King Leonidas

King Leonidas
Background information
Feature films	Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Short films	Once Upon a Studio
Shows	House of Mouse
Park attractions	Main Street Electrical Parade
Animators	Milt Kahl
Designer	Ken Anderson
Voice	Lennie Weinrib
Character information
Occupation	King Soccer player
Home	The Isle of Naboombu
Likes	Soccer, making up rules as the game goes along
Dislikes	Games being cancelled, having his medallion stolen
Paraphernalia	Star of Astoroth (formerly)
Status	Active

King Leonidas is an antagonist and also the king of the Isle of Naboombu from Disney's 1971 animated film, Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

Background

Personality

Like all lions, King Leonidas is arrogant. Even though he is not completely evil, he is sensitive and temperamental. Also, he possesses a deep love for the game of soccer, as seen when the royal championships on his Island could not continue when a suitable referee couldn't be found. He was extremely aggressive and roared at everything that moved.

Physical appearance

King Leonidas looks similar to Prince John from Robin Hood and Shere Khan from The Jungle Book, but has a mane, a royal gold crown, and wears a king's red robe.

Abilities

King Leonidas' voice is quite powerful, which can be expected from a royal lion. His roar to 'stop that ball' is powerful enough to blow everyone away to the net from its hurricane-like force.

Appearances

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

He has an anti-human attitude, which may have stemmed from the fairy tale that animals staged a coup on the Isle of Naboombu, killing the original leader, the human wizard Astoroth. He wears the Star of Astoroth, a talisman that is needed to bring inanimate objects to life. After suffering much pummeling and stampeding at a soccer game, Mr. Brown succeeds in grabbing the Star of Astoroth from him. After being alerted by his secretary bird, an enraged Leonidas tries to pursue Mr. Brown, Miss Price, and the children, but he is foiled when he is turned into a rabbit, albeit one with a lion's tail, by Miss Price. He is last seen scurrying away. As Miss Price's rabbit spells are temporary, he presumably returned to his lion form soon after.

House of Mouse

King Leonidas appeared in cameo with his servant The Secretary Bird from House of Mouse.

Once Upon a Studio

After Goofy accidentally destroys the camera intended for a group photo, a disappointed King Leonidas is seen retuning inside until Alan-A-Dale starts a singalong to "When You Wish Upon a Star". King Leonidas joins in, and can be seen standing in the final shot.

Disney Parks

King Leonidas posing for a photo at DCA for Villains Nite.

Shortly after the release of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, a costumed character version of King Leonidas was created. The costume itself is a reskinned variation of the Tigger costume that was originally made for Disney on Parade as well as the parks. Coincidentally, King Leonidas would appear in the aforementioned show by 1974.

Disneyland

One of King Leonidas' first appearances at Disneyland was in the Main Street Electrical Parade during it's original showings between 1972 - 1996, where he could be seen in the Dumbo Circus unit on a calliope float. He was still seen on the calliope from 2001 to 2008 when the parade ran at Disney's California Adventure (under "Disney's Electrical Parade"). Unfortunately, the Dumbo unit was retired for unknown reasons along with King Leonidas in 2009, never being seen in the parade since then.

However, as of March 8, 2022, he resurfaced at DCA for the Villains Nite.

Trivia

• King Leonidas as a rabbit has a similar look to Skippy from Robin Hood.
• He is named after the famous King of Sparta who fought in the Second Persian War. In Greek, Leonidas means "Son of Lion".
• King Leonidas shares some of the same facial design as Shere Khan from The Jungle Book.
• In the reference art of King Leonidas along with the end credits of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, he is referred to as both King Lion or simply Lion possibly implying that Leonidas became his official name afterwards and because his name was never heard in the film.
• Given that the Star of Astoroth returned to his world as soon as it was brought into the real world, presumably Leonidas got his family's relic back.
• King Leonidas has the loudest cry in all of Disney because when he yelled loudest "!!! Stop that .... ball !!!" Given that other characters screaming, it is not strong at all compared to his.

v - e - d

Media Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Soundtrack/Video) • Musical Characters Miss Eglantine Price • Professor Emelius Browne • Charlie Rawlins • Carrie Rawlins • Paul Rawlins • Mrs. Hobday • General Teagler • Bookman • Swinburne • Mr. Jelk • Cosmic Creepers • Colonel Heller • Nazis • Astoroth • Mr. Codfish • King Leonidas • Secretary Bird • Fisherman Bear • Knights Songs The Soldiers of the Old Home Guard • The Age of Not Believing • With a Flair • A Step in the Right Direction • Eglantine • Portobello Road • The Beautiful Briny • Blow the Man Down • Substitutiary Locomotion • Nobody's Problem Locations London • The Isle of Naboombu • Pepperinge Eye Objects Bedknob • Isle of Naboombu • Star of Astoroth • Spells of Astoroth