The Sword in the Stone

 

While there are various accounts of the legends of King Arthur, few can say they’ve been adapted into a Disney film. Such is the case with The Sword in the Stone, based on the first book in The Once and Future King tetralogy by T. H. White. While one of the lesser-known entries in the Animated Canon, it does carry some historical significance for the company, as it was the last of these films to be released within Walt Disney’s lifetime, as well as the first entry in the Canon to feature music by the Sherman Brothers. Looking back on the film, although it hasn’t been given the same franchise treatment as many of Disney’s other films at the time, looking back on it yields one of the more overlooked and underrated classic Disney films.

While training to be a Squire, a young Arthur (aka Wart) (Rickie Sorensen, Richard Reitherman, and Robert Reitherman) joins his older foster brother Sir Kay (Norman Alden) on a deer hunt. Arthur, however, accidentally messes up Kay’s shot and goes into the forest to retrieve the lost arrow. Arthur manages to find it in a tree while unknowingly dodging a hungry wolf, only to fall through the roof of a cottage belonging to the wizard Merlin (Karl Swenson). Merlin, who has seen the future and had been expecting Arthur, believes he’d be better off with a proper education more than Squire training and offers to be his teacher, though it’s a lot easier said than done for the young boy to neglect his duties.

 

Arthur (Rickie Sorensen, Richard Reitherman, and Robert Reitherman, left)
literally drops in on Merlin (Karl Swenson, right), who sees great potential in him.

 

I will admit I have not read the book that this film is based on, nor am I deeply-versed in Arthurian lore, so I cannot vouch for the story’s accuracy. That said, it is still good in its own right, with Arthur having a good character arc as he learns to stand up for himself and others. While Merlin is established as having knowledge of the future and the occasional reference to then-modern technology and geography is present, it is thankfully not overbearing as it could easily have been and his character is still taken with the right amount of seriousness. The ending can come off a bit abrupt since it ends where Arthur’s story usually begins, however it makes more sense in the context that the book it’s adapting is the first part of a series. While Madam Mim (Martha Wentworth), the main antagonist, can certainly make an impression with her personality and magic prowess, she doesn’t really show up until the last 20 minutes of the runtime, and even then, is only present for maybe half of that, making whatever screen time she has feel a little rushed.

The Sword in the Stone uses the xerography method employed by the preceding film, 101 Dalmatians (1961), however the execution looks a lot cleaner and makes the method less obvious, with the final result holding up surprisingly well. The character animation is particularly impressive, with each character being highly expressive and having their own unique body language befitting their personality. The sequence where Arthur and Merlin transform into squirrels is a standout example of this, with the unnamed girl squirrel (Ginny Tyler) exhibiting behavior of real-life squirrels and her amorous attraction to Squirrel!Arthur being exhibited entirely through body language. Adding to this, Merlin and Madam Mim’s magic take full advantage of the power of animation, which is on full display during their Wizard Duel near the end of the film.

 

The squirrel sequence stands out for a number of reasons.

 

As with many earlier Disney productions, the voice acting has aged well and remains one of its strongest aspects, with Karl Swenson and Martha Wentworth giving iconic performances as Merlin and Madam Mim respectively. Notably Arthur has three voice actors, due to Rickie Sorensen hitting puberty during production, with the rest of his lines being finished by director Wolfgang Reitherman’s sons, Richard and Robert Reitherman. While this results in a noticeable shift in Arthur’s voice between and during some scenes, his characterization remains consistent throughout and it’s clear that the three voice actors did their best to maintain it despite not quite sounding alike. Ginny Tyler also deserves some credit for being able to elicit an emotional reaction towards a non-anthropomorphic squirrel without spoken lines. The songs in this film, by frequent Disney collaborators the Sherman Brothers, also hold up well and feel organically worked into the narrative in addition to being very catchy, with “Higitus Figitus” and “Mad Madam Mim” being particular standouts.

While this film has not been made into a franchise in spite of its ending, it has still garnered a lasting legacy. Though Arthur hasn’t seen much recognition in Disney media, Madam Mim would go on to become a recurring villain in the Duck comic universe, as well as a playable villain in the Disney Villainous Bigger and Badder expansion. Merlin has received his fair share of exposure as well, becoming a recurring character in the Kingdom Hearts series as well as a notable guest character in the Disney Junior series Sofia the First. As with a number of animated Disney films in recent years, this one is set to receive a live-action remake on Disney+, though the way the Pinocchio remake turned out doesn’t give me high hopes for it.

 

Despite being a lesser-known Disney villain, Madam Mim (Martha Wentworth)
has had a lasting legacy of her own.

 

60 years since its original release, The Sword in the Stone holds up as an overlooked Disney classic, featuring some memorable characters and music in addition to some spectacular animation that still impresses in quality. Whether or not this will appeal to Arthurian scholars depends entirely on the individual, though fans of lesser-known Disney works will want to give this one a chance.