| “ | Those little rats stole something very important from me. AND NOBODY STEALS FROM OCIOUS P. POTTER!! | „ |
| ~ Potter about the Borrowers who snatched the will from him. |
| “ | You find those Borrowers, Or I'll make sure you never kill in this town again! | „ |
| ~ Potter threatening exterminator Jeff. |
Ocious P. Potter is the main antagonist of the 1997 film adaptation of The Borrowers. He is an arrogant, greedy and evil real estate lawyer who wants to destroy the titular family's house and build luxury apartments in its place.
He was portrayed by American actor John Goodman, who also played Big Dan Teague from O Brother Where Art Thou, Chuck Long from Evan Almighty, Bones Darley from Death Sentence, Marshall from The Hangover, Howard Stambler from 10 Cloverfield Lane, and voiced George Wolfsbottom from Clifford's Really Big Movie and Layton T. Montgomery from Bee Movie.
History
Potter started out as the lawyer of the Lenders, who have inherited a house from Mrs. Lender's aunt Mrs. Allabaster. When the property lease is being called into question whether the Lenders own the house or not, they stated that Mrs. Allabaster wrote a will that will prove their ownership. However, Mr. Potter seemingly states that he can't find the will and has already made plans to demolish their house in order to build condominiums on the land, and the Lenders have until Saturday to move away.
As Saturday hits by, the Lenders have moved away and Potter arrives to the empty house. It later turns out that Mrs. Allabaster never trusted banks and has hidden the will inside the house for her descendants to find, something which Potter deliberately kept from his clients. As soon as he finds the will (detailing the rightful ownership to the Lenders), Potter calls in City Hall to call in demolition of the house. He then intends to burn the will, but Arrietty Clock (the protagonist of the film) and her brother Peagreen, two tiny people known as 'Borrowers' as they borrow stuff without being seen, recover the will, intending to save the house for both their family and the Lenders. Upon seeing the Clocks' underground home and believing that the house is infested, Potter calls in the local exterminator Jeff, but Arrietty and Peagreen manage to escape. Potter and Jeff give chase by having Jeff's bloodhound Mr. Smelly to sniff Peagreen's jacket and track down the scent to a milk factory, where Peagreen is stuck inside a milk bottle after a certain mishap.
During the way, they occasionally bump into the local police officer Oliver Steady, who starts to question Potter's actions regarding the Lender house. Around the same time, Jeff starts to question Potter's intention of killing the Borrowers after seeing how capable they are, resulting Potter to break off with him just as he is doused with liquid cheese by Arrietty and another Borrower named Spud Spiller. As soon as Peagreen is saved by his family, Potter finally arrives to the scene, steals the will, and straps the five Borrowers to the cheese machine, intending to drown them into liquid cheese as revenge for humiliating him. Spiller then insults Potter to the point where Potter dumps him into another machine, apparently killing him. Potter then heads over to City Hall to call for demolition, but not before he taunts the Lenders' son Pete (who is a close friend of the Borrowers) that the Clock family are about to be drowned in cheese.
As soon as Potter leaves for City Hall, Pete saves the Borrowers from being drowned by liquid cheese, and they head over to City Hall (with the help from Jeff, who lend in his van to drive Pete there). As soon as Potter reaches City Hall, he is briefly stalled by the receptionist, who gives him confusing directions to the demolition area in response to his rude behavior. Just as he finally reaches the room, Jeff and Peter arrive to stop him. Potter responds by sending them down the elevator before going into the room, only to find out that it's just a stock room (Jeff has deliberately misplaced the 'Demoliton' sign on the front of the door) where the Borrowers trap Potter with Sello tape. Out of rage, Potter breaks away from the tape and traps the Borrowers, intending to suck them up in a vacuum. However, Spud (apparently having escaped the machine) arrives to the rescue by bringing an entire army of Borrowers arrive to trap Potter by using wires and the ceiling fan. Arriety's father Pod then delivers a speech to Potter on behalf of the Borrowers, right before they leave as soon as the door opens. Pete, Jeff and Officer Steady have arrived to the scene, where Pete recovers the will and shows it to Steady, proving Potter's deceit and his plan to cheat the Lenders out of their house. Having gone crazy about the Borrowers, Potter tries to explain his story, but an unconvinced Steady arrests him for fraud and theft.
With Potter's plans exposed, the Lenders moved back to their house while Pete remains friends with the Borrowers while keeping their existence as a secret. It is also implied that the Lender are likely to sue Potter for deceit and fraud that he committed against them.
During the end credits, Potter is being seen at the police station trying to explain about the existence of the Borrowers, only to be laughed at by Officer Steady and the entire police. The film closes with Potter's mugshot being taken, though he actually seems to enjoy it. It can be implied afterwards that Potter himself is disbarred from his job, and sentenced to prison for his crimes against the Lenders and Borrowers.
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