The Sword in the Stone (film)

The Sword in the Stone

Original theatrical release poster
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman
Produced by Walt Disney
Screenplay by Bill Peet
Story by Bill Peet
Based on The Sword in the Stone
by T. H. White
Starring Rickie Sorensen
Karl Swenson
Junius Matthews
Sebastian Cabot
Norman Alden
Martha Wentworth
Music by George Bruns
Edited by Donald Halliday
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Distribution
Release date
  • December 25, 1963 (1963-12-25)
Running time
 79 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $3 million[1]
Box office $22.2 million[2]

The Sword in the Stone is a 1963 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Distribution. The 18th Disney animated feature film, it was the final Disney animated film to be released before Walt Disney's death. The songs in the film were written and composed by the Sherman Brothers, who later wrote music for other Disney films like Mary Poppins (1964), The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970), and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).

The film is based on the novel of the same name, which was first published in 1938 as a single novel. It was later republished in 1958 as the first book of T. H. White's tetralogy The Once and Future King. The Sword in the Stone was released to theaters on December 25, 1963 to mixed reviews, though it was a box office success.

Plot

After the good King of England dies, leaving no heir to the throne, a sword magically appears inside an anvil in London. The sword bears an inscription proclaiming that "whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king, born of England". No one can remove the sword, which is eventually forgotten, leaving England in the Dark Ages.

Years later, a 12-year-old orphan named Arthur, commonly called Wart, accidentally scares off a deer his foster brother Kay was hunting, causing Kay to launch his arrow into the forest. In retrieving the arrow, Arthur lands in the cottage of Merlin the wizard, who declares himself Arthur's tutor and returns with the boy to his home, a castle run by Sir Ector, Arthur's foster father. Ector's friend, Sir Pellinore, arrives with news that the annual jousting tournament will be held on New Year's Day in London, and the winner will be crowned king. Ector decides to put Kay through serious training for the tournament and appoints Arthur as Kay's squire.

In order to educate Arthur, Merlin transforms the boy and himself into fish. They swim in the castle moat in order to learn about physics, but more importantly for Arthur to rely upon intellect in facing dangerous situations (brain over brawn). Arthur is attacked by a pike but is saved by Archimedes, Merlin's pet owl. Arthur is sent to the kitchen as punishment for trying to relate his lesson to a disbelieving Ector. Merlin enchants the dishes to wash themselves, then takes Arthur for another lesson, turning them into squirrels to learn about gravity, and to understand to think before acting ("look before you leap"). During their trip, two female red squirrels fall in love with them. Arthur is nearly eaten by a wolf, but is saved by the younger of the female squirrels before Merlin returns them to human form. While Merlin's pursuer is first scared then angry at this, Arthur's pursuer is heartbroken. When Merlin and Arthur return to the castle, Ector accuses Merlin of using black magic on the dishes. Arthur defends Merlin, but Ector refuses to listen and punishes Arthur by giving Kay another squire, Hobbs.

Resolving to make amends, Merlin plans on educating Arthur full-time. However, Merlin's knowledge of future history causes confusion, prompting Merlin to appoint Archimedes as Arthur's teacher. When Arthur imagines what it would be like to fly, Merlin transforms him into a sparrow and Archimedes teaches Arthur how to fly. However, during their lesson Arthur is attacked by a hawk and falls into the chimney of Madam Mim, an evil witch and Merlin's nemesis. Mim's magic uses trickery, as opposed to Merlin's scientific skill. Merlin intervenes before Mim can destroy Arthur, and she challenges him to a Wizards' Duel. Despite Mim's cheating, Merlin outsmarts her by transforming into a fictional germ called "Malignalitaloptereosis" that infects her with a chickenpox-like disease, effectively defeating her and illustrating the importance of knowledge over strength.

