Prince Charming

Prince Charming is the love interest of Cinderella in the 1950 film Cinderella and its sequels. However, he only played his greatest and most dramatic role in the third and final Cinderella movie, A Twist in Time. He was voiced by William Phipps in the first film, by Christopher Daniel Barnes in the sequels, and by Matt Nolan in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

Development
In earlier drafts of the screenplay, the Prince originally played a larger role and had more character development than what he ultimately received in the final version of the film. In one abandoned opening, the Prince was shown hunting a deer, but at the end of the sequence, it was to be revealed that the Prince and the deer were actually friends playing a game. In an abandoned alternate ending, after the Duke discovered Cinderella's identity, she was shown being brought to the castle to be re-introduced to the Prince, who is surprised to learn that Cinderella was actually a modest servant girl instead of the Princess he thought she was, but the Prince's feelings for her were too strong to be bothered by this and he embraced her.

Personality
Prince Charming was actually, finally given a true personality in the franchise's final installment. He showed himself to be humorous, vital, and enjoys ballroom dances. He was also revealed to be a romantic, once expressing that all he wants is a love as true as the one his parents had shared. His love for Cinderella was so powerful that, little by little, it was able to free him from Lady Tremaine's mind-manipulation spell, and even compel him to jump right out of the castle window to rescue and propose to Cinderella.

Though elegant enough both mentally and appearance wise, he appears to be quite a swashbuckler, as shown when he challenges his father in friendly sword fights, and when he is seen racing on a horse to save Cinderella in Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.

Cinderella
In the first film, Prince Charming is returning to his home kingdom after a long absence. Meanwhile, his father, the King, is frustrated with his son as he has yet to find a wife. The King misses the sounds of children running around the castle and wishes to see his grandchildren (offsprings of the Prince and his wife, if he ever finds himself one) before he passes away. He then comes up with the idea to throw a welcome ball. The King orders the Grand Duke to invite every eligible maiden in the kingdom, hoping that his son will fall in love with one.

The ball takes place in the King's castle that very night, where Prince Charming makes his first appearance. One by one, the maidens in attendance present themselves to the Prince, who is unimpressed by both the maidens and his father's attempts to match him up. Eventually, he spots a young girl (Cinderella) wandering about the ballroom and is enticed by her sparkling appearance. He walks over to her, courts her to the center of the ballroom, and the two begin to waltz. He and the girl then share a private time together (courtesy of the Grand Duke), during which they fall in love and are about to kiss, but when the clock begins to strike midnight, she suddenly runs off. The Prince tries to stop her, wanting to know her name and where to find her, but becomes surrounded by other maidens attending the ball.

However, the Prince learns that the girl whom he has spent the night with but has disappeared has left behind a glass slipper, so he decides to marry the girl who can wear the slipper, and the Grand Duke delivers the news to the King. The King is excited with the idea of his son being in love and, after a brief struggle with the Duke, orders him to go on a non-stop search. After hours, the Duke finally finds the girl, Cinderella, and quickly takes her to the castle, where she and the Prince are reunited.

Prince Charming is last seen at the film's finale, walking down the stairs with Cinderella as his bride. The King and the Grand Duke happily celebrate their marriage as the newlyweds ride off in a carriage to go out on their honeymoon. As the carriage pulls away, Cinderella and the Prince share another kiss, with the final words in the book, below the illustration of the couple kissing, reading "and they lived happily ever after."

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True
Prince Charming reappeared in the film's sequel. In the first story "Aim to Please" he and Cinderella have just returned from their honeymoon only to find out that he and his father must leave on a trip. While they are gone, Cinderella must learn how to be a princess and set up a ball in honor of their return. When they do, Charming and his father love the new way Cinderella planned the party. She invited guest from the village instead of just aristocrats as well as brightening up the castle.

In the next segment, Charming and Cinderella attend a carnival festival. At the end, Charming is briefly seen when Jaq and Gus rush by him with a scrapbook that they plan to show Cinderella.

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time
In A Twist in Time, the Prince had a larger role and was the deuteragonist for the first time. In this film, Charming and Cinderella are celebrating an year's worth of magic with their love stronger than ever. However, in the mix of the festivities, Fairy Godmother misplaces her wand, and it falls into the hands of Anastasia. The stepsister takes the wand to her mother Lady Tremaine, and her sister Drizella. The two quickly disregards the power of the wand until Anastasia accidentally turns Lucifer into a goose-cat hybrid. In a scuffle with Fairy Godmother, Anastasia accidentally turns her into stone, and now the wand lies in the hands of Lady Tremaine, who turns back time to when Cinderella fitted the slipper.

Using the magic of the wand, Lady Tremaine altered the size of the glass slipper to fit Anastasia. The Grand Duke escorts the Tremaines to the palace to meet Prince Charming, with Cinderella secretly tagging along to show the Prince that she's the one he waltzed with. When the Tremaines arrive at the palace, Charming notices Anastasia not being the right girl. He apologizes to the Tremaines and orders the Duke to send them home. As he makes way for the door, Lady Tremaine casts a spell on Charming, having him believe it was Anastasia at the ball, and erases all memories of Cinderella. The Prince, now under the spell, welcomes the Tremaines in with open arms. Cinderella's mice friends, Jaq and Gus, were able to witness the event, and rushes to Cinderella.

