The King (Cinderella)

The King is a supporting character in the 1950 film Cinderella. Sometimes people say he is King Hulbert.

Personality
The King is Prince Charming's father and is the ruler of an unnamed kingdom (possibly located in France). He has a passionate temper, but is also a romantic who believes in love at first sight. When the Prince was young, he and his father were very close, but they grew apart as the Prince got older. As the king is getting old, he wants to see his son get married and have children before he passes away, but it is for more than just wanting an heir---the King explains to the Grand Duke that he misses the sound of children running around the castle and that he wants to be grandfather. He provides comedy for the three films. His Queen, who passed away before the events in Cinderella is never seen. It is revealed that he loved his wife very much, which probably led to his romantic side.

His temper was shown several times to be next-to-unreasonable in his mission to get his son to marry, and he threatened the Grand Duke a few times to "encourage" him to follow his orders. He reacted explosively when he heard Cinderella escaped, as he accused the Duke of treason and tried to kill him with his sword, and only becoming placated when he learned his son would marry the girl who fits the Glass Slipper.

The King would unknowingly become an inspiring influence upon Anastasia, whose mother was manipulating things so she would be the one to marry Prince Charming and not Cinderella. He taught her about love, using his love with his departed wife as an example, and even gifting her with the seashell his wife once gave him. When Anastasia chose not to marry someone who didn't love her and apologized, she tried to return the seashell, feeling that she didn't deserve it, but the King showed surprising forgiveness by telling her to keep it because everyone deserves love.

Physical appearance
He has gray hair, bushy eyebrows, and fair skin. He wears a tan colored suit with gold buttons and shoulder pads, along with two gold circles around the sleeves.

Cinderella
In the original Cinderella, the King is desperately hoping to see the day his son gets married and have children of his own. He decides to hold a royal ball in honor of his son's recent return to the kingdom. In reality though, the ball is intended to bring together beautiful maidens in the hope that the Prince would choose one of them as his bride. The king orders the Grand Duke to invite every eligible maiden in the kingdom to the ball. During the ball, the King is looking from the balcony fearfully, knowing his son's not interested in any of the maidens so far, and being very rude, making faces at them. The Grand Duke then tells the King to give up, stating that true love is just a fairy tale. However, the King spots a spark between his son Prince Charming and a new arrival, Cinderella. The King sees the two obviously falling in love and demands that they have complete privacy, so as not to ruin the mood. The King goes to bed for the night and orders the Duke to make sure nothing goes wrong between the two lovers.

While the King is asleep (dreaming of playing with his grandchildren), Cinderella suddenly runs away from the castle when the clock strikes midnight, knowing her magic spell will be broken at that exact time. The King is awakened by a knock on the door and orders whoever knocking the door to come in. The Grand Duke enters and the King walks over to him, expecting to hear the news that the Prince has proposed. However, the Grand Duke explains that the girl the Prince has spent time with has escaped without anyone learning of her identity. The King becomes enraged, and he accuses the Grand Duke of both letting it happen on purpose and of being in league with the Prince, whom he has suspected of pushing away women in order to keep up his bachelor freedom. He furiously attacks the Duke with his sword, who explains that the girl left behind a glass slipper, and that the prince, who loves that girl and will not rest until she is found, is determined to marry none but the girl who can wear the slipper, finally satiating the King's rage. The Duke then points out sensibly to the King that the slipper may fit any number of girls' feet, but the King simply points out that that's the Prince's problem. He then orders the Duke to go on a non-stop search to find the maiden by having every girl in the kingdom try on the slipper and bring in the one it fits. Eventually, the Grand Duke finds Cinderella and, after finding out that the slipper perfectly fits her foot, takes her to the castle to be reunited with Prince Charming.

Finally, the King is seen at the film's finale, where he and the Grand Duke jubilantly throw confetti to celebrate the wedding of Cinderella and Prince Charming. When Cinderella loses her slipper while walking down the stairs, the King assists her in putting it back on, resulting in Cinderella kissing him on the head as a way of thanking him. He then happily watches the newlyweds board a carriage and ride off to their honeymoon.

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True
The King reappears in the film's sequel, in which he is trying to help Cinderella adapt to the life of a princess. In the first segment, he is sleeping in his chair, only to be rudely awoken by the Grand Duke and Prudence, announcing that Cinderella and Prince Charming have arrived back from their honeymoon. The King then became concerned that Cinderella lacked the knowledge of how to perform her duties as a princess. The Duke initially volunteered to coach her but the King instead assigned Prudence. And the first thing he announced upon meeting the happy couple was that he and Prince Charming had to leave for two days for important matters of state. As he tried to stuff a variety of objects into the wedding carriage, he reminded Prudence that Cinderella was in charge of the Royal Banquet and anything she said goes. With help from the Duke, the King is able to fit in his stuff and gets into the carriage, waving goodbye to his daughter-in law from the back window as they rode off.

