Characters and Story
The show focused on Leonardo the lion (voiced by Jackson Beck), who was the inept yet well-meaning King of Bongo Congo (a fictional African nation). Leonardo was assisted in his adventures by a mild-mannered skunk named Odie Cologne aka "Odie O. Cologne" (voiced by Allen Swift impersonating Ronald Colman), an ironic play on "Eau de Cologne".
King Leonardo's incompetent brother Itchy (voiced by Allen Swift) attempts to overthrow Leonardo and rule the kingdom himself along with his friend, gangster and leader Biggie Rat (voiced by Jackson Beck impersonating Edward G. Robinson). Biggie would often employ the help of an evil German inventor named Professor Messer (voiced by Jackson Beck) and even obtain help from Odie's flirtatious sister Carlotta.
Episodes of "The King and Odie" that were exclusive to Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales had Biggie Rat and Itchy Brother employed by Mr. Mad (voiced by Norman Rose), a mad scientist with a domineering personality (easily cowing even the strong-willed Biggie) and his own nefarious plans for Bongo Congo, not to mention a creepy echoing voice. The title was a play on a king ruling over his "subjects", along with the common term "short subjects" for cartoons and other films whose duration is just a few minutes.
Read more about this topic: King Leonardo And His Short Subjects
Famous quotes containing the words characters and/or story:
“A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a jury, then there are complications in the form of minor witnesses, the protagonist finally appears and contradictions arise to produce drama, and finally as both jury and spectators grow weary and confused the pace quickens, reaching its climax in passionate final argument.”
—Clifford Irving (b. 1930)
“I know not whether the remark is to our honour or otherwise, that lessons of wisdom have never such power over us, as when they are wrought into the heart, through the ground-work of a story which engages the passions: Is it that we are like iron, and must first be heated before we can be wrought upon?”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)