The Prince

"There's nobody like him...anywhere at all."

- Snow White

The Prince is a character in Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Originally planned to be the deuteragonist, it was ultimately decided that he would appear only twice in the film; at the beginning and the end (this was because he was the hardest character in the film to animate).

He was originally voiced by Harry Stockwell.

Animation
The Prince was the first 'realistic' human male that the Disney animators attempted to bring to life. It was found that the Prince was the hardest of all characters to animate. For this reason, his role in the film was minor; he only makes 2 appearances in the film. The character was mostly rotoscoped from Lewis Hightower's live-action performance. The Prince was partly animated by Milt Kahl, who would later be given similarly difficult tasks in the animation of Prince Charming in Cinderella and Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty.

Imprisoned by the Queen
It was originally planned that, jealous of the Prince's affections for Snow White, the Queen would have him brought to her, and she would have him locked in her dungeon. As the Witch, she would have made the skeletons in the dungeon get up and dance. She would have left the Prince in the dungeon, and he was to escape in the manner of Errol Flynn, enabling him to reach Snow White and break the spell. After escaping, the forest animals were to tell him where to go; however, only the horse was to understand, however, causing the Prince to take the long route and arrive too late to save Snow White. The idea was abandoned when it was realized how difficult it was to animate the Prince convincingly, and the character only appeared when he needed to further the story, which centered primarily around the relationship between Snow White and the Queen. However, comics released to promote the film include such scenes; the Witch locks up the Prince and tells him what her plans are for Snow White, telling him that she will win his affections, while the Prince is defiant. Later, as the animators became more experienced at animating human characters, a similar concept was used in Sleeping Beauty, in which Maleficent has Prince Phillip captured and taken to the Forbidden Mountains, where she shows him visions of the future she has planned for him.

Alternate Version of "Someday My Prince Will Come"
Sketches were made for the sequence in which Snow White sings Some Day My Prince Will Come depicting Snow White and the Prince dancing in the clouds, while small, star-like creatures cavort around them. However, the idea was reused, to an extent, in Sleeping Beauty, in which Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora dance together; their surroundings transform into clouds, presumably to reflect their happiness together.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Evil Queen, jealous of her stepdaughter's beauty, forces her to work as a servant in her castle. As Snow White works, she sings I'm Wishing, attracting the attention of  Prince Florian, who's passing by on his horse. As she sings into the well, performing a duet with her echo, she's startled as Florian suddenly joins in. She runs into the castle, and watches as he sings One Song. The two fall madly in love with each other. Watching from above is the Queen, who angrily closes the curtains of her window in jealousy.

When the Queen arrives, disguised as the Witch, to poison Snow White, she, knowing of the romance between the girl and the Prince, fools her into believing that the Poisoned Apple is a magic wishing apple, capable of making her greatest desire a reality. Snow White wishes to live with the Prince and, taking a bite, falls to the floor, taken by the Sleeping Death. Though the seven dwarfs succeed in chasing the Witch to her doom, Snow White remains uncured; the dwarfs place her in a glass coffin and take her to a clearing in the forest. The Prince hears of this and comes to the clearing. After singing One Song again, he kisses her on the lips and breaks the curse on her as she is revived. He takes her in his arms and puts her on his horse; after saying farewell to the dwarfs, the two ride into the sunset to his castle (the image of which is shown in the clouds above), where they live happily ever after.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
When Aqua comes to Dwarf Woodlands she encounters the Prince at the castle as he desperately tries to find Snow White. When she tells him that she was cursed by the Wicked Queen and is in a deep sleep, he asks Aqua where he can find her and she tells him to go to the Dwarf's Cottage, where he will find her in a glass coffin. After this he makes his way to the cottage and when he finds her, he kisses her and she awakens and together the ride of on his horse.

The Prince and Snow White were shown in the end credits in the meadows picking flowers with the Dwarves.

He is voiced by James Arnold Taylor (English) and Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese).

Cameos
In the live-action film, Flubber, the Prince made a cameo appearance on the monitor of Weebo the Robot.

Like other Disney characters, the Prince received many cameos in House of Mouse, but for him they were always non-speaking. He was usually seen at a table with Snow White.

Once Upon a Time
"I will always find you."

- Prince Charming to Snow White

The Prince appears as main character in ABC's Once Upon a Time. In the series, his real name is David and he is played by Josh Dallas.

David was originally a poor shepherd whose twin brother James was given to King George as an heir in a deal with Rumplestiltskin.

Additional back story was revealed in the series' fourth season, where David was shown under the strict rule of his landlord, Little Bo Peep. Though too intimidated by the witch to escape his slavery, David is taught the skills of bravery and battle by the traveling Princess Anna, who he provided shelter for, as she was the fiancée of his good friend, Kristoff. Through Anna's wisdom, David is able to fend off Bo Peep, and he uses such lessons for the rest of his days, as seen in the current timeline.

