The King is one of the titular characters in the 2004 Disney short, The Cat That Looked at a King, originally released in the 2004 DVD edition of Mary Poppins.
Background[]
The King is an animated human character who appears in the painting where his collection consists of books containing facts and knowledge. An obsessive and carefree ruler, the King constantly cared more than his wife, the Queen, much to his demands in getting answers from anyone. When the Cat arrives, she and the King engage in a quiz contest to know who is the cleverest to which the Cat wins and asks the King to look into her eyes, revealing that the King was once a jolly man who had a relationship with the Queen, to which the King suddenly remembers who he was once and reforms
Role in the short[]
The King first appears scrambling in his throne within his collection of books just as the painting tells the story of the King himself believing in all the facts and figures worldwide. To his obsession of books containing facts, his wife the Queen felt sad that her husband cares more about books than her. When he asks his wife about her cheeks having the same color as roses, the King ignores her and instead demands answers from anyone, much to his wife's sadness.
All of a sudden, a white cat arrives in the painting as the King felt shocked that she interrupted his conversation. As the Cat talks to her, the King introduces himself as a collector of knowledge and purveyor of facts to her. The Cat asks him that she traveled very far over seven of her nine lives, asking the King that he only traveled for one life.
The King then challenges the Cat into a contest to know who has more knowledge. Throughout the challenge, the he and the Cat ask each other questions to know who is the cleverest. As Julie Andrews and the children observe the King and the Cat competing, she explains to the children that the Cat the King discovered thought she was a house cat and wagered his crown, just as the King learns that things are never always what they seem.
The Cat then asks the King one final question about what is the strongest thing in the world to which as the King tries to answer her question, his wife the Queen explains to him that patience is a possible answer to answer the Cat's question. As the King remorsefully notices of how the Cat bested him in a contest, she tells the King to look into her eyes. The King looks into the Cat's eyes and starts to realize who he was during his relationship with the Queen. The King starts to realize who he is just as he joyfully rejoices with his wife. As agreed, the King allows the Cat to get his own kingdom to which instead of ruling over it, the Queen gives her a necklace as a token of her appreciation just before leaving the painting and bidding the King a farewell.
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