The Sword in the Stone

In 1963, Disney produced his first animated film with songs scored by the Sherman Brothers. It would also be the last animated film released before Walt’s death. Based on the T.H. White novel of the same name, The Sword in the Stone is comedic musical fantasy about King Arthur before he was king.

The film begins in 6^th Century England after King Uther Pendragon dies without an heir and the “Sword in the Stone” appears in London. Upon the sword is an inscription claiming that whoever can remove it is the rightful King. None can do so and England is left in the Dark Ages.

Years later, Arthur (Rickie Sorensen, Richard Reitherman and Robert Reitherman) is a young orphan training to be a squire. While accompanying his foster brother Kay (Norman Alden) on a hunting trip, Kay loses an arrow, which Arthur goes to retrieve. He runs into Merlin (Karl Swenson) and his owl Archimedes (Junius Matthews) who declares himself Arthurs tutor. They return to Arthur’s home, run by Arthur’s foster father, Sir Ector (Sebastian Cabot). Ector at first will not allow Merlin to tutor Arthur, but is quickly convinced. At the same time, Sir Pellinore (Alan Napier) arrives with news that the annual jousting tournament will crown the winner King. Kay is trained for the tournament and Arthur becomes his squire.

To teach Arthur, Merlin transforms him into three animals throughout the film: A pike to learn about physics, a squirrel to learn about gravity, and a sparrow. However, during the third transformation, Arthur runs into Madam Mim, who uses her magic for trickery instead of science like Merlin. Merlin arrives and challenges Mim to a Wizard’s Duel. Mim makes rules, but eventually finds a loophole and Merlin turns into a germ to infect Mim and defeat her.

On Christmas Eve, Kay is knighted and Arthur is set to leave to assist him in the tournament, but Merlin is angered that he prefers fighting over academics and transport himself to 20^th century Bermuda.

The others travel to London, but Arthur realizes he left Kay’s sword at the inn. Finding it closed for the tournament, Arthur pulls a sword from an anvil in a stone in a churchyard, fulfilling the prophecy. Ector and Black Bart (Thurl Ravenscroft) recognize the sword. Arthur is made to put the sword back to prove he pulled it out. He does so and is crowned King. However, Arthur is overwhelmed and calls Merlin for help. He returns and tells the boy that he will become a great legend.

When the name Disney is mentioned, most recall films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs¸ Cinderella, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid.  Unfortunately, The Sword in the Stone is not well remembered among Disney’s animated films, which is a shame because the film has a fantastic cast of characters. Every one of them, except Pellinore and Black Bart, have varying degrees of depth. It might not show all the time, but are seen in specific points in the film. While it looks like Kay, Ector and Archimedes don’t really care about Arthur, there are times when it shows that they do. In the beginning of the film, after Arthur goes into the wolf infested forest, Kay is having regrets about letting him go in and Ector is worried that he might not come back. Sure, every other time in the film, they’re putting him down and treating him with contempt, but thing is, they know he’s safe. And when Arthur is turned into a fish, he’s about to be eaten by a pike. Archimedes drops everything to come to his aide. He also goes to get Merlin when Arthur runs into Madam Mim when he could have easily just said “screw him.” Merlin is one of Disney’s most interesting characters too. He acts like a wizened old weirdo because he is, but there are times when he’s clearly obfuscating stupidity and knows more than he lets on. Most likely because he knows the future. It’s an interesting interpretation to a character who, according to legend, lived backwards. Mim is also an entertaining villain. She’s off her rocker, but clearly knows how to lay down rules so that she finds a loophole and comes out the victor. But she gets cocky, which leads to her defeat. And Arthur is quite realistic. The whole film is development for him, and he grows from an unlearned squire to an educated king. He gets more self-confidence as the film goes on but he doesn’t end up completely sure of himself. He still needs a mentor.

The only problem with Arthur is how he was voiced by three different people. It’s blatantly obvious with no attempt made to hide it. It’s not that his voice changes as the film progresses, but in the same scene, you can hear all three voices. There had to be a reason for this, but I can’t seem to find one. If one of them had backed out, why not rerecord everything with the other voice?

On the other hand, the story can get a little thin in areas, especially during the scenes where Arthur is transformed into an animal, but those are still fairly fun to watch. The best part of the film is by far the Wizard’s Duel. It’s very cleverly written and allows Merlin and Mim to just be themselves. The music isn’t too memorable either.

Final Call: the story can get a little thin, but the characters make the film what it is. Passes the Edge of Satisfaction and becomes #4.