The Sword in the Stone (1963)

The Sword in the Stone (1963)

This Disney animated feature is a prequel of sorts to the legend of King Arthur of the Knights of the Round Table. It begins with a storybook detailing the beginnings of Excalibur (without specifically mentioning it by name). From a Kingdom long forgotten it had been left with its blade entrapped in a large stone that whosoever could remove it would be the true heir and next king. However after decades of no one being able to dislodge the sword from the stone the site had fallen into neglect to become overgrown with foliage and all but unnoticed over time as Sebastian Cabot narrates.

Curiously the story then shifts to a cottage deep in the woods where an old long-bearded man is squabbling with an owl named Archimedes (Junius Matthews). It seems the man is actually the great wizard Merlin (Karl Swenson) who knows the future as well as the past and has had a vision of a preteen boy dropping through his cottage’s roof and into a chair for tea later that very day. Sure enough a young boy named Arthur but referred to as Wart by his charges: foster father Sir Ector (Cabot) and his wannabe-a-Knight son Kay (Norman Alden). Wart is voiced by three different actors: Rickie Sorensen and director Wolfgang Reitherman’s two sons Richard and Robert. Sir Pellinore (Alan Napier) is a frequent guest and friend of Sir Ector who runs an old castle and keeps Wart busy with chores; the boy is initially unworthy of being a squire for Kay.

Without necessarily knowing why Merlin is to educate young Wart in the ways of the world to form his character for a greater purpose. He does this by turning the boy (and himself) into different animals including a fish a squirrel and a sparrow. It is during this last transformation that Wart falls down the chimney of a powerful and wicked witch named Madam Mim (Martha Wentworth). In perhaps the film’s most famous sequence Merlin battles Mim to save Wart each changing themselves from one creature to another in order to gain the advantage with the Wizard triumphing over the Witch by becoming a germ that infects her.

Eventually the story moves to London where Wart after forgetting to bring Kay’s sword for the events leading to Knighthood he inadvertently happens upon the titled sword and brings it to his foster brother. Sir Ector discovers that its ‘Excalibur’ and upon demonstrating that he can pull it out of the stone again – where others can’t – Wart is revealed to be Arthur the one true king.

The movie – written by Bill Peet from the T.H. White book – earned George Bruns an Academy Award nomination for Best Music Scoring of Music Adaptation or Treatment.

Purchase the DVD now at Movies Unlimited - Buy it NOW!

or buy the DVD/Blu-ray Disc COMBO here Movies Unlimited - Buy it NOW!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>