The Princess and the Pauper

The Princess and the Pauper is an animated short film directed by Mike Gabriel and starring Kat Cressida as Alice, inspired by the Mark Twain story of the same name. It was Disney's first animated short film to be animated in Adobe Flash since the day of the rise of digital animation and the fall of 2D traditional animation. The film was released on April 24, 2020, before Little Einsteins The Movie.

Plot
For many years, there was a good and wise king, who ruled with peace and compassion in every corner of town. The people of London prospered and were very happy. Until one day, the good king fell ill, and darkness fell on England. As the King grew weaker, his captain of the guard,Maleficent, a ruthless and greedy man, plundered and terrorized all of England, and worst of all, he did it in the name of the king. Until one day...

Briar Rose, Jaq and Pongo, are three beggars trying to get money for some food. Briar Rose and Pongo try selling firewood for the winter, while Jaq sells flavored snow, but they are all unsuccessful.

After singing a song expressing their dreams of "living like a king", Captain Maleficent's carriage passes, having stolen much food from the people of London, and burying the three heroes in the snow. The hungry Pongo sees a sausage stand out from the carriage and begins to chase, pursuing it into the castle of the king. Briar Rose knocks on the door to get his dog back, and one of the soldiers opens the door and lets him in, mistaking him for the Princess.

Maleficent scolds the soldier for letting anyone in, pointing out where the real Princess is color pink dress. : taking his classes with his boring teacher, Tigger. The teacher teaches the Princess about trigonometry, while the latter looks out the window at the children playing in the snow. The Princess, being discovered by his teacher, is mocked by his valet,White Rabbit. The Princess plays at provoking White Rabbit, while the teacher is distracted while writing on the blackboard, to the point that White Rabbit hits, unwittingly, the teacher, resulting in the teacher sending White Rabbit out of the room, returning both to their boring studies. But the Princess soon hears a commotion outside: it is Captain Maleficent, who is roughly handling Briar Rose and Pongo. The Princess orders them to be brought to him right away. Maleficent kicks Aurora through the door, and kicks Pongo out of the castle.

Briar Rose, astonished to be in the king's palace, inadvertently knocks over many suits of armor, with one of the helmets falling on both his and the approaching Princess's heads. The two Aurora's are surprised to see that they are entirely alike in appearance. The Princess tells the beggar that he is bored with his life: getting up early, studying all day, with every night parties and banquets and then go to bed early. So, when looking at the two in the mirror and realize that they can exchange a costume and take the role of the other, the Princess reassures the beggar saying that to rule that requires only two things: "What a splendid idea, good thing I thought of it!" and "Guards, seize him!", and if there are any problems, everyone will recognize the true Princess with his real ring. The Princess, disguised as a beggar, down the window, fooling the Captain Maleficent, who believes he is the beggar. Maleficent throws the "beggar" out with a catapult. The Princess meets Briar Rose's friend Jaq and Pongo, but does not recognise them at all.

Meanwhile, Briar Rose is challenged with the Princess's studies, such as chemistry, where the formula explodes in White Rabbit's face, and falconry, where he is chased by the falcon. While the Princess is trying to make a Dog play with him by throwing a Bone bone, all that does is make a group of dogs chase him in anger. After getting away, the Princess sees a couple of soldiers trying to steal a Chicken from Belle and her two children, saying it is for the king. But the Princess in disguise orders them to return the chicken. The soldiers throw a pumpkin over him for a crown and leave, not believing he is the true Princess. Children help him get up and explain that for years the soldiers take away their food and belongings in the name of the king. But a carriage, which carries food stolen from the village, goes by, and the Princess stops it, showing the real ring. All bow to the Princess as he returns their food. But the soldiers, who had been called by the man driving the carriage, try to stop the Princess, accusing him of fraud. The Princess escapes with a little help from the other commoners, especially Jaq. Meanwhile in the castle, one of the soldiers tells Maleficent that one of the beggars had the royal ring. Maleficent is alarmed knowing then that the Princess was cast out, and may see the corruption and theft going on outside. The soldier mocks Maleficent saying that he (Maleficent) is going to be punished dearly for it, but Maleficent answers that he won't if the Princess never returns.

The beggar, dressed as the Princess, is called by Tigger and told that he must see his "father", who is now dying. Briar Rose enters the room of the dying king, but does not have the heart to tell him that he is not the real Princess. Instead, as the sick king tells him he must take his royal birthright and become king, he sadly promises. Shortly afterwards, the king dies. Aurora knows the true Princess must be found as quickly as possible, but Captain Maleficent arrives behind him, and threatens Briar Rose to be crowned king at his orders, revealing that he had captured Aurora's dog Pongo as a hostage.

Meanwhile, the true Princess hears the bells announcing the death of his beloved father. Knowing that he should be king, the Princess decides to return immediately to the palace. But Maleficent appears and manages to capture him and puts him into the jail along with White Rabbit, while the coronation begins. The beggar does not want to be king, but behind the curtain Maleficent is strangling Pongo. The Princess orders the guard to let them leave, but he refuses to obey. A dark figure walks up the stairs: a hooded man armed with an axe. The guard believes the man is the executioner, but the man trips and accidentally knocks out the guard. Then he removes the hood: it is Jaq. Jaq tries to figure out which key opens the cell while the other soldiers arrive. In a panic,White Rabbit finds the key for the cell, and the three flee to the coronation chamber.

The beggar, struggling not to be crowned, finally stops the archbishop, and orders the guards to arrest Maleficent. But Maleficent defends himself by pointing to the beggar as an impostor.

The Princess arrives in time before they kill the beggar and makes his entrance. The Princess and Captain Maleficent duel as many other soldiers are defeated by Jaq's clumsiness and White Rabbit's cowardice. Finally, the Princess cuts Captain Maleficent's trousers loose, causing them to fall down and reveal Maleficent's underpants: a frilly, lacy pair of white panties with red heart prints. Maleficent tries to hold his trousers up during his attempt to escape from a large chandelier that has fallen and entangled some soldiers, but is tripped up by Briar Rose and the Princess, causing him to fall down. With his trousers down and his ruffled panties fully displayed, Captain Maleficent becomes entangled with the soldiers in the fallen chandelier that ends up rolling out of a large glass window and dropping down out onto the streets below and then arrested for several crimes.

Briar Rose and the Princess then cheer because of their successful collaboration in defeating Captain Maleficent. The archbishop is confused and does not know who to crown, until Pongo recognizes the beggar, and the Princess shows his ring.

The Princess is crowned Queen of England, and with Briar Rose and Jaq at his side, rules for many years with justice and compassion for all

Songs

 * 1) ‘‘Like a King’’ Briar Rose and Jaq