When James is killed in battle, David takes his brother's name in exchange for the prosperity of his mother Ruth's farm. King Midas declares David fit to marry his daughter Abigail and unite the kingdoms. However, David wants to marry for love, but George vows to kill his mother if he declines. Before his marriage, he falls in love with Snow White, who nicknames him Charming, later inviting her to run away. After continuous interceptions by George, the Evil Queen Regina captures him to convince Snow to willingly eat an apple containing a sleeping curse. He later awakens her and the pair marry, before Regina announces that she will cast a curse to destroy their happiness.

Once Snow and Charming return from their honeymoon, they are met by the Queens of Darkness, Maleficent, Ursula and Cruella. They learn of Regina's plan to cast the Dark Curse and the Queens inform them that there is a tree known as the Tree of Wisdom that can tell them how to escape Regina's Dark Curse, but it can only be accessed by two of the most valiant heroes. The five travel, but when Snow and Charming try to access the tree, it doesn't work, and the reason why is because Snow is pregnant, with a child with the potential for great darkness.

Rumplestiltskin informs them that their expected child will break the curse in 28 years. Snow and Charming then go to a unicorn, which can give visions of a persons unborn child. Charming sees and innocent baby, but Snow sees an evil teenage version of her daughter who rips her heart out. They then meet the Apprentice who tells that there is a way of ridding their child's darkness. They have to transfer it to another child. Snow and Charming realize that they can't do this to another child, but a peddler they meet, informs them that the sorceress Maleficent has turned into a dragon and laid an egg. They confront Maleficent and steal her egg, even though she begs them not to. Snow states that they'll give her the egg back after they're done with it. They give the egg to The Apprentice who then manages to transfer Emma's darkness into the egg, however, being the child of Maleficent, along with Emma's darkness it too much of a great risk and he decides to banish it to A Land Without Magic. The pair are even further horrified when they discover that Maleficent's egg contained a human baby and not a dragon and now they cannot return her back to Maleficent.

Emma is born shortly before the curse takes hold, and Charming places her in a magical wardrobe to protect her from the curse, before being wounded by the Queen's knights.

In Storybrooke, he first appears as a John Doe, who has gone unidentified for years. He awakens after Mary Margaret reads him their story. He reunites with his wife Kathryn, and is identified as David Nolan. David suffers from amnesia and cannot remember his fake life with Kathryn. He falls in love with Mary Margaret and begins an affair with her, ending his marriage to Kathryn, who is soon reported as being murdered - a plan arranged between Regina Mills and Mr. Gold. David becomes a suspect in her disappearance, until evidence against Mary Margaret is found. Kathryn is found alive, though David's relationship with Mary Margaret becomes strained, as he did not believe her innocence. He decides to move to Boston, though the curse is broken shortly after, and he reunites with Snow and Emma. David agrees to send a wraith released into Storybrooke through a portal, though Emma and Mary Margaret are dragged with it. David looks after Henry while Emma and Mary Margaret are absent. After failing attempts of transportation, David falls under a sleeping curse to communicate with Mary Margaret. He is awoken by true love's kiss when the two return. When Henry is kidnapped to Neverland, David travels with Mary Margaret, Emma, Regina, Mr. Gold, and Captain Hook in order to rescue him from Peter Pan. In Neverland, David is poisoned by Dreamshade, though Hook partially cures him and the group successfully return to Storybrooke where Mr. Gold fully heals him. After Pan enacts the original curse once more, David is returned to his original world with the remaining inhabitants, while Emma and Henry escape to New York City.

Back in the Enchanted Forest, David learns that Snow is pregnant but also discovers that Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West wants their baby. The two realize they must enact a new curse to return to Storybrooke and make Emma stop Zelena. A reassuring David lets Snow crush his heart, though she later asks Regina to split her heart in two to give to both of them. Zelena then adds a forgetting potion to the curse, removing their memories of the past year. A year later, Emma returns to Storybrooke, and David and Mary Margaret reveal they are having a baby. Zelena poses as the couple's mid-wife, stealing a symbol of David's courage from him. Zelena is ultimately defeated and Mary Margaret gives birth to a son, whom she names after Henry's father and Rumplestiltkin's son, Neal.

When Elsa arrives into Storybrooke looking for her sister, Mary Margaret and David help her try to find her sister. Once Ingrid casts the spell of Shattered Sight all over Storybrooke, everyone turns into their worst selves including Snow, David and Kristoff who are all locked up within the sheriff station. David and Mary Margaret are locked inside prisons are limited to verbally abusing each other, but Ingrid sacrifices herself and the spell of shattered sight is finally broken. The shards turn into snow and Storybrooke returns to normal, including David. Mary Margaret and David run up to Emma to hug her. As Neal begins to wake up, David tells Mary Margaret to forget what happened under the curse, then the couple kiss.

Emma, Mary Margaret and David then arrive to a mansion in which Hook found a portal. They go to make sure Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff make it back to Arendelle through the portal door. As the they go through the portal, they thank the three, and Anna tells the them that she wanted to thank Hook and Gold, only to have David mentioned that Gold was once Rumplestiltskin, and Anna tells them that she knows of him from their past encounter.

