Most everyone knows of England's mythical
hero King Arthur, his wife Queen Gwynevere, and the Knights of the Round Table.
But how did Arthur become the great and legendary king everyone knows him as?
Disney's classic animated film The Sword in the Stone retells
T.H. White's book about the boyhood of Arthur.
The Sword in the Stone received an Academy Award nomination
for George Brun's musical score. The songs were done by the very duo behind the
award-winning songs of Mary Poppins. The film stars the voices of
Rickie Sorensen; Richard Reitherman; and Robert Reitherman as Arthur (nicknamed
"Wart"), Karl Swenson as Merlin the magician, and Junius Matthews as
Merlin's pet owl Archimedes.
SUMMARY
The movie opens with England's king dying, without an
heir of any kind to leave behind. However, a magical sword appears in an anvil,
which bears an inscription that says whoever removes the sword is the rightful
king of England. And yet no one can remove it. The legendary sword is forgotten
and Great Britain enters into the Dark Ages.
A long time later, a young orphan named Arthur is
living with a grumpy retired knight named Sir Ector, and his bully son Kay. One
day, while assisting Kay on a hunt, Arthur (or Wart, as everybody has named
him) causes an accident, and Kay misses his targeted deer. The arrow from Kay's
bow went into a dark forest and Wart is forced to go after it.
While looking for the arrow, Arthur stumbles upon a
little old cottage. Inside, he meets the powerful magician Merlin and his
talking owl Archimedes. Merlin tells Arthur he is prepared to become the boy's
tutor. Arthur is interested but reluctant. Merlin and Archimedes then accompany
Arthur back to Sir Ector's dilapidated castle.
Later, Sir Pellinore, a friend of Ector's, comes to
the castle bearing wonderful news. The winner of the New Year's Day jousting
tournament is to become king of England. Ector decides to get Kay into rigorous
training for the tournament, making Arthur Kay's squire.
In order to begin teaching Arthur, Merlin uses magic
to continue Arthur's chores while they leave the castle. Afterwards, they have
amazing adventures as they are transformed into fish, squirrels, and birds.
Arthur is taught about wit, wisdom, love, and courage during the lessons.
During one lesson, Arthur as a bird finds himself
trapped in the cottage of Mim, a witch of dark magic. Coming to the rescue,
Merlin and Mim engage in a battle of wits. Each of them turns into some sort of
creature in order to gain the upper hand over the other. Merlin reigns
triumphant even with treachery and lies from Mim, as he infects her health as a
bacteria. This further enforces his lesson of cunning for Arthur.
Finally, the day of the great tournament comes. But
Arthur forgot Kay's sword in the tavern at which they were staying. Arthur
searches for another sword and finds one in an overgrown churchyard. He pulls
the sword from an anvil, as light shines down on him from an undefinable
source.
When he takes the sword to Kay, Ector takes a look
and realizes what sword it is. Arthur leads a large group of people back to the
churchyard, and he places to sword back into the anvil. Many men attempt to
pull it out, but none can. Finally, Sir Pellinore gives Arthur a chance to
prove himself.
The boy removes the sword from the stone and is
declared as king of England. He begins his reign using the lessons taught by
his wise tutor Merlin.
CONTENT
Since The Sword in the Stone is a
Disney cartoon, the violence is rather minimal. There are some sword fights and
jousting, but the most injuries anyone suffers are a bruised head or a fall
from their horse. Mim tries to harm Merlin during their duel, using dangerous
animals as ways to destroy the wizard. She might also come across as
frightening to younger children when she turns herself into different
creatures.
Aside from some minor name-calling (such as
"Wart"), there is no foul language in the movie.
There is a scene when Mim turns herself into a
beautiful woman and Arthur is amazed by her appearance. Also, while squirrels,
Arthur and Merlin run into a pair of female squirrels. During this, Merlin
sings the song The Most Befuddling Thing, which is all about love
and romantic feelings. While the song is relatively harmless, parents might not
want their children getting their views of romance from Disney. However, this
could be a good place to discuss the world's definition of love versus a
biblical one.
Since Merlin is a wizard and Mim is a witch, both
obviously use magic. Merlin declares his magic as good and helpful, while Mim
openly brags that hers is dark magic. Either way, sorcery of some kind or
another is heavily involved in the film. There are no real-life spells used,
but Merlin uses several magical chants throughout the film. Parents will have
to judge whether or not they believe this is appropriate for their kids.
While the songs aren't Disney's best, there are a few
that are enjoyable. These include Higitus Figitus, That's
What Makes the World Go Round, and Mad Madam Mim. The songs, as
I stated above, are from the same two brothers who penned the music for Mary
Poppins.
Sword in the Stone is definitely not my
favorite Disney film, though it did have the personal touch of Walt Disney
himself. I do find it interesting and pretty good. It is a relatively clean
film, unlike many so-called "family" movies of today. Depending on
your personal decisions about magical content, this is a great movie for kids
and families.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Length: 79 minutes
Rating: G
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Producer: Walt Disney
Music: George Bruns (score), Richard & Robert Sherman (songs)
Year of release: 1963
Primary audience: Kids, family
Primary audience: Kids, family
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