Meanwhile, Charming and Anastasia begin preparations for the wedding and in during which, Charming begins to feel uncertain about the "love" between Anastasia and himself. According to his father, you feel a spark in you heart when you touch the hand of you true love, but when Charming and Anastasia's hands touched, he felt nothing. Over at Lady Tremaine's quarters, Jaq and Gus managed to steal the wand back and hand it over to Cinderella. She tries to break the spell but Tremaine orders the guards to arrest her and banish her from the kingdom. Before she was taken away, Cinderella managed to touch Charming's hand, and the prince felt a connection. Jaq and Gus are able to persuade the Prince that Cinderella's the real girl from the ball, and Charming rushes off to save her from banishment.

The two reunite and begins the wedding preparations. Lady Tremaine then kidnapps Cinderella and morphs Anastasia into a clone of her. At the wedding, Cinderella manages to return, and Anastasia confesses the scheme to Charming. Tremaine attemtps to get even by transforming Cinderella and Anastasia into toads but Charming repels the magic beam with his sword, transforming Lady Tremaine and Drizella into taods instead. Charming and Cinderella finally marry, and Anastasia is welcomed into their royal family.

House of Mouse
Prince Charming makes many cameos in House of Mouse, always seen aside Cinderella.

Once Upon a Time
In Once Upon a Time, Prince Charming's renamed Prince Thomas (As Prince Charming was the nickname for the Prince ). Here he and his father the King are hosting a ball, where he falls in love with Cinderella. He later defends her from Rumplestiltskin, who Cinderella had promised anything in exchange of going to the ball and is now wanting their firstborn. When she discovers she is pregnant, she tries to run away. But Thomas and Prince James devise a plan to capture Rumplestiltskin. The plan succeeds, but Thomas disappears. Rumplestiltskin vows that she will never see Thomas again until the contract is fulfilled.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Prince Charming is a protagonist featured in the world Castle of Dreams in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. He is the future king of the Castle of Dreams who serves as Cinderella's love interest, marrying her and saving her from the evils of Lady Tremaine after the events of the ball.

Prince and heir to the throne of Castle of Dreams, Prince Charming first laid eyes upon Cinderella, his one true love, at his royal ball, which was held by the King in hopes of finding his son a wife. During the ball, they were cornered by a powerful Unversed which was later defeated by Terra, this disruption however did not disturb their romance and they proceeded to dance. Prince Charming later came before the Grand Duke after Cinderella fled the ball, the Fairy Godmother's spell about to break, and was introduced to Aqua. They were both hesitant of each other, the Prince holding a search for the girl he had danced with. Telling the Grand Duke to find whichever maiden fit the lone glass slipper, he found Cinderella at the home of Lady Tremaine, marrying her, and thus saving her from the life of servitude she had lived with the wicked stepmother and her stepsisters.

During the ending credits, he was seen dancing with Cinderella in the ballroom with Jaq and the Fairy Godmother looking from the balcony.

Kilala Princess
While visiting Cinderella's world Kiala must obtain Cinderella's tiara which has been stolen by the Tremaine's to brainwash Prince Charming.

Disney Parks
Prince Charming is a rare Disney meet and greet character. He usually appears in shows and many parades.

Charming is the central character of Prince Charming Regal Carrousel. He can be seen alongside Cinderella in One Man's Dream II: The Magic Lives On!.

Fantasmic!
In the nighttime spectacular Fantasmic! Prince Charming makes appearances. His first appears dancing with Cinderella and other Disney Prince and Princessses. Prince Charming later appears on top of the mark Twain Riverboat or Steamboat Willie (depending on the park). Prince Charming is also seen during Cinderella's squence in Tokyo DisneySea's version of the show.

Dream Along With Mickey
Prince Charming appears along with Cinderella in the live castle stage show Dream Along with Mickey in the Magic Kingdom park. When Minnie wishes to be a princess Mickey grants her wish and welcomes Aurora, Phillip, Snow White, Prince, Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Trivia

 * Not only is the name of the Prince never revealed, he is never actually referred to as "Prince Charming" in the film. His name was mentioned only in merchandise and, more recently, Kingdom Hearts and Prince Charming's Regal Carousel.
 * Prince Charming was the first Disney Prince to participate in a duet with his respective love interest. The second was Aladdin with Princess Jasmine.
 * He is the first prince to be featured in a wedding celebration. The second is Prince Eric with Ariel, and the third is Prince Naveen with Tiana.
 * The Prince is also the first to dance with the heroine during the film, with Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty being the second.
 * Unlike the prince in Snow White, he is the first to have a bit more dialogue.
 * The Prince is also the first to live in a castle which is a feature location in the film, with Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid being the second and Beast (Prince Adam) from Beauty and the beast being the third.
 * The Prince is the first of three other Disney Princes to feature his father. Prince Phillip is the second and Prince Naveen is the third.
 * As with Cinderella, the prince's hair color has been altered by being lightened from its original black-brown to a lighter brown shade in mechandise depictions that have him alongside Cinderella.
 * In "The House Meets the Mouse - Part 1", Steve plays this character, despite the fact that D.J. swears that it was him.
 * There is a homage is made to Prince Charming in The Princess and the Frog as Tiana is seen in Charlotte's room with a prince doll that resembles him wearing his outfit from the second movie. This makes him one of the four Disney characters referenced in the movie, with the Magic Carpet, King Triton and The Genie being the other three.
 * The Prince is the second prince to be voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes. The first was Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid.
 * He is the second Disney Prince to have his love interest run away be he learns her name. The first was The Prince from Snow White, and both of them were followed by Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty.
 * Prince Charming is the first Disney Prince to dance with his heroine just after they met, the second one would be Prince Philip.

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