Studio: Walt Disney Feature Animation
Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Produced by: Dan Rounds
Short Synopsis
In 16th-century England, the good king has fallen ill, and his greedy Captain of the Guard, Pete, has been plundering the country in his name for years. One winter day three beggars, Mickey, Goofy and Pluto, watch Pete's carriage pass, loaded with stolen food. Pluto chases a sausage into the castle; when Mickey knocks to get him back, a guard mistakes him for the prince and lets him in. The real prince, Mickey's exact double, is bored with his lessons from Horace Horsecollar and his valet Donald Duck. He and Mickey swap clothes for fun, and the prince goes out among his people while Mickey is left in the palace. Outside, the prince sees how Pete has been oppressing his subjects. When the king dies, Pete realises Mickey is an impostor and tries to use him to rule, while imprisoning the real prince and Donald. Goofy rescues them, and at the coronation the prince and Mickey expose Pete, who is defeated. The prince is crowned and rewards Mickey and his friends.
Why It Matters
- The film's watercolour backgrounds and soft, rounded character designs were a deliberate return to the look of Disney's late-1930s shorts, influenced by the work of Fred Moore, and it gave Mickey a proper storytelling role at a time when he rarely appeared in new films.
- It was Disney's last theatrical film made with traditional ink-and-paint and camera processes, before the digital CAPS system made them obsolete; some objects, such as the carriage, were already generated by computer and printed onto cels. It was also the first Disney short made to accompany a Disney animated feature, The Rescuers Down Under.
Notes and Trivia
- Mickey plays both the pauper and the prince, voiced by Wayne Allwine.
- The film's Pete was voiced by Arthur Burghardt.
- See also: The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Steamboat Willie (1928).