Upon entering the town, Cruella and Ursula meet with David and Mary Margaret, who swear the twosome into never revealing their pasts with each other in the Enchanted Forest. Ominously, Mary Margaret promises to tear out their hearts herself if they don't comply. When they discover Cruella and Ursula's plan to resurrect Maleficent, Snow and David travel underground to get rid of her ashes to prevent the plan, but it is there, they are ambushed and knocked unconscious by Ursula. To fully resurrect Maleficent, Cruella then obtains the blood "of those who wronged her most" which is Snow and Charming's, and spills it on Maleficent's ashes who is then resurrected. Maleficent informs them she will cause them suffering and pain like they caused her. Snow and Charming decide not to tell Emma their secret.

David and Mary Margaret are then informed that Gold plans to use The Author to turn Emma dark. When Maleficent casts a sleeping curse upon the whole town, they discover they are immune as they have been previously under the curse.They realize that Maleficent, Cruella and Gold are trying to obtain the page in which The Author is trapped in. The pair meet with Henry and take the page from him, but Mary Margaret convinces David that they should that they should stop lying and tell the truth to Emma. After they tell them, Emma refuses to talk to them, distraught over their evil actions and their lies. They decide to free The Author and discover that he is the peddler they met, on the day they banished Maleficent's child.

Disney Parks
The Prince is a rare meet and greet character at the Disney theme parks around the world. He can be found in Fantasyland with Snow White most of the time. Other than that, he make various appearances in shows.

Snow White's Scary Adventures
The Prince can be seen as an audio animatronic in the dark themed ride. At the end of the ride he can be seen riding off with Snow White.

World of Color
The Prince makes a brief cameo appearance near the end during the So Close sequence. He is seen kissing Snow White and freeing her from the curse.

One Man's Dream II: The Magic Lives On!
Overseas at Tokyo Disneyland, the Prince accompanies Snow White and other royal couples during the princess segment.

Fantasmic!
He appears in the nighttime show where he and Snow White along with other princesses ride on a boat across the water while Snow White sings "Someday my Prince Will Come". In some showings, the Prince himself is absent.

International Dubbers
The Prince's voice actors in foreign dubs of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

 * "Today."
 * "Hello."
 * "Did I frighten you?"
 * "Wait! Wait, please."
 * "Don't run away."

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * ​"This castle—it's different somehow. And I can't find the princess or hear her beautiful voice. Was it all a dream?"
 * "Oh yes, we met once. It was a song that drew us together..."
 * "I must go to her! Where is she?"

Trivia

 * In the comic version by Hank Porter when the prince surprises Snow White it is from behind a dummy she made. When she asks who he is and where did he come from; he responds, "Where I came from doesn't matter! The only thing that does matter is that I am here. As for my name, I like the one you gave me---Prince Bucketheadthough perhaps it is more honest than flattering." This embarrasses Snow White since she did not know he was hiding behind the dummy she named "Prince Buckethead".
 * At the 1938 Oscars, Shirley Temple mentions the name "Ferdinand" among others while presenting Walt Disney his awards. Many have interpreted that she was referring to the Prince, saying that Ferdinand is his name. However, she was not referring to the Prince, but rather to Ferdinand the Bull. As confirmed by Dave Smith, Historian of the Walt Disney Studio Archives, the Prince was never given a name in the film and "Ferdinand" has never been used as one by the company. Despite this, many Disney fans still believe that the Prince's name is Ferdinand.
 * Disney Latino revealed through a video of Top 10 Romantic Moments  the name of the prince is "Fernando" Spanish translation of the name Fernidand.
 * Disney France once revealed in a TV-spot that his real name is Florian. That same TV-spot also revealed that Prince Charming's real name is Henry (or "Henri," as it would be in French).
 * The name "Florian" originates from this article. It was allegedly used by Disney when it started the Disney Princess franchise.
 * There's a story that there are artwork and documents in the Walt Disney Studio Archives that call the Prince "Frederick".
 * The Enchanted Stables collection reveals his white horse is a mare named "Astor". This is reconfirmed the Disney Princess book "Special Horses."
 * The Prince is the first of the Disney Princes to sing to his respective love interest, the others being Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin.
 * He is the only Disney Prince to be a "Minor Character" due to his little screen time, yet he's mentioned many times in the film by Snow White when not appearing and unlike most characters with little screen time, he is recognized by Disney Fans.
 * He is the only Disney Prince to serenade his love interest.
 * Though he is the first Disney Prince, he has the smallest amount of screen time of all the Disney Princes, only appearing briefly at both the beginning and the end.
 * The voice of the Prince, Harry Stockwell, is the father of Academy Award nominated actor Dean Stockwell.
 * The Prince is only Disney Prince that does not deal with the film's antagonist at all. All other Disney Princes come in contact with the antagonists. The exception to this would be Prince Charming (Cinderella's Prince), for though he did not deal with Lady Tremaine in the original, he helps defeat her in the second sequel.
 * The Prince is the first who revives his love interest with a true love's first kiss. The second is Philip by defeating Maleficent and kisses Auora and she comes back to life.
 * Disney sometimes markets the Prince as Prince Florian for Disney on Ice.
 * While the Prince has a dagger, he never uses it.
 * The Prince was intended to be a prominent character, but the difficulty found in animating him forced Walt to reduce his part significantly.