The Sword in the Stone

Plot synopsis:
In olden times, England is in turmoil. With the death of the King, noone can decide who is the rightful heir to the throne. With war threatening to tear the country asunder, a stone and anvil appear from the heavens in London town, with a sword planted firmly in the anvil. On the hilt of the sword, read the words, "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king, born of England." Many try to pull the sword, but none can budge it. In time, the sword is forgotten, and the Dark Ages plunge the countryside into a dismal state.Out in the woods one day, Sir Kaye is out hunting with his adopted brother Arthur, whom everyone names 'Wart.' After causing Kaye to miss shooting a deer, Arthur promises to retrieve the arrow. Arthur's journey leads him to a small hut, wherein resides a sorcerer named Merlin, and his pet owl, Archimedes, who can talk. Merlin explains to Arthur that he was expecting him to appear. After they have tea, Merlin decides to accompany Arthur back to his home, and after packing up everything in the hut into a small satchel, the two set off.Arthur and Merlin arrive at the castle of Sir Ector, where Arthur is immediately put to work in the kitchen. Merlin introduces himself to Ector, and displays his powers to the doubting Knight. After some persuasion, Ector allows Merlin to stay, putting him up in the Northwest Tower, a crumbling edifice of the castle.A few days later, Archimedes observes the arrival of Sir Pelinore, who has brought news from London of a jousting tournament to Ector and Kaye. According to the rules, the winner of the tournament will become the new King of England. Ector eagerly begins to have Kaye train, and in his excitement, promises Arthur that if he keeps working hard at his duties, he can become Kaye's squire.Merlin hears of this news, and decides to push Arthur to see his true potential (as Merlin can move into the past and the future, he knows who Arthur will become). While walking outside along the castle's moat, Merlin explains that he can turn into a fish. This idea excites Arthur, and Merline turns them both into fish, to explore the moat. However, a much larger fish soon gives chase to young Arthur, until they both manage to escape.Arthur's tardiness in helping Kaye practice results in him washing dishes. Merlin finds him, and after bewitching the dishes and washing utensils, leads Arthur into the forest, where they both are turned into squirrels by the sorcerer. As Arthur leaps among the trees, he comes across a girl squirrel, who is soon madly infatuated with him. Merlin finds the whole scenario cute, until he is soon found irresistible by another squirrel. Merlin then changes himself and Arthur back to normal. The girl squirrel who was infatuated with Arthur, skitters away, heartbroken.Arthur and Merlin return to the castle, where Ector lectures Merlin for making Arthur shirk his duties. Arthur tries to defend Merlin, but his 'mouthing off' ends causes Ector to declare that Arthur will not become Kaye's squire, and that that honor will belong to another person of the castle, who is named Hobbes.Arthur is dejected at what has happened, but Merlin tries to get him to persevere, and plans to educate Arthur. As he attempts to explain things, Archimedes interjects on Merlin's teaching methods, as Merlin is educating Arthur on things that will not be proven for hundreds of years, and could very well lead people to think of Arthur as a raving lunatic in their current Dark Ages.Exasperated at this lecturing, Merlin turns teaching duties over to Archimedes, while he fiddles with a model plane. Archimedes scoffs at the toy plane, while Merlin attempts to prove that 'man will fly.' His efforts lead to the plane plummeting like a rock to the moat below. Even though the plane's flight was a failure, Arthur tells of how he's often dreamed of soaring like a bird. It is then that Merlin uses his magic to fulfill this wish. Archimedes then takes it upon himself to teach Arthur to fly, but is soon impressed by how quickly he has picked up the technique. Their lessons are then interrupted when a hawk appears, chasing Arthur into the nearby woods.Arthur soon finds himself in the thatched hut of a witch named Madam Mim, who playfully shows Arthur her magic powers, which are moreso for evil purposes. As Arthur explains more about Merlin and his magic, Mim decides to 'destroy' the little bird. However, before she can do this, Merlin appears, and Mim proposes a Wizard's Duel.Merlin accepts, and the two head off into the woods, where they then shapeshift