BACKGROUND
“Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England”.
These words set the scene for the Disney animated classic The Sword in the Stone, the last Disney animated feature to be completed and released during Walt Disney’s lifetime.
Unlike other Disney animated features, where the timeframe that they were produced in has its own story, the 1960s weren’t a particularly exciting or painful time for the Disney Studios. Throughout the 1950s, they had been rebuilding after the impact of World War II and had some mixed results. Cinderella (1950) was a big success, but Lady and the Tramp (1955) and Sleeping Beauty (1959) received mixed reviews, the latter of the two being hugely costly to make and therefore, it took a while for it to make any money.
Because of the disappointment of Sleeping Beauty, the 1960s began an effort to make new movies cheaper. The Xerography process helped this and was instrumental in the creation of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), a very popular box-office release. So, The Sword in the Stone was going to go the same way, something quick and cheap to make.
Once again though, The Sword in the Stone could not mimic the results of its predecessor, and, although it got some good reviews and made a small profit, it has not been remembered like other Disney animated features have been. It’s another one of those that has been forgotten or trashed by some, and remains a favourite with a small number.
I personally really like The Sword in the Stone, but I believe I am in the minority there. I don’t think it’s even that this film is inherently bad. At the time of its release in 1963, it would have been compared to other Disney movies and felt that it was lacking some “Disney magic”. In current times, I think it has the additional trouble of being forgotten in amongst all the other King Arthur and/or Merlin adaptations, of which there are many, with a general feeling that the story has been “overdone”.
But for me, and most children who have seen it, The Sword in the Stone was my first introduction to the legend of King Arthur. Since then, I have watched many others, including the 1967 movie of the musical Camelot, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), and the BBC television series Merlin (2008-12) all of which take a different look at the legend. Disney’s The Sword in the Stone is a lighter, funnier version of the story, and that’s why I like it, because it is so different and pleasant to watch, whereas other adaptations can be a bit dark, delving into the story more with Black Knights, grails, and evil sorcery.
PLOT
Even though everyone knows the legend of King Arthur, The Sword in the Stone follows a unique story, so I will recount it anyway. The film starts with a short sung-through backstory, telling us how the old King of England, King Uther, has died with the heir to the throne unknown. An unseen narrator then tells us that The Sword in the Stone has been created in order to find the rightful king. Many try to pull the sword but to no avail, the sword being left to time and forgotten.
Then the story of Arthur can begin. In this version, Arthur is an 11-year-old orphan, living with his foster father Sir Ector and foster brother Kay, who have given him the “affectionate” nickname of Wart. Arthur has accidentally ruined Kay’s hunting trip by making him misfire his arrow. Arthur goes into the forest to retrieve it and in doing so, falls through a cottage roof, which happens to be the house of the wizard Merlin. Merlin has been expecting him, though he doesn’t know exactly who he is, only that he’s important for some reason. Arthur insists he must get home, so Merlin and his talking owl, Archimedes, accompany him back to Sir Ector’s castle, where Arthur is given “demerits” for running off and being late. Merlin introduces himself to Sir Ector, who is both suspicious and scared of Merlin’s sorcery. He leads Merlin to a room in one of the crumbling, leaking towers of the castle where he can stay. Merlin is not impressed, but wants to be able to educate Arthur to give him a better future, so Merlin and Archimedes stay. Arthur is being trained to be Kay’s squire, since Sir Ector has been informed of a New Year’s Day tournament, where the winner will be crowned the new King of England, so naturally Ector wants Kay to win and become king.
