Quest for Camelot (1998)

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 from disaster.

Director:

Frederik Du Chau

Writers:

Vera Chapman (novel), Kirk DeMicco (screenplay) (as Kirk De Micco)

Stars:

Jessalyn Gilsig, Cary Elwes, Andrea Corr

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

During the times of King Arthur, the story of an adventurous brave girl, named Kayley, whose father, a Knight of the Round Table, is killed by Sir Ruber, a maniacal brute who steals Excalibur and ultimately threatens to seize King Arthur's Camelot. Kayley enlists the blind, reclusive knight-aspirant Garrett and a goofy two headed dragon to brave the Enchanted Forest and retrieve the magic sword. Their adventure is also, of course, fraught with danger.

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Plot Keywords:

ogre | king arthur character | merlin character | scene before opening credits | scene during opening credits | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Warners

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

La espada mágica: La leyenda de Camelot

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,041,602, 17 May 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$22,717,758, 9 August 1998

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,400,000, 18 October 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Feature Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Leonardo DiCaprio was considered for the role of Garrett.

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Goofs

When the bad guy tries to attack King Arthur he is repelled by the sword. He runs out of the chamber and slams the heavy wooden doors closed behind him. As he does so three knights throw a spear at him. However on the other side of the doors, seven spears are shown piercing through it.

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Quotes

Kayley: Please... Don't die.
[She places the healing plant on his side]
Kayley: I can't do this on my own.
[There is a pause as Ayden flies in]
Kayley: I'm sorry. It's all my fault that you were hurt. I mean, I was rattling on when I should have been quiet. I'm no help to anyone.
Garrett: [Shushes her gently] You're wrong.

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Crazy Credits

The first half of the closing credits revolves around the Stonehenge in which Excalibur, King Arthur's sword, was originally found. When it shows the cast & the animators, the main characters is aside from them.

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Alternate Versions

The French track of the DVD plays "The Prayer" after "Looking Through Your Eyes" instead of "I Stand Alone" during the end credits. After "The Prayer", "I Stand Alone" does play but ends just short of the 3rd verse (the credits run out).

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Connections

References Taxi Driver (1976)

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Soundtracks

The Bunny Hop
Written by Ray Anthony and Leonard Auletti

User Reviews

Heart is in the right place, but flawed...

I am going to agree with the majority of the other posters here. There is a lot of good elements in this movie, but it is all put together as much more of a cliche then it had to be.

It seemed like there were too many singing scenes and they were too abrupt and not integrated into everything. Every time one started, I couldn't wait for it to be over so we could get back to the story. And as others mentioned, the singing voices were too different from that of the characters themselves. Imagine if they had used the time during the songs to actually give more plot and character development.

Everyone seemed too two-dimensional. As someone else pointed out, how did the bad guy even get to the round table in the first place? He was charming in his own way, but too cookie-cutter.

As others mentioned, the animation is very hit-or-miss. The backgrounds and overall mood are very well done, but a lot of the characters were just not animated well, the hawk was frequently deformed, etc. It stood out badly due to the quality of everything around it. Take a look at something like Princess Mononoke to see characters animated on a limited budget that meshes much better with everything else, with a lot more visual style.

It seems like it would have a feminist bent, but then she is still rescued most of the time, and the dress scene at the end seems especially absurd in the context of everything else.

Some of the comedy elements were cute, but I did dislike all of the movie references and everything. Since everything else seems centered in the world, it seems out of place.

Like the Black Cauldron, this was an OK movie that could have been a lot better. But at least BC didn't have all that singing. Sword in the Stone also worked a lot better while being in a similar vein.

If you want an American animated movie that is really consistent with its own world, animated well, has good characters, etc. check out the Secret of Nimh. You can get it really cheap on DVD now. Seeing Quest for Camelot the day after Nimh, there really is no comparison...