into a number of creatures, all in an attempt to destroy the other. It appears that Mim has won, until Merlin turns himself into a germ, causing the witch to become gravely ill. With Mim now safely 'detained,' Merlin, Arthur and Archimedes head back to the castle.Back at the castle a few days later, as Kaye and Ector prepare to head off to London for the tournament, they are informed that Kaye's squire, Hobbes, has come down with a terrible cold. Needing a replacement quickly, Ector recruits Arthur. Arthur then joyfully goes to tell Merlin the news. Archimedes commends the boy, but Merlin is incensed that after all he's done to try and teach Arthur, he has chosen such a demeaning thing as being a squire to Kaye. Arthur tries to reason with Merlin, but the sorcerer grows so upset, that he rockets out of the room, yelling 'Blow me to Bermuda!' Archimedes explains that he's gone to an undiscovered island somewhere, but doesn't know if the sorcerer will return.In London, the tournament is under way, and Kaye is soon up for battle. However, Arthur realizes that he left Kaye's sword back at the inn they are staying at. Kaye furiously yells for Arthur to retrieve it immediately! When Arthur gets there, he is saddened to find the inn locked. As Archimedes looks around, he sees the sword in the stone. With little effort, Arthur draws the sword from it's resting place, and rushes back to the tournament.Kaye is at first angered that the sword isn't his, until Sir Ector notices the inscription, and word spreads that someone has pulled the Sword from the Stone. When Ector asks Arthur how he got it, he refuses to believe the boy could have pulled the sword out himself.Arthur, Ector, Kaye and a crowd return to the stone and anvil, where Ector re-inserts the sword, wanting Arthur to do it again. Kaye brushes the boy aside, feeling that since it's already been pulled, anyone can do it. However, the sword has again become immovable. This causes a stampede of others trying to pull it out, before several people demand that Arthur try again. The rabble dies down, and Arthur tries again...and succeeds where the others have failed.As the legend decrees, Arthur is made King of England. However, he is unsure just what to do, and cries out for Merlin's help. Merlin then returns, back from Bermuda, and the 20th Century. When Arthur explains what happened, Merlin grows happy that it seems that Arthur has fulfilled his destiny, and now plans to help the 'once and future king.'

Tags: cute, psychedelic, fantasy, historical, entertaining

Review:
As Walt himself once said: "For every laugh, there should be a tear." Disney take children always quite seriously, and a lot of his early films contains a lesson for life, sometimes the lesson can be very sad and cruel, like in "Bambi", sometimes lesser sad, like in "The Sword in the Stone"...
It was one of the last movies with the participation of Walt Disney himself."The Sword in the Stone" is Disney's version of the famous King Arthur's story.
But it is one the funniest Disney classics ever, like "Pinocchio", "Aladdin", "Robin Hood" and "The Aristocats".It has lots of hilarious moments which can make one get into uncontrollable laughter.Let me mention some of them: the scenes with Merlin and the Granny Squirrel; the scene when the dishes wash themselves and Sir Ector and Kay get a "bath"; the scene when Kay brutally crashes with the castle's oldest tower; the part when the plane model gets stuck on Merlin's beird and Archimedes laughs so hysterically that he almost can't breathe; that part when Archimedes nearly shrinks inside his little house; the moments with the sugarpot...I could go on, but it would take forever because there are so many hilarious moments.The songs are clever and enjoyable, such as "The Sword in the Stone", "That's what makes the world go round" and especially "Higitus Figitus", my personal favorite.I like this movie and I've gotta say that humor is, without a doubt, the strongest attribute of this movie.This should definitely be on Top 250..
Or the story involving Arthur as a bird, trapped in the clutches of Madamn Mim (maybe one of the funniest sequences in any Disney movie).So, as one can figure from what I've described (if you haven't seen the film yet), it's fairly over-the-top, loaded with silly-songs (one of which a true charmer involving Merlin's proclivity for organizing a packing up of his house) and little lessons for kids.
This is another one of those animated Disney films, it is another one of those underrated ones and it is based on the book by T.H White: "Sword in the Stone".