The next day, Arthur starts his lessons with Merlin. The first one involves them both becoming fish in the castle moat, where he begins learning how fish move in water. The two are attacked by a giant pike, with Merlin giving Arthur the chance to show that brains can beat brawn. With some help from Archimedes, Arthur succeeds and outsmarts the pike. Merlin quickly turns both of them back into humans. Because of this, Arthur is late once again for his training and Sir Ector tells him to get to the kitchen to wash dishes, ignoring all of the magical events that caused him to be late. Merlin finds Arthur in the kitchen and sets up a magical assembly line to get the dishes cleaned whilst they are both away. Merlin then turns them both into squirrels, to learn about gravity, but at the same time, the two are chased by female squirrels who have fallen in love with them. This is awkward and uncomfortable for Merlin and Arthur who try to outrun their fans. At the same time, a wolf, who has been following Arthur since the opening scene in the forest, returns and waits for Squirrel Arthur to fall to the ground so he can finally eat him. Arthur does fall, but luckily his new friend helps fight off the wolf. Once again, Merlin quickly turns him and Arthur human again, which confuses the female squirrels. Merlin angrily scares his off, while Arthur tries to let his one down gently. She doesn’t understand, being a squirrel, and runs up a tree to cry…
Meanwhile, Ector, Kay and the cook see the enchanted dishes in the kitchen and try to stop this “dark magic”. It doesn’t work, but Merlin and Arthur return and Merlin puts a stop to the spell. Arthur tries to defend Merlin from Ector’s tirade. As further punishment, Arthur is no longer allowed to be Kay’s squire; Hobbs will replace him. Arthur is upset, so to try to make it up to him, Merlin endeavours to teach him full-time, but because Merlin has time-travelled and seen the past, present, and future, his lessons confuse Arthur. Archimedes is tasked with taking over, and begins with the basics like the alphabet. Merlin wants to get involved again so begins a lesson on aircrafts and flight, but his model plane falls and crashes into the moat, with Archimedes confirming that “if man were meant to fly, he’d have been born with wings”. Arthur says how he’s always wanted to fly, so Merlin turns him into a sparrow. Arthur and Archimedes set out on a flying lesson.
During the lesson, Arthur is pursued by a hawk and falls down a chimney into a cottage in the woods. This is the home of Mad Madam Mim, an eccentric sorceress and Merlin’s nemesis. Arthur is about to be destroyed by Mim when Merlin comes to rescue him. Mim challenges Merlin to a wizard duel, where the two turn themselves into different animals to fight and outwit each other. However, Mim cheats, going against one of her rules about only turning themselves into real animals, not mythical ones; she turns himself into a dragon. To outsmart her, Merlin turns himself into a germ, called malignalitaloptereosis, which Mim catches, giving her a nasty, but survivable illness, where she needs lots of sunshine to get better, something she despises: “I hate sunshine, I hate horrible, wholesome sunshine!”
Just before the tournament, at Christmastime, Arthur is informed that Hobbs has mumps so he can be Kay’s, now Sir Kay as he has been knighted, squire in the tournament. Arthur is overjoyed and goes to tell Merlin and Archimedes the good news. Except Merlin is far from happy for Arthur, thinking he’s throwing away all their lessons and teachings, passing over education for a menial position. Merlin is so angry in fact that he blasts himself to 20th Century Bermuda. Archimedes continues to support Arthur though, going with him to London for the New Year’s Tournament.
During the tournament, Arthur forgets Kay’s sword and must find him another one quickly. The inn, where he left the sword, is closed, so him and Archimedes go to a churchyard and see a sword set in a stone. Arthur touches it and a beam of light comes over him. Archimedes warns him not to touch it, but Arthur insists Kay must have a sword, and pulls it out of the stone. Arthur hands the sword over to Kay, where him, Ector, and everyone else present at the tournament finds it is actually The Sword in the Stone. Nobody believes that Arthur pulled it himself, so they order Arthur to show them where he found it. They all go to the churchyard, and place the sword back in the stone, asking Arthur to pull it out again in front of everyone. Kay decides that the sword will be easy to remove now, since it’s already been pulled out, so tries to pull it to become king. It doesn’t move, and despite Ector’s strength and those of some other knights, it won’t budge.
