I feel like the only person who genuinely loves this movie, while im sure nostalgia plays a big role, i still enjoy this movie as an adult. Yes i am aware of the production hell it went through, brutal critiques and poor box office it endured, but i cant resist loving the fantasy adventure this movie provides.
The story Set in a magical world, "Quest for Camelot" is the musical retelling of the fairy tale "Sword in the Stone" , and it was loosely based on Vera Chapman's novel The King's Damsel (1976). Most of the story takes place in Arthurian times, in places like a forbidden magical forest where the landscape itself is alive, a spirited young woman named Kayley meets a resourceful young blind man named Garrett, along their quest they meet a two headed dragon named devlin and cornwall. They unite their wits and strengths to find the stolen sword excalibur, before the insane villain named Rubert does. The plot is very simple, but it is very fun and delivers on the adventure.
The characters Kayley is a strong willed heroine who want to be a knight like her father more than anything, she is quite thick headed though, which unintentionally makes her a damsel in distress but unlike other versions she learns to adapt by learning from her mistakes, and ends up being quite effective as a hero in the end. Garrett is a young man who like kayley also dreams of becoming a knight, but a childhood accident caused him to go blind, making him feel worthless, leading him to self exile himself to the forbidden forest, where he met a silver wing falcon named aiden, who showed him how to adapt to the forest and become one with nature. Because of this, garrett basically becomes daredevil with heightened senses, becoming a real badass, and gaining the affections of kayley when he teaches her how to adapt to her surroundings as well.
Devon and cornwell the twin headed dragon are certainly the weak link in the movie and i will admit they are my least favorite part as an adult, even as a kid i didnt exactly hate them but i always found them annoying when their argued. We also get to see King arthur, merlin and many brave knights of the round table in this film, but they dont do much, still i like this version king arthur played by Pierce brosnan.
The villain of the movie named Ruber is a completely insane and yet competent villain when he needs to be, serving as a big threat to not just the heroes but to all of camelot. Voiced by the great Gary Oldman, he truly brings the insanity of this character to life in either hilarious or disturbing ways.
The griffin is probably my favorite character in this movie, based on his super cool design alone. As a kid I drew this guy hundreds of times, and is the reason i became a huge fan of griffins. But in the movie he is simply rubbers pet who probably experiences stockholm syndrome from being constantly abused by ruber and still remaining so obedient to him.
The iron men that worked for ruber were barbarians that would become fused with weapons through a magic potion that ruber purchased from witches. These guys have to be some of the coolest looking henchmen in any movie, and like the griffin I was obsessed with drawing these guys as a kid.
The Songs This movie has some incredible songs and music that makes it feel like a true celtic legend. I really like the opening songs titled "United we stand" and on my father wings", really give off that heroic niche i want in these type of movies. The villain song is just delightfully insane, ruber is just basically rambling about taking over camelot while turning his henchmen into iron men, with incredible visuals and colors to enhance the sequence. Kayleys mother gets her own celine dion song titled "The prayer", which became more famous than this movie and won alot of awards. As fo thedragon song "If I didnt have you".......ummmmmm. Like i said even as a kid the dragons were annoying to me, and this song is my least favorite, but i will admit the pop culture references are funny as an adult, but feel too similar to genies song from aladdin. The love song "Looking through your eyes" is still one of the most romantic songs ive ever heard, and is the perfect embodiment of kayley and garretts developing love story. Finally the song we all watch this movie for, "I stand alone", I struggle to put into words the sheer awesomeness of this song, from the lyrics to the visuals, this song has power, the voice of Bryan white is clearly no Cary elwes but i don't care, this song is 100% amazing, to this day i sing this song to myself while driving.
Conclusion:
I will admit my favorite part of this movie is kayley and garretts romance, while im sure you have seen their slap slap kiss kiss dynamic before, it is done exceptionally well here, with the two having quite alot of chemistry, helping each other to improve and overcome their weaknesses, making them one of my favorite animated couples.
The creativity of this movie is impressive, the aesthetics and environments of Camelot and the forbidden forest are wonderful to look at, helicopters flowers, living trees/rocks, dragons and griffins, besides great character designs, everything moves so smoothly, with the animation aging quite well, yes the CGI is noticeable but i don't mind it as much as other movies of its time, even though the rock ogre always looked very odd to me, but still an impressive visual. Lot of critics of this film (cough nostalgia critic) dislike the execution it went in, yes the movie has many similarities with Disney films, especially the aesthetics and character designs, but i feel it remains consistent. And it does a good job telling the story it wants to tell, yes some jokes are out of place or just cringey, but i don't care because the spectacle and sense of adventure is strong here, and this movie remains legendary to me.
