This episode more or less follows the story-line from Herman van Veen's original musical show, which also involves Alfred loaning his charity money to the irresponsible king and trying to retrieve it. There are several differences however:
- In the original story, Alfred is not only joined by the bees, but also by a fox, a ladder and a river, who are all presented as sentient characters.
- In the original, the king was more of a villain, who tried to get rid of his debtor Alfred by killing him. The cartoon portrays the king more like a childlike fool, whose ministers propose getting rid of Alfred, which clearly troubles the king's conscience.
- In the cartoon, the bees save Alfred from the dungeon, after which they chase the guards, the king and his ministers away. In the original, the king first tries to have Alfred locked up in the hen-house, from which Alfred is saved by the fox; secondly, Alfred gets thrown into the well, from which he is saved by the ladder; then, the king orders Alfred to be roasted in the oven, from which Alfred is saved by the river which floods half of the palace. Finally, Alfred is confronted by the king himself. The king and his ministers then panic and jump out of the window, after which they are "as flat as nickels".
- In the original, Alfred does become king of Great Waterland when the people find him on the throne. In the cartoon, the same mistake is made, but Alfred clears up the misunderstanding, since he has no desire to become king at all.