Daring Dan Dawson is the main antagonist of the TaleSpin episode "Stormy Weather". He is the head of an air circus and has been known to have his workers perform dangerous stunts.
Role in the episode[]
When Daring Dan first appears, he happens upon Kit Cloudkicker riding on his glider. Dan praises Kit for showing off such bizarre stunts and heads off just before the Sea Duck enters some storm clouds.
Sometime after, Dan lands his biplane at Higher for Hire and tells Kit how impressed he was. When Baloo asks Dan for his identity, Dan pulls out a poster for his flying circus and mistakes Baloo and Rebecca Cunningham for being Kit's parents. Kit tells Dawson that he's an orphan, and Dawson says that he is one as well. Dan hands Kit some tickets to his air circus and takes off, saying, "Here's looking at you, Ace!"
The next day, Baloo and Kit go the the flying circus and watch Dan perform death-defying stunts. After the show, Dan attempts to manipulate Kit into becoming his star attraction, saying that it will bring fame and fortune. He says that Kit is "one in a million" and that he shouldn't let the "little people" hold him down. Kit is unsure at first, as he has a strong relationship with Baloo, but once Kit performs the "Cloudkicker Dive to Doom", he becomes fully convinced that he should join the show. Baloo tries to tell Kit that Dan is only filling his head with lies, but Kit is certain that Baloo is only holding him down.
The day afterwards, Baloo wakes up to discover that Kit is not in his bed. Positive that Kit has left and joined Dan's air circus, Baloo travels there to look for his partner. Baloo sees that his worst fears have come true, as Kit has become Dawson's new partner and is wearing a daredevil's suit. When the crowd cheers after witnessing Kit's death-defying act, Baloo becomes convinced that Kit has moved on to a better life and has no further need for him.
When the shows are done for the day, Dan piles up the money collected and gives Kit his share, which is only a single dollar bill. When Kit starts to complain, Dan says that the rest is to pay off the dressing room and daredevil suit. At that moment, Dan suggests Kit perform a new stunt, which he calls the "Flaming Tunnel of Fear". Kit thinks that this new stunt is way too dangerous even for him, but Dawson is convinced that everyone will pay top dollar to witness something like this.
In the morning, a policeman comes to Higher for Hire and shows Baloo a mugshot of Dan Dawson. The police have heard stories of Dan's former partners getting severely injured in performing his stunts. The police haven't been able to prove this, to they plan to catch Dan in the act during the show at New Fedora. Eager to expose Dawson, Baloo flies on to the show.
Meanwhile, at New Fedora, a thunderstorm is setting in and Kit says that performing a stunt in treacherous conditions is unwise. Dawson threatens to fire Kit unless he performs the stunt. When Kit decides to call it quits, Dan seemingly calls off the show and offers a ride home. Once the plane has taken off, Dan reveals that he was bluffing and then proceeds with the stunt. Dawson cuts Kit's seatbelt and then turns the biplane upside down, sending the kid (with his glider) plummeting to certain doom.
At that moment, Baloo appears in the Sea Duck and shoots a towing line for Kit to grab onto. Dan shakes his fist at Baloo for ruining the stunt. Baloo then clips the biplane's wing with the Sea Duck's propeller, forcing Dan to eject. As Dan parachutes down to the ground, he realizes he is dangerously close to the rings of fire. He narrowly avoids the rings, only to find out his parachute has been set on fire. The parachute burns up, leaving only the ropes, causing Dawson to fall to the ground. Dawson lands in the arms of the policeman from earlier, who says Dan is under arrest for exploitation and willful endangerment of his performance partners. Dan tries to get away, but the Sea Duck knocks him back at the feet of the policeman. Just before the Sea Duck takes off, Kit throws his daredevil uniform at Dawson, exclaiming, "Here's looking at you, Ace!"