literature

The Sword in the Stone review

Deviation Actions

MegaCrashtheHedgehog's avatar
Published:
695 Views

Literature Text

1963-merlin-1 by MegaCrashtheHedgehog

*Spoiler Alert*

In 1963, Walt Disney Pictures released The Sword in The Stone. I have some fond memories with this film. I first watched it in the first grade, and I thought it was ok. I liked the characters but I only remembered three songs. I think the movie doesn't really hold up to Disney's other movies but it's still not bad. So is this movie another Disney masterpiece, or should we let Merlin turn it into something else. Lets find out.

Story
Our story takes place in ancient England. We have Arthur, who is referred to by many as Wart, a young boy training to be a squire by his older foster brother Kay, and his foster father Sir Ector. One day, Arthur meets Merlin, a magical wizard who says he will give Arthur proper training, and will be his tutor. Along with the help of a talking owl named Archimedes. Throughout the training, Arthur, Merlin, and Archimedes come across many dangers. Such as a pike, a wolf, and an old rival of Merlin, Madam Mim. Once Arthur is ready, he finds an ancient sword, and pulls it out of a stone. It was the legendary, Sword in the Stone. And so, Arthur is made King of England. A simples story based on a legend, but it's lacking in quality. What I mean is that a lot of points in the story are really slow paced, and when you watch you start saying, "come on! Something happen already!" Not to mention, the songs aren't that great either, despite them being written and composed by The Sherman Brothers. Who would go on to make the songs for the next movie, but I'll talk about hat next time. There are only two songs that I like in this film, and they are "Higitus Figitus," which is sing by Merlin, and the villain song of the film, "The Marvelous Madam Mim," sing by Madam Mim. Also, most of the characters are pretty forgettable. Not the worst story made by Disney, because trust me, the worst of Disney has yet to come. In terms of my marathon anyway. By the way, for the voice actors, we have three for Wart. Rickie Sorensen, Richard Reitherman, and Robert Reitherman. I don't know why, but whatever. For Merlin, it's Karl Swenson, Archimedes is voiced by Junis Matthews, Madam Mim is voiced by Martha Wentworth, Sir Ector is voiced by Sebastian Cabot, and Sir Kay is voiced by Norman Alden.

Animation
A new animator working at Disney who worked for the animation on this film is Don Bluth. Who would later on.....well we'll get to him later. So the animation is a bit more rough, but it's not bad, at least not in my opinion. There's also a bit of recycled animation from 101 Dalmatians, but it was only used once in the film. The same would go for later films, but I'll talk about that later. The reused animation is where Kay get hit on the head in the kitchen scene, which is used from 101 Dalmatians where Jasper gets hit on the head during the fight against Pongo and Perdita. Anyway, the animation is rough, a bit reused, but still good.

Background Info
There was very, and I mean very little info on the film, but here's what I was able to dig up. On it's release, it was a box office success, but the critics didn't like it. Most gave it 6/10. Although the movie won an academy award for best score. It's said that during the the fight scene between Merlin and Mim was to represent Walt vs the critics. Hec they even gave Merlin Walt's nose!

Final Thoughts
All in all, the sword in the stone isn't the worst Disney film, but it's not one of their strongest. Most of the story is boring, and slow paced, and I only remember two songs. Although it has some nice animation and the characters are pretty cool. I'm giving The Sword in The Stone a 6/10. So next time I'll be looking at one of the most famous Disney films of all time. So if you'll excuse me...

*starts humming*you-ooo-ooo, I wanna be like you-ooo-ooo.

Higitus Figitus Migitus Mum!
Pres-ti-dig-I-ton-I-um!

Sowrd in The Stone belongs to Walt Disney studios.
© 2017 - 2024 MegaCrashtheHedgehog
Comments4
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In