Prince Phillip is the deuteragonist of Sleeping Beauty. He is the third official Disney Prince.
Disney History
Sleeping Beauty
Young Phillip and his father King Hubert were announced by the herald as they were both invited to the christening of Princess Aurora, the newborn daughter of King Stefan and Queen Leah because King Hubert and King Stefan were best friends. At Aurora's christening, it was decided that Phillip would one day marry Aurora to unite their fathers' respective kingdoms. The two were betrothed. Phillip presents a gift to the baby Princess, but ironically, he is less than impressed when he sees her. However, at the Princess's debut to the public, Maleficent came inside the castle, and young Phillip is afraid of her, along with Leah and the kingdom, except Stefan and Hubert. Angry at not being invited to the christening party, the witch curses the princess to die on her birthday with the spindle of a spinning wheel. Although one of the Three Good Fairies softens the curse, they make a deal with Stefan and Leah to take Aurora into the forest to raise her for her own safety.
Many years later, a grown-up Phillip is riding in the forest when he hears a young girl's voice singing, and orders his horse Samson to take him there, but on the way, Samson goes too fast and accidentally knocks Phillip into the water. After falling into the water, Phillip hangs his wet cape, hat, and boots on tree limbs to dry, and wonders about the girl's voice, which sounds familiar, but then he turns around and notices that some forest animals have taken his clothes. When he follows the forest animals, he finds the girl who is singing (Briar Rose, alter ego of Princess Aurora), and he starts dancing with her. She tries to run away, but he continues to dance with her, and says that they have met before in "Once Upon a Dream". By the end of "Once Upon a Dream", they have fallen in love, and Phillip asks the girl what her name is, but she realizes that she must go home, so she runs off. Still not knowing who the girl is, Phillip asks when he will see her again, to which she tells him to meet her at the cottage this evening, and gives him directions to the cottage as she leaves. Phillip is entirely unaware that the girl with whom he has fallen in love is actually his betrothed, Aurora, so he assumes her to be a peasant girl. Later, when speaking to his father, Phillip tells Hubert that he has fallen in love with a peasant girl, to which Hubert is dismayed, due to the betrothal, but Phillip manipulates him into agreeing that he should marry the girl he loves.
That evening, Phillip goes to the cottage as promised by the girl he has met earlier, but he unknowingly walks into a trap set by Maleficent as her Goons pin him down, tie him up, and gag him with a white handkerchief upon entry. Maleficent and the Goons take Phillip away to her domain, the Forbidden Mountain, where she imprisons him in the dungeon.
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, after learning from King Hubert that the girl Phillip has fallen in love with is Briar Rose, fly to the cottage to fetch him, but they arrive too late, finding only his hat in the wreckage, making them realize that Phillip was captured by Maleficent and her goons. They decide to go to the Forbidden Mountain to rescue him, despite the terror that the eerie place invokes.
At the Forbidden Mountain, Phillip, while chained to the dungeon walls, is visited by Maleficent, who taunts him with the knowledge that Briar Rose, the girl he has met in the woods, is actually Princess Aurora and revealing that she has fallen under a curse of ageless sleep that can be broken by love's first kiss. Maleficent plans to keep Phillip locked up for 100 years and then release him. He will be an old man, if not dead, while Aurora will still be a 16-year-old girl. Phillip is angered and struggles against his chains, but Maleficent chooses to leave him with the "happy" thoughts.