On Christmas Eve, Kay is knighted, but when Hobbs comes down with the mumps, Ector is forced to reinstate Arthur as Kay's squire. This causes a falling-out between Arthur and Merlin, who angrily (and unintentionally) transports himself to Bermuda when Arthur defends his choices. On the day of the tournament, Arthur realizes that he has left Kay's sword at an inn, which is now closed for the tournament. Archimedes sees the Sword in the Stone, which Arthur removes, unknowingly fulfilling the prophecy. When Arthur returns with the sword, Ector recognizes it and the tournament is halted. Ector places the sword back in its anvil, demanding Arthur prove that he pulled it. Thinking anyone can pull the sword now, Kay and others try unsuccessfully to retrieve it. Sir Pellinore and another knight, Sir Bart, stand up for Arthur and encourage him to pull the sword again. He does so, revealing that he is England's rightful king and earning Ector's and Kay's respect.

Arthur, crowned king, sits in the throne room with Archimedes, feeling unprepared to take the responsibility of ruling. Overwhelmed by the cheering crowd outside, Arthur calls out to Merlin for help. Merlin returns from Bermuda (and the 20th century) and is elated to find that Arthur is the king that he saw in the future. Merlin tells Arthur that he will go on to lead the Knights of the Round Table and become famous, starring in books and even movies, which (as usual) confuses Arthur.

Cast and characters

Production

In 1939, Walt Disney first obtained the film rights to T. H. White's The Sword in the Stone, and the initial storyboards were produced in 1949.[4] When work on One Hundred and One Dalmatians was completed in 1960, two projects were in development, which were Chanticleer and The Sword in the Stone.[5] The former was developed by Ken Anderson and Marc Davis who aimed to produce a feature animated film in a more contemporary setting. Both of them had visited the Disney archives, and decided to adapt the satirical tale into production upon glancing at earlier conceptions dating back to the 1940s.[6] Anderson, Davis, Milt Kahl, and director Wolfgang Reitherman spent months preparing elaborate storyboards for Chanticleer, and following a silent response following a story reel presentation, a voice from the back of the room said, "You can't make a personality out of a chicken!" The voice belonged to Bill Peet.[7] When the time came to approve one of the two projects, Walt remarked that the problem with making a rooster a protagonist was that "[you] don't feel like picking up a rooster up and petting it."[8] Meanwhile, work on The Sword in the Stone were solely done by veteran story artist Bill Peet. After Disney had seen the 1960 Broadway production of Camelot, he approved the project to enter production.[9] Ollie Johnston stated, "[Kahl] got furious with Bill for not pushing Chanticleer after all the work he had put in on it. He said, 'I can draw a damn fine rooster, you know. Bill said, 'So can I.'"[10] Peet recalled "how humiliated they were to accept defeat and give in to The Sword in the Stone...He allowed to have their own way, and they let him down. They never understood that I wasn't trying to compete with them, just trying to do what I wanted to work. I was the midst of all this competition, and with Walt to please, too."[11]

Writing in his autobiography, Peet decided to write a screenplay before producing storyboards, though he found the narrative "complicated, with the Arthurian legend woven into a mixture of other legends and myths" and finding a direct storyline required "sifting and sorting".[12] After Walt received the first screenplay draft, he told Peet that it should have more substance. On his second draft, Peet lengthened it by enlarging on the more dramatic aspects of the story, in which Walt approved of through a call from Palm Springs, Florida.[12]

Casting

For the voice of Merlin, director Wolfgang Reitherman estimated that seventy actors read for the part, but "none evidenced that note of eccentricity that we were seeking. We wanted Merlin to be eccentric but not hokey." At the same time, Karl Swenson was initially cast for Archimedes, but the filmmakers decided to cast him instead as Merlin. Rickie Sorensen, who had voiced young Arthur, entered puberty during production,[13] which forced the older Reitherman to cast his sons, Richard and Robert, to replace him.[14]

Reception

The Sword in the Stone was a financial success at the box office and became the sixth highest-grossing film of 1963. It grossed $22,182,353 in North America,[2] earning estimated theatrical rentals of $4.75 million.[15] However, it received mixed reviews from critics, who thought it had too much humor and a "thin narrative".[16] Rotten Tomatoes reports that 72% of critics gave positive reviews based on 25 reviews with an average score of 6.1/10. Its consensus states that "A decent take on the legend of King Arthur, The Sword in the Stone suffers from relatively indifferent animation, but its characters are still memorable and appealing."[17] Nell Minow of Common Sense Media gave the film four out of five stars, writing, "Delightful classic brings Arthur legend to life".[18]

