Review of The Sword in the Stone (1963) by Ryan P — 25 Mar 2010

The Sword in the Stone, the last Disney animated film released before the death of Walt, is an often forgotten production in the company's canon. It's pretty easy to see why - no standout songs (The Sherman Brothers would work magic four years later on The Jungle Book) and merely three memorable characters (the wizard Merlin, his owl sidekick Archimedes, and the great villain Madam Mim, who is puzzlingly only in the film for about 10 minutes).

My biggest problem with The Sword in the Stone is that it barely bothers to register a plot. The bulk of the film sees Merlin change a young King Arthur into three animals (a fish, a squirrel, and a bird) and the trouble that these transformations cause.

An entertaining 'Wizard's Duel" between Merlin and Mim is one of the film's lone highlights, but the movie ends awfully rushed soon after that battle. The sword in the stone aspect of the story is barely brushed upon until the last 5 minutes.

Usually Disney animation delivers with a well-thought out story, but this just doesn't hold up. But I would still say it is worth a watch because many of the scenes are thoroughly entertaining, light-hearted, and contain nice visual gags.