After Maleficent walks away and returns to her tower, the good fairies fly into the dungeon to release Phillip and melt the locks on his chains and prison door. They arm him with the mighty Sword of Truth and Shield of Virtue, which they state to be weapons of righteousness that will triumph over evil. As the fairies and Phillip leave the dungeon, they are confronted by Maleficent's pet raven, Diablo, who summons the Goons to recapture the prince. The fairies thwart the Goons' attacks on Phillip with their magic as Phillip and the fairies make their way out of the Forbidden Mountain. On their way to Stefan's castle, Maleficent, who has been awakened by the constant cawing of Diablo (who is turned into a statue by Merryweather) and realized that Phillip has escaped from the dungeon, unleashes some lightning to stop Phillip, but to no avail. Maleficent then causes a maze of thorns to grow around the castle and block his way. Phillip bravely hacks through the thorns using his sword and manages to get through, enraging Maleficent. Maleficent appears before him, blocks his entry to Stefan's castle and transforms into an enormous dragon, intent on killing the prince. Phillip engages the creature in a battle but is driven backward by the dragon's powerful flame blast. He retreats up the cliff, with the dragon in hot pursuit. As Phillip is cornered at the cliff's ledge, Maleficent blasts Phillip's shield off, rendering him defenseless, but as Maleficent burst out laughing, the good fairies, under the direction of Flora, magically empowers the sword. Phillip immediately throws the sword into the dragon's chest but is forced to dodge Maleficent's final attempt to devour him as she collapses onto the ledge. Phillip narrowly escapes for his life as the dragon's enormous weight cause the ledge to crumble upon impact, sending the evil enchantress falling to her demise below.
With Maleficent gone for good, Phillip enters Stefan's castle to find the entire population asleep. He heads up the stairs to the castle's tallest tower, where he finds Aurora, still in her ageless sleep. He bends over to give Aurora true love's first kiss, which finally awakens her from her eternal slumber. The princess smiles as she learns that her love and her betrothed are one and the same. After the others in the castle, including King Hubert, King Stefan, and Queen Leah, awaken from their sleep, Phillip then heads downstairs with Aurora, arm in arm, and meets Aurora's parents and Phillip's father. The two then share a dance together and share another kiss, with the final words in the book, below the illustration of the couple kissing, reading "And they lived happily ever after."
Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
In Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, Phillip is one of the characters from Sleeping Beauty to make an appearance. At the beginning of the "Keys to the Kingdom" segment, Phillip is set to leave the kingdom along with his father and Aurora's parents for two days for a Royal Conference, leaving Aurora to reign over it in their absence. Before departing, Phillip encourages Aurora to do a good job while in charge of the kingdom and tells her to look at the brightest star at night, as he will be doing the same. Phillip returns at the end of the segment and is part of the celebration for Aurora's duty, along with King Hubert, King Stefan, Queen Leah, Lord Duke, and Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather.
Other History
Once Upon a Time
Phillip appears as a recurring character in the popular ABC series Once Upon a Time. He is portrayed by Julian Morris.
A handsome and kind-hearted Prince of a kingdom within the Enchanted Forest, he falls in love with the beautiful Princess Aurora (played by Sarah Bolger), the daughter of King Stefan and Queen Briar Rose, and becomes betrothed to her, which brings them both great joy. The day before his wedding to Aurora, however, the evil fairy Maleficent, (portrayed in this iteration by Kristin Bauer van Straten) descends from her fortress atop the Forbidden Mountain and enacts a curse upon the Princess, placing her in a sleeping death, as vengeance against the maiden's parents, with assistance from the Evil Queen Regina. To ensure that the fair maiden remains in her eternal sleep, and the King, Queen, and kingdom miserable, she curses Phillip into the form of a fiery beast known as a Yaoguai and sends him to a land far away to prevent him from delivering true love's kiss.
He remains in this form for quite some time. Unable to control his actions, yet fully aware, he despairs as his monstrous new form terrorizes an innocent village. During this time he is constantly hunted by various warriors, yet is unable to communicate his predicament. That is until the day a young bookworm named Belle, comes to the village. Belle hunts him throughout the town and douses him with water. She then notices how Phillip writes something on the ground in a strange language. Due to her extensive knowledge of her love of reading, she is able to translate the phrase into "Save Me." Belle uses fairy dust gifted to her by the Dreamy, to help him, and turns him back into a man. Phillip thanks her for her assistance, and she introduces him to her companion Mulan (played by Jamie Chung).