Someone in the crowd says Arthur should be allowed to pull it again. Arthur steps up to the stone and easily removes the sword, where he is proclaimed King. All the others kneel in front of him, including Ector and Kay, and Arthur is crowned. In the castle, Arthur feels he is not ready for this role and tries to run away, but he cannot as everywhere he turns, there are people watching him. Luckily, Merlin returns from Bermuda, and realises Arthur was special because he was going to be king. Merlin prepares to help guide Arthur through his new life, pleased to see how he has finally fulfilled his full potential.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Arthur – I can’t call him “Wart”, it seems too mean – is drawn to resemble a typical eleven-year-old boy. He is described as “scrawny” which you can see from his twig-like legs. But the whole point of Arthur is that he is the kid nobody expects anything of, he’s just an orphan with no life plan and not much of a future. He is teased and, frankly, bullied by his foster brother, Sir Kay, who thinks Arthur is just a pain, some kid he’s supposed to look after. He is used as a servant by Sir Ector, yet, he still seems pleasantly happy with his lot in life. Merlin tries to help educate him, but Arthur is happy enough training to be a squire, much to Merlin’s annoyance, though Arthur does enjoy Merlin’s magic and the adventures they go on. We see at the end when Arthur is crowned King, that he is terrified of his future, and how in the world do they expect him to be a king and rule the country. He thinks nothing of himself, until Merlin shows him, he can be so much more.
Arthur had three different voice actors during the three-year production of The Sword in the Stone. The original voice actor was Rickie Sorenson, who was known for his television roles at the time, such as portraying Tommy Banks in the television series Father of the Bride (1961-62). Sorenson had also voiced Spotty for Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). As his voice had started to change during the long length of production, he could not finish the lines by the end of it. Director Woolie Reitherman drafted in two of his sons, Richard and Robert, to finish the lines. The changing voice is quite evident during much of the film, but particularly in the final scene. Once you know about it, too, it can be a tad bit distracting…
Merlin is the cranky, intelligent, time-travelling wizard who helps Arthur. He is meant to be an old curmudgeonly sort of man, and he is at times in the movie, getting angry quite frequently, however, he is also kind and understanding. Bill Peet incorporated some of Walt Disney into the character of Merlin, as he was sort of the “wizard” of the studio. Facially, he used Walt’s nose for the character, and emotionally, used some aspects of his temperament, such as being cantankerous and demanding, but also playful and intelligent. Walt either didn’t notice or never commented on the similarities between himself and Merlin[1]. Karl Swenson voiced Merlin here. Swenson was particularly good at vocalisation after working extensively on radio during its “golden age”, before moving into screen roles. Swenson is probably most well-known for appearing as Lars Henson in the series Little House on the Prairie from 1974 to 1978. He also appeared in the Western film The Wild Country, produced by Walt Disney Productions, in 1970.
Archimedes is Merlin’s wise old owl, who is also quite cranky and grouchy at times! But he does have a caring side, as we see when he is the only one of him and Merlin to support Arthur in his dreams to be a squire, accepting that education can’t be forced upon someone. Archimedes is my favourite character because he’s so sarcastic towards Arthur when he doesn’t understand anything, even things Archimedes thinks are quite basic, and towards Merlin, when he mentions these crazy future inventions, like the aeroplane. This leads me to my all-time favourite scene. Merlin is trying to show Arthur that man will fly someday, and shows him a model aircraft which he picked up in the future at some point. He spins the propeller to wind-up the model, not realising that, when he goes to launch it out the window, that his beard has got tangled and the plane simply unravels his beard and crashes down to the ground below, to which Archimedes responds with: “Oh, man’ll fly alright, just like a rock!”, before proceeding to laugh hysterically. He reminds me of me – laughing way after everyone else has stopped and the joke is no longer funny! Disney legend and animator Ollie Johnstone loved this scene too. Junius Matthews, the voice of Archimedes, had to make sure that his laughter continued to feel sincere, not forced, for the full twenty seconds. By the end of it, both Matthews and Archimedes were exhausted! Junius Matthews would later be cast as the original voice of Rabbit in the Winnie the Pooh franchise. Matthews was actually recommended for a part in The Sword in the Stone by Karl Swenson, with them trying Swenson out as Archimedes and Matthews as Merlin, however, the two roles were later switched, which I think was definitely for the best[2].
