"Do you want a round or square table for the knights?"

Author's Rating:

Pros: Some literary humor, the characters.

Cons: Some slapstick humor.

The Bottom Line: 
Sword In The Stone works well as one of the sleeper films in the Disney canon.

Author's Review
The Sword In The Stone is one of the more underrated of the Disney animated films. It never gets mentioned in the same breath as Snow White or Cinderella. While it isn't quite up there with those two, it (and the animated Disney Robin Hood) does stand up as one of Disney's better films.

TSITS tells about young King Arthur and Merlin. As the film begins, we see Arthur as a boy in what is more or less a male version of Cinderella. Arthur (who is known as Wart, although I didn't see any warts on him) is a busybody who spends every day doing work, while his lazy, favored older brother trains to be a knight. One day while going into the woods to fetch some water from the well, he finds himself in a position where he has to dodge a clumsy wolf. In the process he meets Merlin The Magician and his Owl sidekick Archimedes.

Merlin and Archimedes are two of the most memorable characters Disney has ever created. In fact, I can't think of any characters that they have created since that matches their level (apart from Robin Williams as the Genie in Aladdin).

After their first meeting, Merlin shows up at the castle and announces his intention to give Wart lessons. Wart's father Sir Ector isn't crazy about the idea. But grudgingly agrees to give Merlin the guest room. Before long, Merlin is using magic to take care of Wart's chores for him and is preparing Wart for his important future role.

The preparation adds up for some of the funniest scenes in the movie. In one sequence, Merlin changes Wart into a squirrel. Unfortunately, a female squirrel falls for Wart. While that scene is somewhat cutesy, the following sequence where Merlin turns into one and is hit on by a female squirrel his age is funny. And there is also the battle between Merlin and Madame Mim.

One interesting thing to note about this Disney film is that it is not filled with a lot of violence and action. The few scenes of swordplay are generally bloodless and the battle with Madame Mim ends with Mim temporarily put out of commission, not dead.

The only real negative thing I can think of about The Sword In The Stone is that sometimes there is too much of an emphasis on fall down/board in the crotch type humor. Some sequences overdo that element a little too much (especially the ones involving the wolf in the woods).

Overall, Sword In The Stone works well as one of the sleeper films in the Disney canon. In fact, I like it a lot better than I do the likes of Pocahontas and Hercules.