The Sword in the Stone *** (1963, Rickie Sorensen, Sebastian Cabot, Karl Swenson ) – Classic Movie Review 3713

Director Wolfgang Reitherman’s 1963 animation is a ‘whiz-bang wizard of whimsy’, or to put it another, more comprehensible way, it is Walt Disney’s generally appealing and delightful – and sometimes even magical – cartoon version of the King Arthur story. It is the 18th Disney animated feature, in a list that started with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and reached 55 by Zootropia in 2016. However, its success is surprisingly held back with unexpectedly so-so songs by the normally reliable Sherman Brothers, Richard Sherman and Robert B Sherman, who write the mediocre music and lyrics.

In the story, young Arthur (aka Wart) (voice of Rickie Sorenson) wants to become a knight’s squire and is befriended by the old wizard Merlin (voice of Karl Swenson) and his talking owl Archimedes (Junius Matthews). The amnesiac wizard plans a big future for Wart and starts by trying to give him an education.

The one real wizard bit is Merlin’s fight with Mad Madam Mim (Martha Wentworth) but, throughout, kids will probably just love the animation and all the cute characters.

Bill Peet’s screenplay is based on T H White’s book The Once and Future King, which the musical Camelot (1967) shares as a source text.

It is director Reitherman’s first solo feature.

Other actors in the voice cast are Sebastian Cabot, Alan Napier, Norman Alden, Barbara Jo Allen and Ginny Tyler.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3713

Check out more reviews on derekwinnert.com