In his book The Best of Disney, Neil Sinyard states that, despite not being well known, the film has excellent animation, a complex structure, and is actually more philosophical than other Disney features. Sinyard suggests that Walt Disney may have seen something of himself in Merlin, and that Mim, who "hates wholesome sunshine", may have represented critics.[16]

Accolades

The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Score—Adaptation or Treatment in 1963, but lost against Irma La Douce.[19]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

Soundtrack

All tracks written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."The Sword in the Stone" (Sung by Fred Darian)1:07
2."Higitus Figitus" (Sung by Merlin)1:49
3."That's What Makes the World Go Round" (Sung by Merlin and Arthur)2:21
Side two
No.TitleLength
4."A Most Befuddling Thing" (Sung by Merlin)1:07
5."Mad Madam Mim" (Sung by Mim)2:10
6."Blue Oak Tree" (Ending of the song, sung by Sir Ector and Sir Pellinore; and the knights beginning and the middle of the song deleted)0:50
Deleted songs

Home media

The Sword in the Stone was released on VHS in early 1986 as a part of the Walt Disney Classics collection as well as another VHS release on July 12, 1991. It was re-released on VHS on October 28, 1994 as a part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection. It was released on DVD on March 20, 2001 in a Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection line-up. It includes two classic short films, A Knight for a Day and Brave Little Tailor, as well as the film facts. The DVD of the film was re-released as a 45th anniversary special edition on June 17, 2008.[21] For its 50th anniversary, it was released on Blu-ray on August 6, 2013.[22]

Other media

Several characters from the film made frequent appearances in the Disney's House of Mouse television series. Merlin was voiced by Hamilton Camp. One notable appearance in the series was in the episode: "Rent Day", in which he tells Mickey Mouse that he will give him the 50 ups only if he gives Arthur a sword. Madam Mim appears as a villain in the spin-off film Mickey's House of Villains. Merlin frequents the Disney Parks, the only character from the film appearing for meet-and-greets at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. He appears in the opening unit of Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams at Disneyland Park. He also hosts the Sword in the Stone ceremony in the King Arthur Carrousel attraction in Fantasyland at Disneyland. In 2014 and 2015, UK health directive Change4Life incorporated "Higitus Figitus" as the soundtrack to adverts promoting their Disney-sponsored "10 minute shake up" summer program.

Comics

Madam Mim

Madam Mim was adopted into the Duck universe where she sometimes teams with Magica De Spell and/or the Beagle Boys. She also appeared in the Mickey Mouse universe where she teamed with Black Pete on occasion and with the Phantom Blot at one point. She was in love with Captain Hook in several stories; in others, with Phantom Blot. In many European Disney comics, she lost her truly evil streak, and appears morbid yet relatively polite.

Mim has appeared in numerous comics produced in the United States by Studio Program in the 1960s and 1970s,[23] often as a sidekick of Magica. Most of the stories were published in Europe and South America. Among the artists are Jim Fletcher, Tony Strobl, Wolfgang Schäfer, and Katja Schäfer. Several new characters were introduced in these stories, including Samson Hex, an apprentice of Mim and Magica.[24]

Video games

Madam Mim appears in the video game World of Illusion as the fourth boss of that game.

Merlin is a supporting character in the Kingdom Hearts series, now voiced by Jeff Bennett in Kingdom Hearts II.[25][26] In Kingdom Hearts, Merlin lives in an abandoned shack in Traverse Town with Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, sent by King Mickey to aid Sora, Donald, and Goofy in the art of magic. He owns an old book which features the world of The Hundred Acre Wood, home of Winnie the Pooh. The book's pages, however, have been torn out and scattered across the universe, and Merlin asks Sora to retrieve them for him. He reprises the same role in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, as a figment of Sora's memories. In Kingdom Hearts II, Merlin moved to Hollow Bastion to aid Leon's group as part of the town Restoration Committee, though he is at odds with Cid who prefers his own computer expertise rather than Merlin's magic. Merlin again instructs Sora, Donald and Goofy in the art of magic, and again requests that they retrieve the stolen parts of the Pooh storybook. At one point in the game, he is summoned to Disney Castle by Queen Minnie to counter the threat of Maleficent, and he constructs a door leading to Disney Castle's past (Timeless River) for the trio to explore and stop Maleficent and Pete's plans. In the prequel, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Merlin encounters Terra, Aqua and Ventus, and grants them each access to the Hundred Acre Wood. The prequel also reveals that it was Terra who gave him the book in the first place after finding it in Radiant Garden. According to series creator Tetsuya Nomura, a world based on the film was initially to appear in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, but the idea was scrapped.

