The Sword in the Stone (1963)

Director: Wolfgang Reitherman

Starring: Sebastian Cabot, Karl Swenson, Rickie Sorensen, Junius Matthews

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The untold legend of young King Arthur and Merlin, the madcap magician!

Plot: Arthur (aka Wart) is a young boy who aspires to be a knight's squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for Wart beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give Wart an education (whatever that is), believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again? Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin!

Here's another one I haven't seen since I was a kid. I don't remember liking it then and nothing's changed. I also haven't read the T.H. White book it's based on, not that it would make any difference. This is all about Arthur's adventures in education with Merlin and nothing else. The title doesn't even come into play until the last five minutes!!! The songs aren't memorable and the story is very episodic, feeling like it's one set piece after another, giving the film an excuse to do lots of things that don't mean much except to prepare Arthur for leadership and to throw in some song and dance routines. Yeah, I know, it's the life lessons he's learning that ties it all together but it's just not entertaining and it bored the piss out of me. Maybe if I were 6 and had just seen A SERBIAN FILM (2010) it would...oh, wait. Forget about A SERBIAN FILM. You've seen it? Well, I guess you can't forget it now can you? That was one messed up picture. Wait. THE SWORD IN THE STONE. Of the Disney animated features before 1972, I'm a-guessin' this is at the bottom and quite a ways from the next to last worst one.

Here, watch the trailer re-worked INCEPTION-style!