Most of us are familiar with the story of the young lad Arthur and how he pulled a sword out of a stone to prove his worthiness to become the king of England. In “The Sword in the Stone,” Disney takes the tale a step further with animated effects and great characterization.
Arthur, otherwise known as The Wart, works as a scullery boy in the castle belonging to Sir Ector. Ector’s son, the slovenly Kay, will soon become a knight, and Arthur is assigned to squire for him. It’s an honor, to be sure, especially for someone of such low birth as Arthur.
But the young boy has another destiny, as the magician Merlin knows. One day while out hunting with Kay, Arthur literally stumbles onto Merlin and the gray-bearded old sorcerer immediately recognizes him as the boy who is destined to rule the country. Merlin comes home with Arthur, anxious to begin the boy’s education, and establishes himself in a leaky tower room in Sir Ector’s castle, invited to stay only on the condition that his tutoring lessons do not interfere with Arthur’s kitchen and squire duties. Merlin can hardly bear to make the promise; he knows Arthur won’t be a kitchen boy forever, but if that’s what it takes to get to stay, so be it.
Much of the charm of this movie comes in Merlin’s lessons to Arthur. One day, he turns Arthur into a fish, and we follow him down into the water to see him escape the jaws of a shark. Another time, he and Merlin become squirrels and learn the ways of the forest. This adventure was not without peril of its own, however; they found themselves the objects of affection for two female squirrels.
Best of all is the Wizard’s Duel between Merlin and Madame Mim, a sorceress in her own right. She has it in her mind that she is going to do away with Merlin once and for all, but he outwits her to show Arthur that brains are more important than brawn.
In the end of the film, Arthur does pull the sword out of the stone, like we knew all along he would. But while other films primarily focus on what happened to Arthur after that, I liked seeing who he might have been before, a rascally young chap running around the woods with Merlin at his side. A delightful family film based on the book by T. H. White, this is one of Disney’s best.
This film is not rated.
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