Legendary Disney animator Milt Kahl loved animating The Sword in the Stone characters. He is particularly praised for designing Sir Ector and Sir Kay without any live-action or reference material. Those two characters both start off seeming harsh and uncaring towards Arthur; giving him the nickname “Wart” doesn’t help their case. They aren’t loving familial figures. By the time Arthur is proclaimed the new king, they become much more kind towards him, unsurprisingly. They aren’t all bad though, as they are quite bumbling and idiotic at times so that’s funny, like when they are trying to fight the “hexed” kitchen equipment that is washing itself after Merlin cast a spell on it. It’s a satisfying scene to watch, that assembly line. Kay and Sir Ector trying to ward off the “devilish magic” with swords is ridiculous; Ector gets smashed over the head several times, and ends up being washed himself, and Kay gets stuck in the fabric of the mop while it’s mopping the floor. These two are not true villains, but it is nice to see them get some sort of comeuppance! Some of this scene was actually reused animation of Horace and Jasper being attacked by Pongo and Perdita in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). The two characters can also be seen laughing at Arthur in a similar fashion to King Stefan and King Hubert in Sleeping Beauty (1959) earlier on in the movie.
Sir Ector was voiced by Sebastian Cabot, a British actor with quite a distinctive voice. Cabot had worked for Disney, starring in some of their live-action films, like Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956) and Johnny Tremain (1957). After The Sword in the Stone, Cabot would again return to voice acting for Disney, performing as Bagheera the panther in The Jungle Book (1967) and then being The Narrator for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977). Sir Kay was voiced by Norman Alden, this being perhaps his most well-known film role, however Alden did also voice the character of Kranix in the animated film The Transformers: The Movie (1986), alongside big names such as Eric Idle and Leonard Nimoy.
Artist Milt Kahl and Frank Thomas were assigned to design Madam Mim, making her suitably wacky and crazy with their design choices. It was decided that Mim could not be a tall, attractive woman and that she had to be eccentric and old like Merlin, so she was given a short, chubby body with thin arms and legs. However, there is one brief moment where Mim turns herself into a tall, attractive woman. Supposedly, this version of Mim resembles a layout artist who worked at the Disney Studios at the time, however, she never said anything about any similarities, nor did Milt Kahl confirm it!
I like Madam Mim, though again, she is not much of a villain, but just about the only one this film has, despite the fact she only appears in the movie for around ten minutes in total and she has no relevance to the overall film. Mim is the witch nemesis of Merlin. She’s mostly just eccentric, but she does try to destroy both Arthur and Merlin; Arthur by turning herself into a cat to eat him when he’s a bird, and Merlin through the wizard’s duel. The wizard’s duel is an impressive scene in the movie, kept in the film by Bill Peet and created only by him. He wanted the duel to be a big visual treat for the audience, which it certainly is. The duel involves fifteen different visuals of animals, which had to keep the signature colours of Merlin and Mim – blue and pink/purple respectively. They also had to keep the visual characteristics, like Merlin’s beard, and Mim’s lavender hair, along with their personalities; Merlin by outwitting Mim with his quiet, calm intellect, and Mim with her brash overconfidence in her powers[3]. She’s a funny villain, not properly devious, but mildly intimidating! She was going to have a darker role in the movie, according to an alternate opening, where she was plotting to find Arthur, the missing heir to the throne, to usurp his position as ruler, and kill him before he ever pulled The Sword in the Stone.
The idea for Mim was her to be a cross between a spoilt brat and a crotchety old hag, always wanting to win so she lies and cheats, never playing fair to ensure that. Martha Wentworth was chosen to be Mim’s voice actor. Wentworth had a long radio career from the 1920s, and was known for her amazing voice impressions. For Disney, she voiced Jenny Wren in the Silly Symphonies Disney short cartoon Who Killed Cock Robin? in 1935 and also voiced Nanny in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). She also voiced Granny Squirrel here, the one who seems to like Squirrel Merlin[4].
MUSIC
The music for The Sword in the Sword was written by the Sherman Brothers, Richard and Robert Sherman. This was the first animated feature they’d worked on, though they had already done some work for Disney in the movies The Absent-Minded Professor and The Parent Trap in 1961. The Sherman Brothers then continued to work on Disney projects for many years, including for more movies, such as Mary Poppins (1964) and The Jungle Book (1967), as well as Disney attraction theme songs, like “It’s a Small World (After All)”.
