DVD : The Sword in the Stone (45th Anniversary Special Edition)

Rating: - Wonderful tale!
I bought a number of animated features for when my grandchildren come over. I remembered that this was one of the DVDs that we had sent our grandson for his birthday so I got it for our house too.

Well, needless to say is has been played over and over and over again. The tale of the small boy Arthur who was able to become King is so captivating for the kids.

I finally sat down and watched it with them. It is so cute and the music so wonderfully crafted! This is one of my favorites too!

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Rating: - Great
Great movie, the only thing i don't like about it is the fact that the other two books were not done...

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Rating: - Walt Disney's most forgotten masterpiece!
Among Walt Disney's thirteen animated works, none has been put aside and forgotten as much as The Sword in the Stone, which is really a shame, knowing that this is a no less delightful Disney experience, it is different in the fact that it tells a different kind of story, it is less intriguing but it offers lots of cool scenes and some memorable characters.

The story in 1963's The Sword in the Stone revolves around education, education is the main theme and the moral is that you can't be anyone without a good education (Although in the real world we know that that isn't always the case). When England is left to perish without a king, a marvelous miracle occurs, a sword placed deep into a stone with the words that whoever pulls it out will be king of all England. Strong and mighty men give it a try, all failing and with time the sword is forgotten.

The people of England then decide to have a knight tournament, in which the winner will be crowned king of all England. Wise wizard Merlin soon realizes that it takes more than strength or plain brutality to rule a country so he decides to educate a young servant boy by the name of "Wart." With different tricks and the help of his wise owl Archimedes, Merlin manages to teach some of the most important lessons to the young boy. Each of these lessons are taught in fun ways, by turning Wart and himself into different sorts of animals, he teaches about intelligence against strength, gravity and even love while at the same time, showing him about how different animals must struggle to survive.

On the other hand, the son of Wart's master, Kay is the perfect example of no brain and pure strength, Merlin realizes having someone like him as king would bring the land to destruction so he must hurry and bring up Wart before Kay wins the knight tournament and is crowned King. In the end, Wart's hard-working brain defeat's Kay's strength and leads to be one of the greatest kings in the "history" of the United Kingdom.

Fun, colorful scenes, great characters and lively music make this a quite memorable Disney classic. Every scene from beginning to end is filled with fun, including one in which Merlin himself must use the logic of his own lessons to defeat the hilariously evil Madame Mim, once again, by turning into different animals, surely one of the greatest scenes in the film. Animation quality may not be of the sharpest kind, however the animation itself is lively and realistic, characters are very expressive and move about realistically. Backgrounds can get annoyingly "lazy" but are not as bad as in, say, "101 Dalmatians." The movie is a little dated because of its references to the 1960's, but it is still quite fun to watch at any time, any year. Highly recommended, being the last animated feature Walt Disney saw through completion and indeed one of their greatest and most interesting.

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Rating: - My Favorite Animated Disney Movie Ever And The Definitive Middle Ages Movie
If you were to put 10 people in a room and ask them what their all time favorite animated Disney movie was, odds are you'd get 10 different answers. Odds are most will say familliar classics like "The Jungle Book", "Snow White", "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty And The Beast", and "The Lion King". I, however, would go with this superbly crafted 1962 telling of the classic story of King Arthur. With its dazzling visuals, expertise storytelling and classic songs (I used to love the song played over the opening credits), everything about this film is flawless.

Wart is a boy living with his good for nothing relatives who treat him like the dishes he is forced to wash every night. However, Wart's life is about to change when a wizard named Merlin who is training the boy for something big. ALong with his obstonant owl Archimedes, he trains Wart how to become a knight and how to do other things only someone of royal lineage would know how to do. (He also turns him into a fish). However, Metrlin is also the target of an evil witch, who challenges Merlin on a duel as they search for the sword in the stone, a sword lodged in stone that will make the person who pulls it out king of England. It's a battle of wits as Merlin nasty showdown with the witch makes for one of the best moments in any Disney movie.

The conclusion: "The Sowrd And The Stone" is a true Disney classic that anyone at any age will embrace. Watch it as soon as possible sinceit is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

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Rating: - The #1 Disney Classic
A friend and I have recently over the summer decided to engage in a commentation marathon of every classic Disney film. One film a night for as long as it lasted. Alas, we have recently entered the horrible rut of less-than classics such as the over-acclaimed arabian adventure "Aladdin". So, we put together a little award show as the last step of these classic viewings.

For best movie we were tied at three classics:
-Sword in the Stone
-Aristocats
-Alice in Wonderland

When it came down to the decision: it was tough. I picked on consistant enjoyment. Although throughout the viewings "Alice" had captured my eye as #1, in the end it had too many dead parts and a view mediocre songs. Aristocats and Sword in the Stone was one of the toughest choices to date. Aristocats fell short only because of ONE incident of realitive deadness. The characters in Sword in the Stone are just lovely, and though the ending is very dissapointing, it prooves to be the #1 Disney Movie of All Time, in our humble opinions. Not a dead moment, a wonderful cast, timeless characters (especially Merlin and his sidekick of the late man who played Archimedes). Musical number enjoyment and overall timelessness awards this a true classic.