Rating: G
Genres:
Fantasy
Children's/Family
Historical Film
Release Date: 06/17/2008
SubTitles: French/Espanol
Dubbed: French/Espanol/English
Sound: DD2/DD5.1
Run Time: 79 min
Flags: Child Classic
Distributor/Studio: Walt Disney Video
1963's
The Sword in the Stone is
Disney's animated take on
Arthurian legend. In the midst of the Dark Ages, when England has no rightful ruler, a sword imbedded in a stone mysteriously appears in a London churchyard, bearing the inscription "Whoso pulleth out the sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England." Scores of would-be kings travel to London to attempt the feat and thereby claim the throne. They all fail. Years later, in the English countryside, an 11-year-old squire nicknamed
Wart (
Rickie Sorensen) is devotedly helping his incompetent foster brother,
Kay (
Norman Alden), train to become a knight, when he meets the great magician
Merlin (
Karl Swenson). The well meaning, but absentminded, wizard declares himself
Wart's mentor and claims that he will lead the boy to his destiny. Spirited and full of spunk,
Wart (whose real name is
Arthur) approaches
Merlin's lessons with the same determination that he applies to
Kay's hopeless training and to the monotonous chores he is assigned by his guardian. He soon finds himself accompanying
Kay to London for a jousting tournament that will determine England's new king. There,
Wart forgets to bring
Kay's weapon to the joust, but finds an abandoned sword in a nearby churchyard -- which he effortlessly pulls out of a stone.
~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
The Sword in the Stone is the first solo directorial effort of famed
Disney animator
Wolfgang Reithermann. The lackluster animation and unimpressive musical numbers disappointed audiences upon the film's initial opening, but its tale of a stout-hearted child destined for greatness proved timeless as it lured scores of
Disney fans to theaters upon its several re-releases. Based on the first book of
T.H. White's tome
The Once and Future King, the film blurs
Arthur's story, but makes the legend accessible to very young children. If the movie's animation is not up to par, the remarkable and eccentric characters well make up for it. The skinny, bowlegged
Wart (
Rickie Sorenson) is as much a hero as his predecessors, the wooden
Pinocchio and the big-eared
Dumbo. Moreover,
Merlin's (
Karl Swenson) skeptical sidekick, the scholarly owl
Archimedes (
Junius Matthews), as well as his wacky nemesis, the sorceress
Mad Madam Mim (
Martha Wentworth), make the film as colorful as any of its state-of-the-art cartoon counterparts.
~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
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