Live-action film adaptation

According to The Hollywood Reporter in 2015, Disney began developing a live-action film version of The Sword in the Stone with Bryan Cogman writing and Brigham Taylor producing.[27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Thomas, Bob (November 1, 1963). "Walt Disney Eyes New Movie Cartoon". Sarasota Journal. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Box Office Information for The Sword in the Stone". The Numbers. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Ness, Mari (August 6, 2015). "In Need of a Villain: Disney’s The Sword in the Stone". Tor.com. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Sword in the Stone is Released". Disney D23. Disney.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  5. ↑ Hill, Jim (December 31, 1999). "The "Chanticleer" Saga -- Part 2". Jim Hill Media. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  6. ↑ Hill, Jim (December 31, 1999). "The "Chanticleer" Saga -- Part 3". Jim Hill Media. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  7. ↑ Solomon, Charles (December 2, 1995). The Disney That Never Was: The Stories and Art of Five Decades of Unproduced Animation. Hyperion Books. p. 87. ISBN 978-0786860371.
  8. ↑ Barrier, Michael (2008). The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney. University of California Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0520256194.
  9. ↑ Beck, Jerry (October 28, 2005). The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago Review Press. p. 262. ISBN 978-1556525919. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  10. ↑ Canemaker, John (October 21, 1999). Paper Dreams: The Art And Artists Of Disney Storyboards. Disney Editions. p. 184. ISBN 978-0786863075.
  11. ↑ Bill Peet (May 10, 2012). "Seldom Re-Peeted: The Bill Peet Interview". Hogan's Valley (Interview). Interview with John Province. Bull Moose Publishing. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  12. 1 2 Peet, Bill (1989). Bill Peet: An Autobiography. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 168–71. ISBN 978-0395689820.
  13. ↑ Thomas, Bob (December 28, 1963). "Changing Voices a Problem". Evening Independent. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  14. ↑ Hischak, Thomas (September 21, 2011). Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland & Company. p. 176. ISBN 978-0786462711. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, January 6, 1965 p 39. Please note this figure is based on rentals accruing to distributors not total gross.
  16. 1 2 Sinyard, Neil (1988). The Best of Disney. Portland House. pp. 102–105. ISBN 0-517-65346-X.
  17. ↑ "The Sword in the Stone (1963)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  18. ↑ Nell Minow. "The Sword in the Stone - Movie Review". Commonsensemedia.org. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  19. ↑ "The 36th academy awards (1964)". Oscars.org. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  20. ↑ "AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  21. ↑ "Amazon.com: The Sword in the Stone (45th Anniversary Special Edition): Norman Alden, Sebastian Cabot, Junius Matthews, The Mello Men, Alan Napier, Rickie Sorenson, Karl Swenson, Martha Wentworth, Barbara Jo Allen, Vera Vague, Wolfgang Reitherman: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. June 17, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Amazon.com: The Sword in the Stone (50th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray: Rickie Sorenson, Karl Swenson, Norman Alden, Sebastian Cabot, Martha Wentworth, Alan Napier, Junius Matthews, Ginny Tyler, Barbara Jo Allen, Thurl Ravenscroft, Richard Reitherman, Wolfgang Reitherman: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. August 6, 2013. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  23. ↑ First is in S 65051, according to the Inducks
  24. ↑ Samson Hex at the Inducks
  25. ↑ Square (November 15, 2002). Kingdom Hearts. PlayStation 2. Square Electronic Arts.
  26. ↑ Square (December 22, 2005). Kingdom Hearts II. PlayStation 2. Square Electronic Arts.
  27. ↑ Kit, Borys (July 20, 2015). "'Sword in the Stone' Live-Action Remake in the Works With 'Game of Thrones' Writer (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
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