Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the most beloved of all?
Making a proposal first as it lengthier for me to type than the villain page.
The Work[]
If you thought The Thief and the Cobbler had a troubling production history, wait 'til you hear about The King and the Mockingbird. Loosely based on the fairy tale The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep by Hans Christian Anderson, it started production in 1948 but was released unfinished by the producer in 1952 due to budget exhaustion. The director disliked the version and fought for the film's possession which he got in 1967, then spent ten years obtaining arranging finance to restore the film's budget until it was officially completed in 1980. Talk about determination.
The film takes place in the kingdom of Tachycardia, which is ruled by King Charles V + III = VII + VIII = XVI. An egotistical ruler, the king despised all and was despised by all in return, as he rather spent his time hunting than ruling (he barely hits the targets due to his esotropia). His archenemy comes in the form of a mockingbird/L'Oiseau, who hates the king since he killed his wife during a hunt and attempts to hunt his sons, particularly the unlucky one that always falls for the bait inside a cage trap. L'Oiseau often enjoys taunting and playing tricks on the king. The king also has a hoard of hidden trapdoors installed in his castle that lead to... somewhere uncertain, and promptly uses them on anyone who fails him.
In his chamber at the top of his massive palace, the king enjoys collecting art pieces, one of which is of a shepherdess farmgirl which he grows accustomed to. This gallery has a secret in which exposed to the full moon, the artwork comes to life. Including today's candidate, a not so harmless portrait of Charles.
The Candidate[]
The portrait of Charles was made by a hired artist. He does a good job, except the eyes which show the king's cross-eyed condition. After giving him a medal, the king promptly uses the trapdoor on the artist and "fixes" the eyes himself. As night comes, the artwork comes alive, where the paintings of the Chimney Sweep and Shepherdess confess their love for each other. Upon seeing the Shepherdess, the Portrait king announces his intention to wed her, for it is written that shepherdesses always marry royalty.
The Chimney Sweep, Shepherdess, and Portrait King all find ways to escape their paintings, with the Chimney Sweep throwing fruit at the Portrait king's face while they flee. The painting above the fireplace laughs at the king, prompting him to shoot at her. He hits her jar of water, pouring down that extinguishes the fireplace allowing the Chimney Sweep and Shepherdess to climb up the chimney and make their getaway. The king attempts to chase after them using the horse of a statue only for hijinks to occur and the real King Charles wakes up (somehow not from the gunshot earlier). Witnessing his portrait come to life, Charles frantically calls for his police guards. As he panics, the Portrait King Charles promptly disposes of his creator by using his trap doors against him. Once the police arrive, they mistake the portrait imposter for the real King Charles. He orders them to find the Shepherdess he's in love with who was taken away by a worthless Chimney Sweep.
With the help of L'Oiseau, the Chimney Sweep and Shepherdess climb down the colossal palace and escape from the police guards, angering Portrait King Charles to use the trapdoors to dispose of them when they come empty-handed. At the bottom of the castle, the Chimney Sweep and Shepherdess come across the peasants of Tachycardia, who have been forced to live in the underground portions while the wealthier live above. However, police spies track the couple, with the king pursuing them in his ultimate weapon, a giant robot. The robot makes its way through the Lower City, destroying several buildings and swatting away numerous people in its way. Upon cornering the couple, the Portrait King demands the Shepherdess to marry him, threatening to kill the Chimney Sweep if refused. Reluctantly, she accepts his proposal.
While the Shepherdess is taken away, the king forces the Chimney Sweep and L'Oiseau into labor by making them paint mass-produced King Charles statues, while a blind musician is thrown into a pit of lions and tigers simply because his music was irritating (landing on a tree in the middle of the pen is the only thing keeping him from becoming dinner). Angered, the two begin tampering with the factory by sabotaging the statues. The king is informed and orders his guards to throw them into the pit of cats as well.
Once the wedding starts, when the Shepherdess refuses to say yes, the chief of police says it for her. The king sees this and uses the trapdoor on him. Meanwhile, in the den of beasts, the blind musician tames the lions and tigers with his music and L'Oiseau convinces them to revolt against their master so they will no longer starve. With that, lions, tigers, and a bear, oh my, escape their cages and raid the wedding chapel. As everyone runs for their lives from the carnivorous animals, the king makes his escape with the Shepherdess on his robot. L'Oiseau and his sons carry the Chimney Sweep to the robot.
As the Chimney Sweep battles the king, L'Oiseau and his sons hijack the robot and use it to destroy the castle, allowing the citizens and animals freedom while the noblemen and guards flee. Once the castle is reduced to a massive pile of rubble, the king attempts to attack the Chimney Sweeper and the Shepherdess with a dagger. Fortunately, L'Oiseau uses the robot to grab the king and activate a large turbine in its mouth, sending him flying off into the distance to his presumed demise.
The Factors[]
None. He's simply a vile and egotistical tyrant who cares more about himself and his pride than others. He's also the only artwork of the real King Charles' gallery who turned evil upon coming to life.
He has an obsession for the Shepherdess, but I wouldn't call that love since he only wants to marry her given his "tradition" of royalty marrying shepherdesses. Plus, he shows no regrets in attempting to kill her once she prefers the Chimney Sweep over him.
The Standards[]
Compared to the real King Charles, the worst he does is kill L'Oiseau's wife (which was offscreen) and disposes some of his minions via the pitfall trap. Some scenes were played for laughs, especially when L'Oiseau was intimidating the king's cross-eye condition and his responding temper tantrums.
The Portrait of King Charles is played much more seriously and lacks any of the "semi" sympathetic traits of the real Charles, such as his fixed eyes and acting more determined in oppressing his rule rather than hunting. He continues his creator's regime with no real changes, including having everyone not wealthy to spend their days of poverty within the underground portions of the palace, forced into labor of working on mass-produced sculptures of the king. These people have been underground for so long they have forgotten about the sky and never seen a bird like L'Oiseau in their lives. However, he does worse by throwing people into a pit of lions, which the real King Charles never did, including an innocent blind man who simply irritated him with his music. Even when he promises the Shepherdess to spare the Chimney Sweep and L'Oiseau if she agrees to marry him, he throws them to the lions the instant they mess up their forced labor.
The Verdict[]
The film is very surreal in tone but Portrait King Charles does enough to potentially meet the count. Thoughts?