The story Set in a magical world, "Quest for Camelot" is the musical retelling of the fairy tale "Sword in the Stone" , and it was loosely based on Vera Chapman's novel The King's Damsel (1976). Most of the story takes place in Arthurian times, in places like a forbidden magical forest where the landscape itself is alive, a spirited young woman named Kayley meets a resourceful young blind man named Garrett, along their quest they meet a two headed dragon named devlin and cornwall. They unite their wits and strengths to find the stolen sword excalibur, before the insane villain named Rubert does. The plot is very simple, but it is very fun and delivers on the adventure.
The characters Kayley is a strong willed heroine who want to be a knight like her father more than anything, she is quite thick headed though, which unintentionally makes her a damsel in distress but unlike other versions she learns to adapt by learning from her mistakes, and ends up being quite effective as a hero in the end. Garrett is a young man who like kayley also dreams of becoming a knight, but a childhood accident caused him to go blind, making him feel worthless, leading him to self exile himself to the forbidden forest, where he met a silver wing falcon named aiden, who showed him how to adapt to the forest and become one with nature. Because of this, garrett basically becomes daredevil with heightened senses, becoming a real badass, and gaining the affections of kayley when he teaches her how to adapt to her surroundings as well.
Devon and cornwell the twin headed dragon are certainly the weak link in the movie and i will admit they are my least favorite part as an adult, even as a kid i didnt exactly hate them but i always found them annoying when their argued. We also get to see King arthur, merlin and many brave knights of the round table in this film, but they dont do much, still i like this version king arthur played by Pierce brosnan.
The villain of the movie named Ruber is a completely insane and yet competent villain when he needs to be, serving as a big threat to not just the heroes but to all of camelot. Voiced by the great Gary Oldman, he truly brings the insanity of this character to life in either hilarious or disturbing ways.
The griffin is probably my favorite character in this movie, based on his super cool design alone. As a kid I drew this guy hundreds of times, and is the reason i became a huge fan of griffins. But in the movie he is simply rubbers pet who probably experiences stockholm syndrome from being constantly abused by ruber and still remaining so obedient to him.
The iron men that worked for ruber were barbarians that would become fused with weapons through a magic potion that ruber purchased from witches. These guys have to be some of the coolest looking henchmen in any movie, and like the griffin I was obsessed with drawing these guys as a kid.
The Songs This movie has some incredible songs and music that makes it feel like a true celtic legend. I really like the opening songs titled "United we stand" and on my father wings", really give off that heroic niche i want in these type of movies. The villain song is just delightfully insane, ruber is just basically rambling about taking over camelot while turning his henchmen into iron men, with incredible visuals and colors to enhance the sequence. Kayleys mother gets her own celine dion song titled "The prayer", which became more famous than this movie and won alot of awards. As fo thedragon song "If I didnt have you".......ummmmmm. Like i said even as a kid the dragons were annoying to me, and this song is my least favorite, but i will admit the pop culture references are funny as an adult, but feel too similar to genies song from aladdin. The love song "Looking through your eyes" is still one of the most romantic songs ive ever heard, and is the perfect embodiment of kayley and garretts developing love story. Finally the song we all watch this movie for, "I stand alone", I struggle to put into words the sheer awesomeness of this song, from the lyrics to the visuals, this song has power, the voice of Bryan white is clearly no Cary elwes but i don't care, this song is 100% amazing, to this day i sing this song to myself while driving.
Conclusion:
I will admit my favorite part of this movie is kayley and garretts romance, while im sure you have seen their slap slap kiss kiss dynamic before, it is done exceptionally well here, with the two having quite alot of chemistry, helping each other to improve and overcome their weaknesses, making them one of my favorite animated couples.
The creativity of this movie is impressive, the aesthetics and environments of Camelot and the forbidden forest are wonderful to look at, helicopters flowers, living trees/rocks, dragons and griffins, besides great character designs, everything moves so smoothly, with the animation aging quite well, yes the CGI is noticeable but i don't mind it as much as other movies of its time, even though the rock ogre always looked very odd to me, but still an impressive visual. Lot of critics of this film (cough nostalgia critic) dislike the execution it went in, yes the movie has many similarities with Disney films, especially the aesthetics and character designs, but i feel it remains consistent. And it does a good job telling the story it wants to tell, yes some jokes are out of place or just cringey, but i don't care because the spectacle and sense of adventure is strong here, and this movie remains legendary to me.