:-)What I like about this film is the characters, the way the makers formed the plot, the songs (which consist of two, which is a little too few) and the humour (which comes predominately from Merlin).As you may have realised, this film is one of many interpretations of the story of King Arthur.
Here, Arthur does not pull the sword out of the stone until the very end and it is mostly about him learning of the world with Merlin.I recommend this to anyone who likes Disney films, of all ages, very well worth watching!
Fluff or not though the film's entertaining enough and allows for the great animation that I found to be the stand out quality here.I'm an animator myself so maybe this means more to me than the average audience, but the character animation on Merlin and Madam Mim can easily go head to head with Disney's more highly regarded classics and the use of effects is remarkable (in classical animation, effects refer to any animation that's not a character i.e. water, smoke, fire, dust etc.) Everything from rain storms to pixy dust is masterly handled and adds a whole layer of wonder to the whole thing.
Our Arthur in this tale is too damn cute for us to really buy his potential, and Merlin, though great fun, seems like just about the worst teacher you could possibly hand a student to (one of his lessons seems to be to always use magic to fudge your chores...brilliant).
I think the same of Madame Mim, who again serves a pretty dubious purpose (remember, young Wart, if someone insults you...shoot magic at them) but on her own terms is very entertaining.However, I do not have this complaint with the squirrel sequence, which is one of the best scenes in any Disney movie.
The soundtrack tunes are very simplistic both melodically and especially lyrically and resolutely refuse to stay in your brain.The narrative itself is unusual, introducing the sword in the stone legend immediately and then dispensing with it until the last five minutes or so, concentrating its energies instead on young Arthur (read Wort) and his upbringing by the kindly Merlin and his obstinate talking owl Archimedes.I kept seeing recollections of past Disney (and other) cartoon forebears, everything from, naturally enough the Sorcerer's Apprentice from "Fantasia" and "Cinderella" while the chasing wolf early on is a blatant lift of Wile E Coyote in the "Road Runner" shorts.
The old Disney trick of an experienced elder mentoring a young innocent had of course been done before in "Pinocchio" and "The Jungle Book" although I could also see some ideas which were adapted in future projects, the animated crockery anticipates "Beauty and the Beast" for instance.Disney never did return to the Arthurian Legnd in future animations as was hinted might happen here which is a pity but for me there's far too much diversion from the legend itself so that I was willing young Arthur to hurry up and give the sword the required pull long before the ending, which when it does arrive seems far too rushed in any case.No, not the best Disney by a long way and certainly not in the vanguard of the studio's work..
This boy turns out to be Arthur (a.k.a. Wart), an orphan who lives in the castle of Sir Ector, and hopes to become the squire for his boorish foster brother, Sir Kay. However, Merlin sees that Arthur can get farther in life with more education (which the boy doesn't have a lot of), so he begins to educate him by using his magical powers to turn him into different types of creatures and taking him on adventures.
However, during the process, Arthur sometimes finds himself in more trouble, and things may not quite go the way Merlin originally thought.Unsurprisingly, this film features some fine animation.
Aside from the humour, there are also some moments of suspense, such as the sequence with Merlin and Madam Mim going head to head in a dangerous competition with their magic, as well as some fairly sad or touching moments.Of all the full-length animated motion pictures Walt Disney produced in his career, "The Sword in the Stone" is certainly not one of the most widely recognized.
It may be a tad different from most Disney films, and not exactly one of the best, but with the merits I found in it, I think it's a tad too overlooked, and deserves more attention, so if you haven't seen it, you might want to if you want a humorous telling of the story of King Arthur's beginnings, based on the book by T.H. White.
But there were a couple of good things about not having DVD players or the like; one of them, the whole Sunday afternoon experience of going to the movies.I do remember my parents' driving my cousins, my sister and myself every time one of Disney's classics were shown.
Young Wart's journey from a little orphan kid to the Kingdom of England is full of very low key examples of Merlin conquering evil by the way of knowledge.Each Disney film praises, in some way or another, values that we can relate to nowadays.