After the introduction, Belle leaves them to seek a way to help her true love, Rumplestiltskin. Mulan, shortly after, agrees to help him in his rescue of Aurora. However around this time, the Evil Queen enacts her dark curse upon the Enchanted Forest, and the two are among those within Cora's protection. While this saves the two of them being transported to the Queens horrible "Land Without Magic", the two are frozen in time for 28 years. When Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, breaks the curse in Storybrooke, they awaken and continue their search for Aurora.
After searching far and wide Phillip and Mulan find their way to Stefan's ruined Kingdom. There he finds his sleeping Aurora, and finally, he is able to awaken her with True Love's Kiss. The blissful reunion is cut short however by the arrival of a creature called a Wraith. Phillip bravely fights the creature in defense of his love and his friend, but in doing so, he is marked to be killed by the emblem by its medallion. When Phillip, Mulan, and Aurora set up camp in the forest, he sneaks away to face the Wraith alone.
Mulan and Aurora follow him to stop him, but before the Wraith sucks out his soul, Phillip says "I love you", but it is unclear if he said it to Aurora or Mulan. He seemingly dies in the arms of both women and is taken back to the same resting place where Aurora slept. Cora later captures Aurora and tries to use her to get useful information by telling her that Phillip's soul has traveled to another world. Later, Aurora escapes and tells Mulan that Phillip can be saved.
He returns in the second season finale, somehow revived and assumed to have wed Aurora at some point. He, Aurora, and Mulan find to their surprise an unconscious Neal Cassidy washed up on the shoreline. They bring him to their palace and Phillip, Mulan, and Aurora helps Neal gain his health back and offer whatever assistance in finding Emma and Henry they can. Aurora traverses the dream realm and tells Neal that his family is untraceable. Neal, however, is resolved to help them, and Mulan leaves to assist him in finding his way back to them. Phillip and Aurora wish them well.
It is later revealed that Phillip and Aurora are expecting a baby. Sometime later, while trying to surprise his pregnant wife with a lovely picnic, Phillip and Aurora encounter everyone who was sent to Storybrooke by the Dark Curse. They reveal they have returned to the Enchanted Forest to escape the second curse, and Aurora and Phillip offer Snow White and Prince Charming, and all of those from Storybrooke shelter within their kingdom. However, after everyone politely declines the offer, the two bid them farewell, yet Aurora reminds Phillip that they must tell the Zelena the Wicked Witch of the West that Storybrooke's residents have returned. If they do not give her this information, she will take their child.
However, Aurora and Phillip break their deal with a revelation to Regina, Belle, Snow White, and Charming on the primal goal of the witch on Snow White's baby. Angry, the Wicked Witch transforms them into flying monkeys. After the Wicked Witch is defeated, Leroy reveals that Aurora and Phillip became human again. Aurora later gives birth to their child Phillip II and reveals that the two are still having trouble adjusting to life in the modern world.
Maleficent
Phillip has appeared in live-action form in the Maleficent film. He was portrayed by Australian actor Brenton Thwaites.
He plays a less active role in the film but does meet Aurora, and the two fall madly in love. When Aurora falls into her deep slumber by the curse, Maleficent finds Phillip and takes him to the castle, hoping his brief meeting with her will be enough to wake her. Unfortunately, it does not, but Maleficent's own motherly love to Aurora as a daughter is enough to wake her.
He is last seen witnessing Aurora being crowned the new Queen of both the human and fairy kingdoms, and the two look at one another and smile. It is implied that this officially starts his strong blossoming romance with her after the movie.
Gallery
Sleeping Beauty |
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Films: Sleeping Beauty Characters: Aurora | Prince Phillip | Maleficent | Diablo | King Stefan | Queen Leah | King Hubert | Merryweather | Flora | Fauna | Lord Duke Songs Once Upon a Dream | I Wonder |
Previous Prince: | Next Prince: |
Prince Charming | Prince Eric |