Old King Cole is one of the nursery rhyme characters to appear in Mother Goose: Rhymes To The Rescue.
Background[]
Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he;
He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
Old King Cole sure is a merry old soul with his pipe, bowl, and fiddlers three. His horses and men are his most trusted servants. As long as His Majesty is the king, whatever he says goes. He always invites anyone to join in some merrymaking. Even the Ill Wills have no control over him. There is no stopping this merry monarch.
Old King Cole appears a gray-haired, goateed man in royal purple clothes and a golden crown on his head. He is sometimes seen with his pipe and bowl.
Appearances[]
In the movie, Old King Cole is first mentioned by Old MacDonald. Later, Old Mac pays a visit to the king after visiting Humpty Dumpty. His Majesty is acting out his rhyme. When Old MacDonald has to leave, the king allows him to exit and return whenever he pleases. Later, Old King Cole sings his rhyme as part of "The Nursery Rhyme Medley".
As soon as the Ill Wills take control of Rhymeville, the king becomes more serious as he orders his servants to bring him his gold (without anyone knowing that he's only pretending).
When the Ill Wills arrive to trick His Majesty to sign one of them so they can keep controlling Rhymeville, Old King Cole is about to at first, but then he changes his mind as he returns to his merry self (much to the Wills' dismay). The king even decrees that the papers have no control over the Rhymesters and reminds them that he is in charge. He orders his men to seize the Wills while bringing him his pipe and bowl, but the Ill Wills escape.
Later, Old King Cole decides that the Ill Wills must be stopped, so he orders his horses and men to prepare for battle. He even leads the way to the paper fortress on his own horse; Old King Cole bursts in giving the signal as his horses and men come charging in trampling the evil papers. As soon as all the Ill Wills are gone, Mother Goose decrees that she and her Rhymesters shall continue to do their rhymes. Ride A. Cockhorse is about to continue announcing the report, but the king tells him that he can stop now.
The monarch also invites everyone back to his castle to celebrate their victory. At the party, Old King Cole proposes a toast as well as decides to pass a law about what Mother Goose wrote to stop the Wills, that way no more evil doers will come around. After the party, Old King Cole remains at his castle to continue acting out his rhyme while everyone else returns home to act out theirs. In the end, Old King Cole and the other Rhymesters wave goodbye to the viewers.
Video Games[]
Old King Cole appears in the video game as one of the playable characters once he is freed from imprisonment at his castle. His abilities are to use his pipe and bowl as well as call his horses and men to attack.
Trivia[]
- Since Disney passed a smoking ban, Old King Cole's pipe is only to be used for blowing bubbles.
- Although Old King Cole is not imprisoned in the movie, he is in the video game until released.