Year: 1963
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Country: US
Language: English
The first Disney Studio production to feature songs written by the fantastic songwriting team of Richard and Robert Sherman, The Sword in the Stone was made during financial hardship but thanks to the success of 101 Dalmatians (1961) it could afford greater animation. Courtesy of Bill Pleet, an animator who's tenure was fairly short, we see art that is well defined with deep colors and intriguing backgrounds.
A poor boy named Arthur learns the power of love, kindness, knowledge and bravery with the help of a wizard called Merlin (Karl Swenson) in the path to become one of the most beloved kings in England history.
Interestingly enough, Sword in the Stone is the second time since Fantasia (1940) that Walt Disney unknowingly served as a model for a wizard. Normally Disney features were so complex that they needed to be directed by a team of animators underneath a supervising director, but only Wolfgang Reitherman is the Director here, as he would be for the majority of Disney films until the 1980's. This marks the first time a solo director was used.
Sword in the Stone doesn't have much plot going for it, infact it works more like a series of somewhat related vignettes. It isn't too interested in the legends of Arthur either, as much of the plot consists of the wizard teaching lessons while disguised as various animals. We don't get much clarity regarding why they have to be that particular animal. It has many fun moments and interesting one-liners, but overall it leaves a sour taste and doesn't prove to be a great work overall.
Despite the story being so-so, the characters are very difficult to forget. Merlin is so weird that you'll have a hard time taking your eyes off of him. The score isn't anything to recommend however, and it would be quite difficult to consider this a "great picture" because of its many flaws.
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