The first song in the film is actually more of a sung-through narration, where we learn the background of how and why The Sword in the Stone came to be, simply called “The Sword in the Stone”. I really like it as an opening number, as it gives us a bit of backstory explained in a more interesting way and sets the viewer up for what’s to come. The song was performed by Fred Darian.
After that, we have the song “Higitus Figitus”, performed by Karl Swenson as Merlin, when Merlin is magically packing all of his belongings into one small suitcase. It’s a little bouncy tune full of nonsense words so perfect for a film aimed at children. This is the most remembered song in the film, I’d say. The Sherman Brothers said they made up the title words using a mixture of what sounded like British words to match Merlin’s nationality and the setting of the film, and some Greek and Latin words to signify his intelligence and love of books. The Shermans thought just using “abracadabra” as the magic words would be too boring – which is true. Originally, they had written the song “The Magic Key” to be performed at this point, with Merlin telling Arthur about the importance of education, but it was replaced with “Higitus Figitus”. A good choice, I think.
Then we have two songs that are performed during Arthur’s lesson as a fish and as a squirrel. The first, “That’s What Makes the World Go Round”, is another bouncy tune that I like, but I can see why it’s perhaps not very memorable to most people. I sometimes just remember it randomly for some reason. Both Karl Swenson and Rickie Sorensen perform this one, but the next, “A Most Befuddling Thing” is just sung by Swenson as Merlin and is another that people might remember more for the squirrel sequence than the song because it is pretty hilarious. At this point in the film, the two are squirrels but Arthur finds himself being pursued by a female squirrel, who does not take “no” for an answer. Merlin is trying to tell Arthur that love is an odd thing that can’t be explained and just happens. Soon, Merlin finds himself being chased by a squirrel too and that’s where the song stops! Merlin’s one is not as “attractive”; she’s a bit bigger and more muscular so when she tries to “flirt” with Merlin by pushing him over, he slams into a tree trunk. It’s even better because he’s laughing at Arthur, telling him he’s on his own with that one, when his shows up. Arthur’s squirrel is much cuter, and she’s become a fan-favourite. I never fail to laugh at this scene of the two of them being chased around. However, the end of this scene is incredibly sad because the girl squirrel realises Arthur is not a squirrel, but a human, as he’d tried to tell her, so she runs away, scared, and cries to herself in the tree. The final shot is of her sitting on a branch at the very top of the tree, sniffling and sighing. Unrequited love, eh?
The “villain’s song” of The Sword in the Stone is performed by Martha Wentworth as Madam Mim and it is called “Mad Madam Mim”. She is basically showing off her magical powers to Arthur. I like it but probably more for Mim than the song itself; she’s just so strange but so confident about it! There is also a brief section of a deleted song that appears in the film. It is only a few seconds long, so I’m not classing it as a song, where Ector and Pelinore are singing around the table at Christmas. The song is “Blue Oak Tree”. The full song would’ve appeared in the movie being sung by the knights, talking about the oak tree on their crests, and how they fight for this meaningless picture[5].
The musical score was written by George Bruns, who had scored Sleeping Beauty (1959) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) beforehand, but had worked on the music for some of the 1950s Disney live-action films before that as well. He went on to write the score for other movies such as The Jungle Book (1967), The Love Bug (1968) and Robin Hood (1973). Though I cannot pick out an individual part of the score that I really like, other than the main title, I like how it feels both medieval and magical, fitting the atmosphere and tone of the overall film. For his score for The Sword in the Stone, Bruns was nominated for Best Score – Adaptation or Treatment at the 1964 Academy Awards, but lost to André Previn’s score for Irma la Douce (1963).
PRODUCTION
The production of The Sword in the Stone took place during the “Silver Age” of Disney animation. After the “Golden Age”, Walt’s enthusiasm for animation had started to decline despite having acquired rights for new animation projects, partly because of the lacklustre performance of some of his passion project movies, like Fantasia (1940), and because of the reputation of the Disney company after the animator’s strike, and the impact of World War II. Walt was spending more time on other pursuits.