Walt Disney produced this animated version of the legend of King Arthur and the wizard Merlin, who in this adaptation teaches a young Arthur(nicknamed Wart!) the ways of the world, and how to read, etc.
From what I've read, nothing was spared: the animation didn't match the quality of previous Disney's works, the episodic structure lead to a conclusion disappointing because of the lack of a memorable plot line or a clearly defined antagonist  in this list of flaws, where I only concede the issue with Wart's voice, nothing seemed enjoyable enough to redeem the film: not Merlin's eccentric personality, not the humor made of unusual anachronistic references, not even the scene- stealing exuberance of Madame Mim.Well, since reviewing is about giving opinions, I'll give you mine: "The Sword in the Stone" was victim of an unfair bias constantly leaning on Disney's 'Golden Age' standards, while for one thing, it was a respectable attempt to take some distance from the usual formulas (and I'm pretty sure viewers enjoyed the new storytelling format, since the film ended-up being one of the highest grossing of 1963).
And now that these fifty years of existence did justice to "Sword in the Stone", now that there are enough Disney animated features to make a clear distinction between the indisputable classics, the underrated gems, and the forgettable ones, I think we can all agree that "The Sword in the Stone" is in the same league than "The Jungle Book" or "Robin Hood", all contained in that entertaining parenthesis of the 60's-70's.
And even if it's not 'Bambi' or 'Lion King', there's something extremely poignant and heart-breaking in the squirrel part's conclusion, even more because it's unexpected.But there are laughs in the film, and quite a lot, "The Sword in the Stone" is full of anachronisms, of priceless interactions between Merlin and Archimedes, who make a great pair of "Grumpy Old Men", and some hilarious scenes involving a wolf that have irresistible Warner Bros cartoon vibes.
Merlin and Wart go through several entertaining adventures involving many different animals and obstacles that I'm sure would be fun if it weren't supposed to live up to the legend of King Arthur.
Good lines, classic character design, the best song in the whole film and his various hijinks with Arthur's life do keep us entertained throughout the whole film.What keeps this from being a greater Disney film is that the story itself doesn't really contain all that much and that the side characters are not that interesting.
However, a powerful but forgetful wizard named Merlin has plans for Arthur to be something beyond a squire.This movie actually starts off with a captivating intro where England is left without a king, and a proclamation has been sent that the one who can pull the sword out of the stone will be made king.
However, it's great imaginative fun for the little kids and, probably to the adults' liking, you can get a couple of important messages from the film like getting an education and how complicated love can get.The animation was pretty good, not as vibrant as earlier films or in later films of the 80s and 90s, but it is serviceable.
In medieval times, Merlin the Magician tutors a 12-year-old boy through educational magic; the lad, nicknamed Wart, is the future King of England, King Arthur, though what he learns from being temporarily transformed into a fish, a squirrel, et al.
While people tend to either think of the classics (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Bambi) or the early 90s revival (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin), this is every bit as good with an entertaining story and lots of fun, with good animation, too.The most memorable part is with Madam Mim, and it is not surprising that Disney has used her in other cartoons, and even put her in their "Kingdom Hearts" video game.
Merlin, who can magically access the future, intends to prepare Wart for a grand future, so he gives the squirt dangerous lessons, transforming themselves into animals to learn the mental skills befitting a knight and a ruler.With that said, there are a lot of good things about this film.
The story has heart and comedy mixed perfectly, the writing is excellent, and there is a great moment where Merlin battles against Madam Mim in their animal forms which made the whole movie worth it.
The songs, while not the best work from the Sherman brothers, are tolerable enough to listen to and the music score is solid.Overall, The Sword in the Stone came this close to becoming a masterpiece, but with all of my heart, as a Disney fan, this is an extremely underrated movie that deserves a lot more recognition than the reception it received.
The Sword In The Stone is a personal favourite of all the Disney animated films.
It is certainly one of Disney's most interesting and enjoyable films.The plot loosely follows the book of the same name, Arthur (mainly known as Wart)is a boy who aims to be a knight's squire.
