#18 The Sword in the Stone

Title: The Sword in the Stone

Release Date: December 25th, 1963

Voice Cast: Karl Swenson, Sebastian Cabot, Junius Matthews, Rickie Sorenson

Recap: Based on the novel of the same name by T.H. White, the film tells the story of a scrawny page named Arthur, who has no realistic hopes of becoming anything more than a squire. He is met by Merlin, a fanciful wizard, who foretells that Arthur will be the next king of England. To accomplish this, Arthur must be able to pull a sword from a stone in London, where it is written that he who does this shall claim the throne. Of course, Arthur has to compete with all of the mightiest knights in include, as well as his foster brother, Kay. So, Merlin begins to use magic to train him, teaching lessons as fish, squirrels, and birds.

Review: This won't be too long of a review, actually, because a lot of this film can be summed up in a few sentences. It's just simply below par. Not terrible, but below par. The animation is a step backwards. Well, not a step backwards, because I would take Snow White animation over this. It's far too liney, and the characters' movements don't seem in place sometimes. That creates another problem with the voice acting, which (especially for Arthur and Kay) lacks the moment a lot. The way they speak is not appropriate for the situation. Finally, the humor is very, very low-brow. And the worst time of it is, they waste time laughing at their own jokes.

So again, The Sword is not terrible. But there's a reason some Disney films aren't as well-known as others. The Sword lies, chronologically, between 101 Dalmatians and The Jungle Book, and just look how marveled those two are. So, I imagine I'm not being too harsh on this one.

Bare Necessities

P.S. Did anyone notice that the last few Disney films have been British? I sure didn't until this one.

P.P.S. Check back in a few hours for a review on The Jungle Book.