In the 1960s, when The Sword in the Stone was in production, Disneyland was open, so Walt spent his time working on ways to improve the park and its attractions. He was also focused on television and live-action films at this point. His brother, Roy O. Disney, had even asked him about closing down the animation department altogether around this time, as they had plenty of material that could simply be re-released. Walt did not want to do this, but did reduce staff numbers and looked at cheaper methods, like Xerography, where animated drawings could be printed directly onto cels instead of painstakingly inking and painting. This technique was first used by Disney for One Hundred and One Dalmatians in 1961, which did well and secured the short-term future of animation. But Walt was not very involved even in that film. The last animated film to take up much of Walt’s attention was Sleeping Beauty (1959) and despite being among the ten highest grossing films of 1959, it was not able to recoup its costs, simply because of how expensive the animation was.
So how did they end up with The Sword in the Stone? Walt Disney first obtained the rights to T. H. White’s 1938 original standalone children’s story The Sword in the Stone in 1939. White’s series was not complete at this point, so when White published his novel The Once and Future King in 1958, which consisted of several shorter novels that he had written between 1938 and 1940, some elements from the original story were omitted in the final novel, such as the appearance of Madam Mim[6]. Disney did not know the final tonality of the whole series until many years after the rights were first purchased and the full series of books took on a new tone altogether, darker, more adult, more political. As this would not fit the Disney way of doing things, Bill Peet, Disney veteran of thirty years, spent a lot of time sifting through the material to figure out what would work. He wrote the screenplay before storyboarding the film, against process, because of this. Bill Peet wanted to make the story fun and playful so avoided talk of the Knights of the Round Table, the Holy Grail, and Guinevere, for example[7]. I am glad that Disney didn’t stray into complex themes. As well as not fitting in with the Disney theme, I have found that the Arthurian legend gets complicated when it delves into wars and dark magic. With the BBC series Merlin (2008-12) I loved the first two series, but then by series three, Morgause and Morgana started being evil and that sucked all the fun out of it for me!
In 1949, the Disney Studios began completing their first storyboards for the movie, however, it wasn’t until Walt Disney saw the Broadway production of the musical Camelot in 1960, another adapted work based on the legend of King Arthur, that he felt confident enough to put The Sword in the Stone into production[8]. Also, Walt felt as Sleeping Beauty (1959) and The Sword in the Stone were so similar in style, both being set in medieval times, that a different style of film had to be released in between the two. This was One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), which was written by Disney storyman Bill Peet.
After that, Bill Peet was then assigned The Sword in the Stone to work on by himself. At the same time, Marc Davis and Ken Anderson were working on their own movie, an adaptation of Chanticleer and the Fox. Davis and Anderson spent months working on their pitch to Walt and the concept was considered to be some of the best art seen at the Disney Studios in years. It would’ve been quite a different film to come from Disney Animation, as Floyd Norman stated in a later interview. Everyone at the studios thought it would be a guarantee that Walt would want to produce the film, but that was not the case. Walt said he didn’t like it and that was that. It was thought that Walt wanted to make a quick film with a low budget, in a similar fashion to Dumbo (1941), so he went with Bill Peet’s adaptation of The Sword in the Stone instead, where Peet was given a lot of freedom over the story.
Despite the disappointment that Anderson and Davis must have felt, the production of The Sword in the Stone was not marred with constant conflict and clashes. Though the story was difficult to adapt, given the source material, the animators worked together to devise clever characters; the Sherman Brothers were brought in to write the songs for it; and Woolie Reitherman was named as the sole director of the film, with The Sword in the Stone being the first Disney animated film to be directed by just one person. It was also only the second Disney animated film to be written by one person, Bill Peet. Walt Peregoy, lead background painter for Sleeping Beauty (1959), showed how much Disney Animation could push their colour palettes, with varied bright colours in The Sword in the Stone, where he practically painted all the backgrounds single-handedly.