The movie is filled with little episodes that are fun to watch but have not much to do with the actual story that must be about Merlin the wizard (voice by Karl Swenson) and how he educates the boy named Arthur (voice by Rickie Sorensen), who will be King Arthur one day.
What follows are a lot of funny adventures with fun animation and characters.I LOVE Merlin in this movie.
He tells Sir Ector that he got the sword from the stone yet nobody believes him at first but they go back and find that he was really the one who pulled it and is therefore dubbed King Arthur, King of all England.I love the wizard's duel between Merlin and the evil Madam Mim. One of the best parts of the movie.
is always in a rather hateful mood!I think "Sword in the Stone" should go down in history as one of the BEST animated Disney Movies ever.
This movie has a lot of thrilling moments, such as Wart getting a feel of what it's like to be different animals through the help of Merlin's magic, Merlin's talks about what are yet to come from his time travels (which leaves anyone from his time he tries to explain to about them puzzled or perplexed) and what's one of the most renowned moments, if not the most renowned moment, the Wizard's Duel between Merlin and the witch Mad Madam Mim. I never read the initial source that inspired Disney's take, but I read a little there was mentioned about it in the difference between this and T.H. White's book, which is this version being more comical.
If you love the Arthurian Legend and any of the other Disney film animations then The Sword in the Stone you should enjoy.
"The Sword in the Stone" is the Disney version of the Arthurian legend, adapted from the first of four books by T.H. White telling the life events of the young Arthur, before he became king.
In fact, "The Sword in the Stone" is one of the most instructive Disney movies for the kids, not only because of the number of lessons that can be learned, but also because of their clarity and their direct character, which make them easy to catch and understand.But I would have liked to see these lessons more treated on-screen when Wart becomes king.
And unlike Merlin, Archimedes prefers to keep both feet on the present ground, rather than thinking about the future."The Sword in the Stone" is not one of the greatest movies of Disney's career, but it nevertheless remains an instructive and funny picture, the kind of work that only Walt and his partners can make..
''The Sword in the Stone'''is one of the classics from Disney that I watched when I was a kid and probably the first movie I saw about the Arthur's and Merlin's stories.
A wonderful classic story told Disney style and filled with great songs and beautiful animation, how could anyone not fall in love with The Sword in the Stone.The "Sword in the Stone" appears in London, with an inscription proclaiming that "Who so Pulleth Out This Sword of this Stone and Anvil, is Rightwise King Born of England." None succeed in removing the sword, which is soon forgotten, leaving England in a Dark Age. Some years later, Arthur aka "Wart", a 12-year-old orphan training to be a squire.
There Merlin stays with Arthur to teach him the ways of the world and the magic as well as the intelligence and strength he will need for his true destiny.I think my favorite moment of this film is definitely the battle between Merlin and Mim, since this is one of the rare Disney movies that doesn't have a definitive villain, but I think Mim was a close as you could get.
"The Sword in the Stone" is an animated film based loosely on the King Arthur tale.
7th out of 8 in the Silver Era. After the success of 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in The Stone was released in December of 1963, and the last animated film Walt Disney would see completed and released.The story is about a Wizard named Merlin, who teaches Arthur about life lessons and how to use his brain, as Merlin knows that Arthur is going to be something big.
Arthur pulls out the sword, making him king.Most of the characters in this film are extremely boring, except for Madame Mim and Merlin.
The character designs are alright, but the animation is good when Merlin is using magic.With the weak plot, mostly weak characters, and everything else average, this movie is where the magic in Disney films start to wane away.
This film is not very memorable, but there is some good and entertaining parts in the movie (Merlin vs Mim, squirrel scene).
When he pulls it out, he learns that it is a magic sword and that whoever pulls it out would be named King of England.The legend of King Arthur has been retold many times, and Disney's animated musical THE SWORD IN THE STONE is one of the best.
If you have ever wanted to see the story of young King Arthur pull the sword Excalibur out of the stone, this is quite an interesting idea of what it was like.
This was not a film that the Disney team had a lot of fun with, and one can easily tell.The story is a hodgepodge, it's just a bunch of episodes of Merlin teaching some lessons to the young King Arthur.