Quest for Camelot (1998)

Director:

Frederik Du Chau

Writers:

Vera Chapman (novel)
Kirk De Micco (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Adventure | Fantasy | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Devon & Cornwall: A two-headed dragon with an identity crisis.

Plot:

An adventurous girl, a young blind hermit and a goofy two headed dragon race to find the lost sword Excalibur to save King Arthur and Camelot.

Plot Keywords:

King Arthur | Knight | Blind | Sword | Camelot

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Jessalyn Gilsig	...	Kayley (voice)
Andrea Corr	...	Kayley (singing voice)
Cary Elwes	...	Garrett (voice)
Bryan White	...	Garrett (singing voice)
Gary Oldman	...	Ruber (voice)
Eric Idle	...	Devon (voice)
Don Rickles	...	Cornwall (voice)
Jane Seymour	...	Juliana (voice)
Céline Dion	...	Juliana (singing voice) (as Celine Dion)
Pierce Brosnan	...	King Arthur (voice)
Steve Perry	...	King Arthur (singing voice)
Bronson Pinchot	...	Griffin (voice)
Jaleel White	...	Bladebeak (voice)
Gabriel Byrne	...	Lionel (voice)
John Gielgud	...	Merlin (voice) (as Sir John Gielgud)

Also Known As:

The Magic Sword: Quest for Camelot (International: English title)

Runtime:

86 min | Germany:74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Brazil:Livre | Chile:TE | France:U | Germany:o.Al. (w) | Singapore:G | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | USA:G | Australia:G | Canada:G

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Was originally intended to be darker and more faithful in tone to the original book, however, more songs, characters and family-friendly gags were added to tone down the content.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kayley and Garret are standing by the acid lake, deciding whether or not it's safe, Garret dips just the end of his walking stick into the lake, but when he pulls it out, almost half is gone and the end of what remains is charred black. In the next shot, the entire walking stick is complete and unharmed.

Quotes:

Ruber: Find them all and report back to me! Did you hear me?
Gryphon: Sorry, Master. My mouth was full.
Ruber: Typical! Of all the evil creatures in the world, I had to find one with *table manners*!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Red Hot Riding Hood (1943)

Soundtrack:

I Stand Alone

Enjoyable but flawed Arthurian Adventure

This is a film that I have watched several times now with the kids and find myself enjoying it more each time.

Previous comments have compared it unfavourably to Disney but this seems unfair - it is clearly a separate product, darker and more cynical than the works of that other company. The song by dragons Devon and Cornwall - 'Without You'- stands in stark contrast to, say, the sentiments of 'You and Me Together' in Disney's Oliver and Company. Neither could I imagine Ruber, with his particular vein of sarcastic villainy, appearing in the products of that more family centred studio.

The weakest individual moment, for me at least, is anachronistic. Devon and Cornwall sing about their mutual hostility, and their song is animated with some twentieth century props and in-jokes. This is a jarring note in a film which otherwise tries to maintain some sort of historical integrity. It is funny but creates a disruption that is hard to forget. (More acceptable is the 'Do you feel clucky?' line later on)

There has been some criticism of the animation quality, and it does seem to vary. Some of the movements of animals, in particular, seem jumpy at a distance. However balancing out these weaknesses are such scenes as the evocation of a cold morning, when Kayley hears of her father's death, and Ruber's splendid witchcraft scene.

Overall the film suffers from being underwritten - one wishes more time was taken in filling out character and incident before the final attack on Camelot. Cayley and Garrett fall in love too easily, while Devon and Cornwall (delightfully witty and charming creations) have too little to do. And what happens to Merlin? He's reduced to flying a bird. It's a shame as other supporting characters, like the Gryphon and the axe chicken are very well judged, and completely memorable. More unforgivable is the character of King Arthur, who is just bland.

On the plus side, this is still a good film, utterly free of pretension. Ruber's magical creation of his henchman is a highlight, a demoniac sequence that is quite thrilling, a brilliant musical set piece that moves the plot forward, sparking huge suspense. His creations are delightfully original in themselves, frightening and intriguing in equal measure. Watching it again I was reminded of how little of this quality of real wonder appears in another non-Disney animation, Prince of Egypt - a much more favourably received work, and far more earnest in tone.

This Arthurian adventure can be quite revealing in comparison when taken this as an unofficial sequel to The Sword in The Stone, throwing stereotypical Disney values and methods into greater relief. In its own right it is very enjoyable in any case, although it could have been even better with some extended work on the script.