But perhaps because of the lack of conflict, it resulted in a “bland” film that was lacking the Disney magic. Because of this, Walt Disney then made sure to be more involved in the following Disney animated film, The Jungle Book (1967), where he clashed with Bill Peet numerous times, leading to Peet leaving the Disney Studios altogether[9].
RECEPTION
The Sword in the Stone was released in December 1963, with it premiering in the UK a couple of weeks earlier than in the US. It made a small profit at the box-office, but nothing like the return of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), Disney Animation’s previous movie release. The critical reviews were not as good either, with many saying that the plot was thin, and that it strayed too far from the legend of King Arthur. I can see why this comment was made, as The Sword in the Stone does feel like a set of sequences strung together at times, but I still enjoy it. Others did find the movie funny and appreciated the smaller cast of characters, as Disney has been known to crowd their movies with too many. It was a mixed bag of reviews back then, but even audiences today don’t generally love it, probably for similar reasons. The Sword in the Stone was later re-released in theatres in 1972 and again 1983, before being available for home releases.
LEGACY
Thanks to The Sword in the Stone celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2023, there has been more merchandise than usual related to the film in recent years, including pins, ornaments, and figurines. Disney had previously only tended to do big lines of merchandising for their most popular films, so with them now celebrating milestone anniversaries, and with the Disney100 celebrations in 2023, it’s good to see that fans of any animated Disney film can now find something related to their favourite film.
The Sword in the Stone did not receive any sequels or spin-offs, not even in the direct-to-video market, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, a live-action remake of the film was announced in 2015. A director was later attached to the project in 2018. Since then, there has been no further official news on the live-action film, so whether or not this will happen, I don’t know, but I will just say that there are so many live-action adaptations of the story of King Arthur that I’m not sure it’s worth Disney’s time and money to make it. The Disney Channel Original Movie Avalon High (2010) was based on a book by Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries book series, which was itself loosely based on the Arthurian legend, and 20th Century Fox, now owned by Disney, released The Kid Who Would Be King in 2019, which again is another adaptation of the same story. These are just Disney’s own versions of the story; countless other movie or television productions have also been created around King Arthur, Merlin, and/or Excalibur in just the last few years.
The Sword in the Stone, despite not being one of Disney’s “best” features, has left a legacy within some of the Disney theme parks. Five of the six parks have definitely had or currently have The Sword in the Stone, with Tokyo Disneyland seeming to be the only one that hasn’t; I am uncertain if they have had one in the past, but they certainly don’t have one now. There used to be an official ceremony in front of The Sword where guests would be given the opportunity to pull the sword. Normally, this honour went to a child, after some adults had already tried to pull it. Once the “worthy person” was chosen, The Sword would be able to be pulled just a few inches out of the stone, for safety reasons. A short Coronation Ceremony then took place, where the Ruler was given a crown and cape. They also received a “royal medallion” and certificate as a prize. For anyone who doesn’t want to believe in magic, The Sword is able to be lifted after magnets holding The Sword in place are disengaged by a cast member.
In the summer of 1983, the first The Sword in the Stone ceremony took place at Disneyland in front of the carousel, with Merlin appearing to officiate the ceremony. Variations of the show where also performed at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida from 1993 to 2006, and at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland from their opening dates in 1992 and 2005 respectively. I don’t believe any of the ceremonies at any of the Disney theme parks are still going, but The Sword is available to anyone for a photo-op or just to test your strength. Some have gone too far with this and managed to break The Sword though, so please be careful with it. In January 2020, at Disneyland, the sword was unavailable for a period of time as a guest broke the sword attempting to remove it and it had to be fixed. It was very old though, so probably not a big surprise that it broke! Shanghai Disneyland also has a sword in the stone, but doesn’t have a ceremony for it.
