fun of the character, as in a classic sketch onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson with Carson playing a career counselor and Silverheels playing Tonto looking for a new job after working "thirty lousy years" as the Lone Ranger's faithful sidekick. When asked why he was looking for a new job, Tonto replies, "Him finally find out what Kemo Sabe means!"[13][14]
| National | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
