Mr. Royalton at breakfast.
E.P. Arnold Royalton, Esq. is a character from the Speed Racer film, he is portrayed by Roger Allam. He is the founder and head of Royalton Industries and is a fierce competitor of many other companies, one of them being Togokhan Motors.
Background[]
Arnold Royalton formerly worked at GloboCom before quitting his job there. From that point, with a Commodore 64 computer from the basement of his foster parents' house, he started up his own company, Royalton Industries. Over the years, under Royalton's leadership, it grew into a major conglomerate with at least one hundred subsidiaries under its umbrella. The racing division of RI, Royalton Racecars, is one of the top teams in the World Racing League. However, he is also directly involved in the insidious race-fixing scheme that plagued the WRL for years, profiting off of it, and hiring race-fixers such as Cruncher Black to bribe or force drivers to lose on purpose or be killed if they refuse to comply.
He first appears in the film, when he arrived at the Racer residence in a K-harrier at breakfast, before he took the Racer family to Royalton Tower to give them a tour there. He then offers Speed Racer a contract to be a racing driver for his company, offering him a luxurious lifestyle. However, Speed later refused, opting to keep the family feel of his team. Royalton then revealed that all WRL-sanctioned races are fixed with the outcome designed to benefit the sponsors. He threatens Speed that he will ensure he will not even finish a single race. He and his ally Cruncher Block later contract Snake Oiler to dispose of Taejo Togokhan and later Speed Racer in the Crucible, a no-holds barred rally race. Taking things further, he had Cruncher Block hire the drivers of Flying Foxes Freight, Thor-Axine and Sempre Fi-Ber to try and eliminate Speed, Taejo and Racer X during the race. This attempt fails, which ends with Snake Oiler and the others losing the race and Cruncher Block getting arrested. Royalton later sics his GRX on Speed Racer at the Grand Prix with Jack "Cannonball" Taylor as the driver.
During a bout in the race it is revealed that he had equipped the GRX with a spear hook (illegal in WRL regulations) which caused Royalton Industries to be disqualified when Speed uses his jump jacks to reveal the spear hook to the track cameras. Despite all the attempts to stop the Mach 6, Speed Racer wins the race causing him to scream in anger and despair, knowing this win will cost him everything. To add insult to injury, Mr. Musha gives him a disapproving look, indicating that their newly made partnership is dissolved. He is later exposed for all of his other acts of corruption with the help of Taejo Togokhan as a star witness, when a newspaper article states that Taejo has agreed to testify against Royalton and Cruncher Block. Royalton later ends up in jail with the judge presiding over his trial coining the phrase "Cheaters never prosper" as the guilty verdict was delivered.
Personality[]
Royalton initially appeared friendly and courteous to the Racer family, but when Speed turned down his offer to be a contracted driver for Royalton Industries, he reveals his true colors. He is a corrupt executive who sees racing as a means to gain wealth and power with no regard for sportsmanship or ethics, willing to use any unscrupulous methods to protect his bottom line. He treats the wreck of Carl Potts' car that he has on display at his office in Royalton Tower as an idol for his arrogant and self-serving faith in the race-fixing scheme, in direct contrast to racing being Speed's "religion".
When Speed exposed the GRX's spear hook to the track cameras, his faith in the race-fixing scheme was shattered, made even more evident when he lost his composure upon Speed winning the Grand Prix, as well as knowing that he would lose everything.
Relationships[]
Jack "Cannonball" Taylor[]
No information yet
Trivia[]
- In British terminology, Esquire (abbreviated as Esq.) is a polite title appended to a man's name when no other title is used, typically in the address of a letter or other documents. This would imply that Royalton himself is of British descent. Considering that he had started the company with a Commodore 64 computer, which was popular in Europe, especially Great Britain, during the 1980s, this may not be too surprising.
- Assuming Royalton is the age Roger Allam was at the time (54), and that he bought the Commodore 64 he made Royalton Industries with when it was still on the market (1982-1994), that puts the in-universe timeframe of the film anywhere between 1982 and 2038.
- His name in the script was Remington.
Behind the scenes[]
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