"Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England."
Walt Disney produces this whimsical adaptation of the Arthurian legend and it features an animation tour-de-force as Merlin and Mad Madame Mim engage in a magical battle royale. Not only that, but it was the first animated film to feature songs by the brothers Sherman.
England is without a king and the land is in chaos. The next king will be able to pull a mythical sword from a stone that is in the middle London. No one has been able to accomplish this feat so on one has taken the throne.
The wizard Merlin (Karl Swenson) is preparing high tea and remarks to his pet owl Archimedes (Junius Matthews) that an important guest is to join them today. In the forest, an orphan called “Wart” (Rickie Sorenson, Richard and Robert Reitherman) is fetching the lost arrow of Kay (Norman Alden), his older foster brother.
Sir Ector (Sebastian Cabot) took “Wart” into his household and uses him to do all sorts of menial tasks. As “Wart” is trying to get the arrow he falls and goes through Merlin’s roof and into the waiting chair at the tea table. Merlin commits himself to the lad’s education and packs up his cottage (literally) and goes back to Sir Ector’s castle.
He teaches the boy the ways of life by transforming him into various animals, however during one of his final lessons “Wart” is captured by the witch Madame Mim (Martha Wentworth) and Merlin has to engage in a wizard’s duel for his freedom. “Wart” eventually accompanies Kay to London for a tournament and when he forgets Kay’s sword he finds one in a stone, did I happen to mention that “Wart’s” real name is Arthur?
The Sword in the Stone is Walt Disney’s fantastical version of the Arthurian legend, from T.H. White’s book. It’s quite a groovy retelling that features some excellent animation and toe-tapping songs. It seems to get short shrift in the Disney filmography but I thought that Sword in the Stone hits all of the right marks.
You have some wonderful songs from the Sherman Brothers and a truly great animated magical duel between Merlin and Madame Mim.
Mim also seems to get short shrift in the villain’s hall of fame but she’s a maniacal and fun creation that stands up with the rest of them and Martha Wentworth’s delicious vocal work only heightens her (it would be Wentworth’s final film).
True, it doesn’t really fall too close to the top of Disney’s pantheon but it is a fantastic and fun little film.
The Sword in the Stone is presented in fullscreen. Special features are divided into various categories. The “Music and More” section contains an 8 minute interview with the Sherman Brothers (from the Disney Channel methinks) and “Disney Song Selection” which allows you to jump to the songs in the film.
The “Games and Activities” section contains Merlin’s Magical Academy game. The “Backstage Disney” section contains a 7 minute black and white excerpt of Walt Disney Presents in which Uncle Walt tours a magical prop room (using the magical world Bippity Boppity Boo), a scrapbook with concept art, etc., and a film facts trivia page.
Finally there are some bonus shorts, the 7 minute “A Knight for a Day” Goofy short and the 9 minute Mickey Mouse short “The Brave Little Tailor.”
A great little film that is well loved by audiences (it was a top box office winner in 1963). If you don’t have it in the video collection then you might want to snatch up this new edition. You can tell the clerk it’s for the kids, but it will bring out the kid in all that view it.
The Sword in the Stone (45th Anniversary Special Edition) is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for an August 18th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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