Centuries ago, the King of England died and no one could decide who was the rightful heir to the throne. To resolve the matter, a sword appeared in a stone anvil in a churchyard and it was said that the person who could pull the sword from the stone would be the rightful king of England. Though many people tried, no one could move the sword let alone pull it out and so, in time, the marvellous sword was forgotten.
T. H. White’s classic tale of Arthur and Merlin is brought onto the screen in Disney’s The Sword In the Stone. With catchy songs, great characters, and a few lessons, this is one of those classic Disney movies that tends to get forgotten.
“A legend is sung of when England was young and knights were brave and bold. The good king had died and no one could decide who was rightful heir to the throne. It seemed that the land would be torn by war or saved by a miracle alone. And that miracle appeared in London town; the sword in the stone.
And below the hilt in letters of gold were written these words: Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil it rightwise king born of England. Though many tried for the sword with all their strength, none could move the sword nor stir it. So the miracle had not worked. And England was still without a King. And in time, the marvellous sword was forgotten. This was a dark age. Without law and without order, men lived in fear of one another. For the strong preyed upon the weak.”
The film follows young Arthur and his meeting with the wizard Merlin, who is determined that the boy receive an education so that he can make something of himself.
That’s what I love about this movie, like Pinocchio, it is filled with lessons that the kids in the audience can take away with them. Although the lessons in Pinocchio were more moral lesions, the points learnt here are more intellectual, the major one being that knowledge and wisdom is the real power. You know, brain over brawn. It’s got a wonderfully clever script, in particular the character of Merlin is always complaining how the Dark Ages are “an age of inconvenience” and “one big medieval mess” and then after spending some time in the 20th century, he comes back the Dark Ages to complain that the future is “one big modern mess!” All the modern references that snuck into this medial film were refreshing and funny; great for relating to the kids.
Filled with catchy songs, magic spells, slapstick humour, clever jokes, and wonderful characters, The Sword In the Stone is another Disney classic that should be in any Tragic’s collection.
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