Growing up I fell in love with the legend of King Arthur. In my adult mind, I can't exactly recall a lot of the legends and life of King Arthur. I watched plenty of movies though, like Quest for Camelot (which I barely recall), and of course...Monty Python and the Holy Grail which I can quote line by line from memory. But then again who can't? Then there was also this film, which I never owned, but certainly watched as a child, and enjoyed it to an extent. It wasn't my favorite Disney movie out there, but I had enough fun. Writing this ten, fifteen years later, my stance really hasn't shifted...much. And I say that last part because watching it as an adult, I can't help but ask myself of what the point of this film was. The title event doesn't happen until the very end of the film, the film focuses more on Merlin than it does Arthur most of the time, and in the end, the film feels most like a compilation of Disney shorts than it does a feature length story.
It makes me think that this movie likely would have been much better off as just a small series of Disney shorts. Maybe a fun little television series of a young Arthur getting educated by the powerful Merlin. The characters are most certainly likable enough. Merlin is voiced by the late Karl Swenson, and there were plenty of times I was chuckling over his bumbling attitude towards certain inconvieniances all around him, from his beard to no electricity (he apparently can travel across the temporal planes and has been to the 20th Century). Arthur is voiced by...three different voice actors. No joke, look it up. This can lead to some noticable flukes in the film structure and whatnot. It can also get a little noticable and slightly annoying to hear recycled voice clips, or animation sequences ranging from Arthur simply yelling "Whoa!" To Arthur tripping down the stairs carrying way too many dishes. I'm also unsure but I'm pretty sure that the Jungle Book would use some recycled animation from Arthur stuffing his face with cookies, but I'm not entirely sure. And while I'm on the subject of animation it unfortunetaly needs to be said that this is far from an animated pinnacle. There are areas in this movie where I could easily spot sketches that seemed unfinished or unpolished.
As I said above, the film's title event doesn't really come into play until the very end of the movie. Instead, the film decides to focus on the educational experience and adventures of Merlin and young Arthur, which most of the time revolve around Merlin changing Arthur into an animal, and them living the lift of that animal. I guess it's no one's fault that a fish is easier to draw than a person. Each adventure tackles some different "lesson", and I put that in quotes because I gotta say that Merlin isn't that great a teacher, rather more than he is just plain...dickish at times. Arthur gets chased by a large fish in the moat that wants nothing more than to snack on Arthur, and Merlin just says "Oh you're on your own, use your brain to outsmart the fish." Great advice that I'm sure most teachers repeat nowadays (but then again a lot of them kinda do). Arthur is changed into a squirrel, and gets the attention of a female squirrel in a scene where he's told that love is perhaps the greatest force in the world. And I'm not gonna lie, that is one depressing as hell scene. I never thought a movie could make me want to hug a squirrel of all things. Arthur is changed into a bird and learns that the power of logic is one that can triumph over brawn, but it seemed more like a cheap excuse to have Merlin battle a witch. Yeah, it's no secret that the plot of this story really isn't that focused. It jumps all over the place and since we're supposed to get the feeling that Arthur is our main character, it can be strange to see him take the backseat for Merlin who tends to take up more of the actual story. Heck, the film opens with Merlin.
Each adventure is its own thing, offering a fun unique adventure with different characters, and dangers, though in the same way, each plays out like the other a little too similarly at times. During the fish adventure, a frog takes a liking to Arthur, and follows them around the water before a large fish decides to chase Arthur around. During the squirrel adventure, a girl squirrel of course takes a liking to Arthur, follows them around, and even saves Arthur from a wolf character that we saw at the beginning of the film. The only difference with this one is that Merlin also attracts a friend of his own. Then we get the bird example, where Arthur becomes a bird, doesn't get any friends, but still runs from a hawk, and Madam Mim in a cat form. So literally, each adventure is just a different chase scene with different takes and endings and whatnot. Then when the final event of the film, which is focused on the sword begins to come up, Merlin gets angry for very little reason, disappears off to Bermuda until the very end of the film, and we get a climax which is rather...anticlimatic. There's very little jousting shown of the joust the film mentions, after Athur pulls the sword and becomes King, we don't exactly get much of a hint for what's to come in Arthur's time as king, and this ultimately leaves more questions unanswered than it does answer questions. Despite the likability of Merlin and his owl pet, the rest of the characters feel a little too one-dimensional, so when the climax happens, and people act like they do, it's hard to really care, because all you know is that Arthur's older stepbrother is a jerk, his stepfather kinda cares, but obviously favors his actual son, and honestly, that's about it. I can barely remember any other character in this movie by name.
One thing I must give say about this film is that the music is surprisingly well done. That's not to say it's flawless, Madam Mim's song is completely forgettable there, but Merlin's songs can actually be surprisingly catchy in the right way, and the music that plays when Merlin uses his magic to help Arthur clean the dishes is really fun. But that's really the only thing that stood out to me. They had a decent musical score and a few fun musical numbers. But that's not enough to really carry this film if you ask me. I'm not saying that the movie is bad, but...it's not exactly the best effort Disney ever did. There are a lot of shortcuts taken, and it kinda shows here. I had fun watching it, but it's hardly one I'll recommend or rush to watch again in the near future.
The Sword in the Stone just barely earns a two and a half star rating and honestly, that might be a little generous. It coul easily be a two. But despite the lack of focus on its plot, and bland cast, the film is still fun to watch on multiple levels. Each little adventure presented is presented in a charming way, and will give you a reason to laugh or smile. It's Disney, so it really doesn't have something that would make me condemn this film on a whole. It just needed a better direction. If you're in the mood for some quick nostalgia, you'll probably have a good time, but it needs to be said that it likely spent a lot of time in the Disney Vault for a reason. Heck for all I know, it's probably sitting in that dark place now.
Please feel free to suggest any films you'd like me to look at in the future. Leave a comment down below of how you feel about this film, and as always, thanks for reading.
Final Verdict: 2.5/4
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