Upon his return, the King was initially irked that Cinderella had changed the traditions of the banquet, including opening the curtains, inviting commoners and switching prunes with chocolate pudding, but quickly warmed up to the changes.

Later in the segment Tall Tail, The King attends the kingdom's fair and during an incident with the currently human Jaq and an elephant, he is sent flying and lands on top of the ferris wheel.

Near the end, the mice run past him and the Duke in the throne room, frightening them both.

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time
The King reappears in the film's second sequel. After Lady Tremaine turns back time with the wand of Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, Anastasia is believed to be the mystery girl from the ball. The king takes an interest in her, as she somewhat resembles the king's former wife, as neither girl could dance. He remarks that in spite of the queen's lack of dancing ability, they loved each other dearly. The king then presents Anastasia with a seashell that was is most precious possession, and unknowingly helping Anastasia being to understand love.

Later, when Lady Tremaine's and Drizella's true natures are revealed he orders the three arrested. They escape the king's guards by use of the magic wand. At the film's climax, Prince Charming blocks the wand's magic with his sword, and the magic hits Lady Tremaine and Drizella, transforming them into toads while teleporting them into the dungeon. Anastasia, who by now has had a change of heart, attempts to return the shell to the king. The king allows her to keep it, as he believes everyone deserves true love. He then smiles as Prince Charming and Cinderella get married in the new timeline.

Cameos
The King and the Grand Duke make cameo appearances in the The Little Mermaid, attending Prince Eric and Vanessa's wedding ceremony. They are seen when Max the Sheepdog rushes by, just before he bites Vanessa on the rear.

The King made a few minor cameo appearances in the animated series House of Mouse. He was usually seen sitting at a table with the Grand Duke.

Once Upon a Time
In Once Upon a Time, the King follows a similar storyline to the Disney movie version. He organizes a ball for his son, Prince Thomas, in which he falls in love with Cinderella. He also hopes that the Prince and Cinderella will produce an heir to the throne. In Storybrooke, he is Mitchel Herman. He is the strict father of Sean Herman (Thomas), who he forbids to be with his pregnant girlfriend, Ashley. Still, Sean disobeys him and joins Ashley to care for their baby.

Cinderella (2015)
The King plays a supporting role in the live-action re-imagining, portrayed by Derek Jacobi. Here, he is the ailing ruler of the kingdom and, like the original film, wishes for his son to marry. One day, Prince Kit meets and falls in love with a commoner named Ella. Afterwards, the king wishes to throw a ball, and hopes his son will find love with one of the visiting royals. However, Kit's heart belongs to Ella, but because the law forbids royalty from marrying commoners, he convinces his father to allow every eligible maiden attend the ball, regardless of social status, to which he accepts. The King briefly encounters Ella before she leaves the ball and she tells him that Kit is the most lovely person she's ever met. She also reminds him about how much his son loves him and then dashes off. Following the events of the ball, Kit bids farewell to his father, who will soon breathe his last breath. Before he passes, he gives his blessing to his son, and permission to find and marry his true love.

Disney Parks
The King is currently not a meet-and-greet character, and only appears on special occasions such as the during the Cinderella themed event Cinderellabration in the Magic Kingdom.

The King also plays a part in the storyline for the Princess Fairytale Hall attraction at the Magic Kingdom. As the story goes, the King bestowed the hall upon Cinderella as a gift.

Twice Charmed
In the Disney Magic cruise ship's live, Broadway-style show, the King joins the Cinderella cast in the show where Lady Tremaine gets an evil Fairy Godfather who corrupts Cinderella's life. An interesting part of the show is the reveal that Cinderella's Fairy Godmother was once the fairy godmother of the King himself, possibly explaining how he became royalty, much like Cinderella.

Cinderella's Royal Coronation
In the live show Cinderella's Royal Coronation, the King appears as a main character along with many other characters such as Minnie Mouse, Beast, White Rabbit and more. The King's most notable role in the show is where he crowns Cinderella and pronounce her a true princess. The King also introduces many of Disney's most popular prince and princesses.

Trivia

 * The King has the books: Homer, Plato, and Rabelais on his desk.

El Rey (Cinderella)