Magnificent Marvelous...Brilliant

Author's Rating:

Pros: Cute story, great humor in short just a great movie

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: 
I'd say watch it regardless of old animation! It is just too great to pass up and is good for anyone

Author's Review
I saw the Sword in the Stone this summer and just nearly smacked myself. Where have I been all these years? I saw it in the rent store since I was 14 yet never watched it. Oh well at least I saw it now and lets just say it is one of the Disney's Best movies ever!

Okay I'll try not to spoil it too much but watch out just in case

The story starts with a narrator telling a somewhat simplified legend of the sword in the stone and what it will do. When it switches to a forest scene where a wizard Merlin is pulling out a pale of water from the well, goes to his place and prepares to meet mysterious someone for tea. That someone turns out to be an orphaned boy of 11 or 12 who is named Arthur but nicknamed "Wart". He lives with his foster father and foster older brother who have different attitudes towards him. His brother doesn't really like him placing Arthur in a kind of Cinderella position though his father is not that evil but just seems to be a little too strict with discipline for young boys. He however does offer to treat Arthur once in a while. After Arthur drops in for tea (literary) Merlin leaves with him to educate him and help him with his chores. He also takes Arthur on several adventures by transforming him to a fish, squirrel and a bird. Merlin's pet owl (sorry but I can't recall his name right now) at first is not thrilled with Merlin's idea of educating a boy of questionable birth but after facing one of Merlin's wizard rivals Mad Madam Mim along with Arthur he becomes more warm and protective. In the end Arthur discovers that he is a king but his reaction is unusual (I won't say which or else I'll spoil it) and somewhat unexpected from a fairy tale character. The ending however is more or less traditional for Disney classics.

Good Sides

~Very good humor and a lot of funny scenes
~The voice actors were really into their characters
~ Merlin is the star of this in my opinion for he is the best
~Quite a number of unexpected events and character reactions

Bad Sides

~If you want to learn about the legend don't watch it for it's far from original legend
~If you are really strict about animation that movie again may not really be for you. Remember it's Classic Disney before all those special effects and stuff
~Some songs may be a little annoying at times but overall not really bad

Overall Recommendation

I recommend it for anyone who wants to have a good laugh or return to childhood. It's a really awesome show if you can just forget about all that modern animation stuff

My Most Favorite Quotes

"Everything complicated! One Big Medieval Mess!" Merlin
"Magnificent, Marvelous, Mad, Mad, Mad Madam Mim!" Madam Mim
"A highly Educated Owl" Merlin
"A Dark Age indeed" Merlin

Extra Stuff (On DVD)

~You can see the interview with two composers of the songs for this movie
~ You can hear one of the songs that was not included in the movie but written for it
~You can also see how the movie was made and hear opinions about it

That's it so far to the best of my knowledge. I watched it last time in August and can't completely recall all DVD features