Rating: G
Genre: Children's/Family
Release Date: 06/17/2008
SubTitles: French/Espanol
Dubbed: French/Espanol/English
Sound: DD2/DD5.1
Run Time: 79 min
Distributor/Studio: Walt Disney Video

1963's The Sword in the Stone is Disney's animated take on Arthurian legend. In the midst of the Dark Ages, when England has no rightful ruler, a sword imbedded in a stone mysteriously appears in a London churchyard, bearing the inscription "Whoso pulleth out the sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England." Scores of would-be kings travel to London to attempt the feat and thereby claim the throne. They all fail. Years later, in the English countryside, an 11-year-old squire nicknamed Wart (Rickie Sorensen) is devotedly helping his incompetent foster brother, Kay (Norman Alden), train to become a knight, when he meets the great magician Merlin (Karl Swenson). The well meaning, but absentminded, wizard declares himself Wart's mentor and claims that he will lead the boy to his destiny. Spirited and full of spunk, Wart (whose real name is Arthur) approaches Merlin's lessons with the same determination that he applies to Kay's hopeless training and to the monotonous chores he is assigned by his guardian. He soon finds himself accompanying Kay to London for a jousting tournament that will determine England's new king. There, Wart forgets to bring Kay's weapon to the joust, but finds an abandoned sword in a nearby churchyard -- which he effortlessly pulls out of a stone.

~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide

The Sword in the Stone is the first solo directorial effort of famed Disney animator Wolfgang Reithermann. The lackluster animation and unimpressive musical numbers disappointed audiences upon the film's initial opening, but its tale of a stout-hearted child destined for greatness proved timeless as it lured scores of Disney fans to theaters upon its several re-releases. Based on the first book of T.H. White's tome The Once and Future King, the film blurs Arthur's story, but makes the legend accessible to very young children. If the movie's animation is not up to par, the remarkable and eccentric characters well make up for it. The skinny, bowlegged Wart (Rickie Sorenson) is as much a hero as his predecessors, the wooden Pinocchio and the big-eared Dumbo. Moreover, Merlin's (Karl Swenson) skeptical sidekick, the scholarly owl Archimedes (Junius Matthews), as well as his wacky nemesis, the sorceress Mad Madam Mim (Martha Wentworth), make the film as colorful as any of its state-of-the-art cartoon counterparts.

~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide

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