Review of The Sword in the Stone (1963) by Filipeneto — 16 Jan 2022

I honestly have doubts whether or not this little film can be considered one of the Disney classics. It's old and has quality, it's a really good movie to see with the kids, without any contraindications, but I've always seen it as a little-known work, and I even thought that Disney itself never seemed very willing to make us remember it... so I leave the question: is it age just enough to be considered a classic film?

The film is a retelling of the old tale of King Arthur: here, the king is a child, still, and is being trained to become the squire to a noble knight. However, his curiosity and initiative, as well as the inspiring and educational words of the wizard Merlin, will lead him to a very different path in life, after inadvertently removing an old sword from a stone... the sword that could only be removed by the right person to assume the vacant throne of England.

The film is good, it has joy, it has color and movement. Even so, it's visually rough, with slightly imperfect features. The film was hand-drawn, and many artists were involved in its production, as was once common at Disney. Even so, the limited production budget has led to cost cuts that are surely at the root of this look, less elegant and smooth than the studio's older films.

Karl Swenson does an impeccable job of voicing, but I also liked the thin voice of Martha Wentworth, who lent her voice to the witch Madame Min, one of the characters who would, later, move into comic books and other works in the Disney universe. Junius Matthews also did a very good job.

A very important part of this movie is the music, and there are songs for almost every taste. The movie has a long list, but I honestly didn't feel touched by any of the songs, and none of them stayed in my ear for very long. That doesn't mean they aren't good... it means they lack something to make them truly memorable.