- “No littering, no chewing, no fruit or wrappers in royal suites, please.”
- ―Secretary Bird
The Secretary Bird is the tertiary antagonist and King Leonidas' assistant in Disney's 1971 animated film, Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Role in the film[]
The secretary bird, is the right arm of King Leonidas, ruler of the animals of Naboombu's Island. His role is to inform his sovereign of the latest news on the island. The recent news is that the soccer match that was supposed to take place has just been cancelled, for the simple reason that there is no arbitrator available. Forced to announce this unfortunate news to his sovereign, the secretary bird ended up suffering the wrath of Leonidas and ended up being ejected from his majesty's tent with a huge roar. The secretary bird, meeting the Fishing Bear who was passing by, asked him what good wind was bringing him. The bear tells him that he has fished humans in the lagoon and that they wish to meet Leonidas. The bird asks that they leave Leonidas alone, not wanting to disturb him for such nonsense. After having initiated the humans in the whole affair concerning the cancelled football (soccer) game, the bird closes the conversation by asking the bear to go and send the humans back to the sea. But Professor Emelius Browne, thinks he has the solution and would like to share his idea with Leonidas about his knowledge of football (soccer). The bird takes him to see Leonidas, and the latter, delighted to hear the professor's words, crowns him arbitrator of the match that is finally going to take place.
The secretary bird takes the other humans, Miss Eglantine Price, Charlie, Paul, and Carrie Rawlins, to his Highness' royal box to watch the match. When Leonidas arrives on the field, he asks for them to stand up. The secretary bird attends the game until the end after Leonidas and his team have won the game. After the humans have left, the Bird notices with horror that they have stolen the royal star that Leonidas was wearing, and have replaced it with a whistle. Leonidas tells the Bird to stop jibbering, and hits him on the head, but asks what's wrong with him. The Bird explains what has happened to his Royal Star, which is stolen by the humans. Leonidas laughs in amusement, and tells the Bird not to be selfish, and asks the Bird what the whistle is. As he does not hear it with that ear and covers his ears, the Bird manages to make him notice it when he blows the whistle. The King finally sees this, and is furious about the Bird telling what happened, and blames him in a powerful roar for not having told him earlier, causing his roar to end up undressing the Secretary Bird, to the point of finding himself completely naked.
Musical[]
In the musical adaptation of the film, the Secretary Bird not only changes gender, but is also given the name of Angela. While the film version was more composed, the stage musical's version is more jumpy, especially when learning about people coming to the island.
Trivia[]
- He later made a cameo appearance in Mickey's Christmas Carol dancing with Lady Kluck at Fezziwig's.
- He also had frequent cameos in House of Mouse.
- His name is a reference to the real-life species of bird.
Gallery[]
.png "Do you play Soccer (Football).png (973 KB)")
.png "Frindley (Sectary Bird).png (699 KB)")
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