Alongside this, a Wizard Duel-inspired dark ride was considered for the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World when it was being constructed for its opening in 1971. This was so that the attractions were not simply copies of the ones over at Disneyland, with this dark ride being planned as a substitute for Snow White’s Scary Adventures, however, the idea was rejected by Roy O. Disney, who felt guests wanted some of the same attractions as the ones that could be found at Disneyland[10]. Also at the Magic Kingdom, Merlin used to be the “host” of the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom interactive game, where guests used interactive screens and packs of cards to battle different Disney villains and help Merlin defeat Hades. It was a fun game, and something good to do when the park had very long queues for attractions. It ran from February 2012 until January 2021. After the disappearance of the walk-around character of Merlin from The Sword in the Stone ceremony in 2006, this was Merlin’s last known appearance at the Magic Kingdom.
But that’s just one park. At Disneyland, the Magic Happens parade features Merlin and Arthur on their own float, complete with The Sword in the Stone. This is a random, but much appreciated, addition to the parade, as many of the other floats are themed to more popular Disney animated films, such as Frozen II (2019), Moana (2016), and The Princess and the Frog (2009). The Magic Happens parade first debuted at Disneyland in February 2020, but closed shortly after due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It then began again in February 2023 as part of the Disney100 celebrations. Disneyland’s carousel is named King Arthur Carrousel, due to the medieval faire surroundings of the carousel in Fantasyland, however, the carousel actually features scenes from Sleeping Beauty (1959) on the inside. The Sword in the Stone has been placed right in front of the carousel though. Finally, Merlin has featured at the Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween event as a meet-and-greet location.
At Disneyland Paris, along with their sword in the stone, there is a shop within the castle called Merlin l’Enchanteur (Merlin the Magician), which sells items such as jewellery, crystal, and glass displays. You can go past a miniature “The Sword in the Stone” during Le Pays des Contes de Fées attraction, their version of the Disneyland Storybook Land Canal Boats. Merlin and Arthur were also spotted recently for a meet-and-greet at the Annual Passholder Party at Disneyland Paris in March 2023. It is quite rare to see Arthur as a walkaround character. Disneyland Paris’ carousel is also named for the Arthurian tale – Le Carrousel de Lancelot, but as Lancelot isn’t mentioned in The Sword in the Stone, it isn’t a movie reference unfortunately.
At Hong Kong Disneyland, The Sword in the Stone was actually removed in 2023 to make place for their new “Dream Makers” statue, a statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse sitting on a bench. It was located in front of the Cinderella Carousel. There are however two shops named after Merlin still, both situated in Fantasyland: Merlin’s Treasures and Merlin’s Magic Portraits. Merlin’s Magic Portraits is just a cart where you can pick up your Disney PhotoPass pictures, whereas Merlin’s Treasures is a souvenir shop housed in a cottage.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Although The Sword in the Stone did not span a great franchise or a huge fanbase, it has become one of the first introductions for many to the legend of King Arthur. Because it is aimed at a wide audience, it is accessible to many and is nice, light entertainment. Some of the animation is a bit basic in places, and the soundtrack is not one of Disney’s best, but I don’t care; that’s never been enough to take my focus away. I think The Sword in the Stone is funny and I find it sad that it may have been forgotten amongst all the big Disney hits.
Still, the never-ending fascination with the Disney Parks’ Swords in the Stone has kept the legend alive and people just won’t give up trying to pull them out!
Everyone knows we have a King of England already, right?
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Sword in the Stone (1963)’, pp. 52-54.
[2] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? 10 Wizard Facts about Walt Disney’s The Sword in the Stone’, D23 (online), 21st December 2018.
[3] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? 10 Wizard Facts about Walt Disney’s The Sword in the Stone’, D23 (online), 21st December 2018.
[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Mad Madam Mim’, CartoonResearch.com, 21st August 2020.
[5] Credit: Disney, Music Magic: The Sherman Brothers (2001).
[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Mad Madam Mim’, CartoonResearch.com, 21st August 2020.
[7] Credit: William Fischer, ‘How ‘The Sword in the Stone’ Pulled Walt Disney Back Into Animation’, Collider (online), 4th August 2021
[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Sword in the Stone (1963)’, pp. 52-54.
[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Floyd Norman Remembers The Sword in the Stone’, MousePlanet.com, 1-8th November 2017.
[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Floyd Norman Remembers The Sword in the Stone: Part One’, MousePlanet.com, 1st November 2017.
The Disney Purist 