The Sword in the Stone (1963)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Wolfgang Reitherman

Writers:

Bill Peet (story)
T.H. White (book)

Release Date:

25 December 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Tired of living in a Medieval mess...Merlin uses all his magic powers to change a scrawny little boy into a legendary hero!

Plot:

Merlin the Magician teaches a young boy who is destined to be King Arthur.

Plot Keywords:

Sword | Squire | Merlin The Magician | Wizard | King Arthur

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Rickie Sorensen	...	Wart (voice)
Karl Swenson	...	Merlin (voice)
Junius Matthews	...	Archimedes (voice)
Sebastian Cabot	...	Sir Ector (voice)
Norman Alden	...	Sir Kay (voice)
Martha Wentworth	...	Madam Mim / Old Lady Squirrel (voice)
Richard Reitherman	...	Wart (voice)
Robert Reitherman	...	Wart (voice)
Alan Napier	...	Sir Pelinore (voice)
Ginny Tyler	...	Little Girl Squirrel (voice)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Portugal:M/6 | USA:Approved (certificate #20519) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Norway:7 | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | New Zealand:G | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | West Germany:o.Al.

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

The only animated Disney movie from the 1960s not to have a Platinum DVD, a sequel, a TV show, or a live-action remake.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Merlin is packing his bag by magic to go to the castle, the flow of items stops halfway into the bag as the sugar bowl fights with the teapot. When Merlin says, "Where was I?" there are no items near the bag. The camera cuts to Wart and when it goes back to Merlin, the items are back where they were.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Beginning singer: A legend is sung, of when England was young, and knights were brave and bold. The good king had died, and no one could decide who was rightful heir to the throne. It seemed that the land would be torn by war, or saved by a miracle alone. And that miracle appeared in London town: The Sword in the Stone.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Disney Sing-Along-Songs: Under the Sea (1990) (V)

Soundtrack:

Higitus Figitus

Great Animation

I only had very vague recollections of this movie until I watched it again just recently and I've decided this is kind of an underrated film.

I'm not all that familiar with the original story of the Sword in the Stone aside from the obvious more famous bits but I imagine the story guys on this movie took a lot of liberties. When it comes right down to it the plot is little more than a lot of fluff to fill running time until Arthur AKA Wart gets to the sword. 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. The highlight for me was a showdown between Merlin and Mim in which they morph into a variety of creatures to battle one another and no morph looks the same twice.

This is just light hearted entertainment. It's definitely geared more for kids but if you're an animation fan it's worth watching for that alone.