Hans Conried ("It Happens I Have a Picture", Deleted Song) Taylor Holmes (Sleeping Beauty) Corey Burton (Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams)
Status:
Alive
Media of origin:
Sleeping Beauty
King Stefan is one of the minor characters of the Disney 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty. The ruler of an unnamed kingdom in France, he is Princess Aurora's father and Queen Leah's husband.
Why He's a Decent and Loving Father
He has a great character design and perfectly modeled after the late Hans Conried, who would have easily done a much better job in complimenting this character's personality. (See below)
He is a loving father of Aurora, as proven when he let her live with the fairies in order to make sure she's safe from Maleficent.
Despite his limited screen time and lack of chemistry, he is a loving husband of Queen Leah.
Despite leading to nowhere in terms of story, his scene with King Hubert is entertaining, especially the song "Skumps", and deleted song "It Happens I Have a Picture".
He is shown to be a loving and protective father over Aurora, as shown when he let the fairies take care of his daughter, which is a selfless thing to do.
He is a loving and caring ruler of his kingdom, as well as his family and household staff.
He and Hubert do make a good comic relief and as minor characters, even though their scene was supposed to be set in the beginning, like the demo song did, which would possibly have Aurora the opportunity to have extended screen time as a main character.
Hans Conried for the deleted demo song ("It Happens I Have a Picture") and Corey Burton for Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams both have amazing performances as this loving father by making him dignified and debonair.
While still not a great casting choice as Walt's reckless decision likely resulted in some consequences we are feeling today, Taylor Holmes did a better and more tolerable job as the singing voice for Stefan.
Aside the singing parts, the only few times Taylor Holmes' performance sounded good was when he said "Seize that creature!" in an angry tone, laughing with King Hubert after quarreling over their proposals, and when seeing Aurora for the first time in 16 years.
His reunification with Aurora is heartwarming, despite being rushed.
He is also a likable character in Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams.
He was able to recover from his flanderization in Maleficent when he appeared in Chibi Tiny Tales.
Not-So-Debonair Qualities
Unlike the other actors, although he was not terrible, Taylor Holmes' performance as King Stefan was incredibly bland, as he sounded a little unenthusiastic, somewhat depressed, and a bit too old for this role at times.
Also, it felt like a missed opportunity to have Hans Conried voice Stefan, as he should have been officially chosen for the character in order to make him sound more dignified and laid-back, just like with his performance in the deleted song.
He can be somewhat hypocritical when he initially oppose the original idea of Aurora marrying Phillip soon, even if Stefan understood that he hadn't seen Aurora because of the threat of Maleficent.
He does have some moments where he can be prone to having anger issues or losing his temper.
Even if he’s trying to protect his family and kingdoms, he failed to explain his lack of invitation to Maleficent, aside from Merryweather stating to Maleficent that she wasn't wanted.
Hans Conried was considered to voice King Stefan and even provided some additional voice lines until his own replacement by Taylor Holmes that soon gave rise to unanswered questions like the unnamed herald's voice. However, Conried remained the performance model for Stefan.
Not counting his horrendous live action counterpart, he is the first Disney Princess father to remain alive.
He is the first Disney King to not have gray or white hair/beard.
