My knowledge regarding King Arthur began when I was very
young. While not my favorite Disney movie, I have watched the film The Sword and the Stone several
times in my youth. I think the last time I watched it I was in elementary school,
or there about. My favorite scenes, as I have come to find out, have absolutely
nothing to do with the actual story of King Arthur. My favorite parts were when
Merlin turned Wart (young Arthur) into animals to teach him life lessons and
help him become a better man and a just ruler…or maybe just because Merlin was a crazy
kook.
The saddest part for me was when Wart turned into a squirrel
and that poor love-struck girl squirrel falls madly in love with him. Once he
turns back into a human, the pain and sadness captured artistically is just
beautiful.
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I, of course, enjoyed the magic fight scene between Madam Mim and Merlin...I now assume Madam Mim is in someway supposed to represent Morgana...
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Only a very few aspects of The Sword and the Stone are in any way accurate. The Disney movie has King Arthur, Sir Kay (though the wrong personality), Sir Ector (though wrong personality), and Merlin...which in some ways can be accurate, if abstractly. Oh, yeah, the sword in the stone that only Arthur can free is accurate.
Another movie, closer to the rendition we read for class, is
the movie Excalibur that debuted in 1981. This version includes King Uther, how
Arthur was conceived by deceit and magic (provided by Merlin). Merlin is
slightly more sinister and tricky. This movie includes Morgana (as Arthur’s
sister, not aunt) and Mordred…an extremely odd character no matter the version. Again, I feel this
version did do more justice to the original King Arthur story, but for cinematic
effect and time restraints, several things were still left out.
Perhaps one of my favorite parodies of King Arthur is a clip
from the comedy group The Upright Citizens Brigade. They did a new age Lady of
the Lake meets Frat boy that is so funny, odd, and so completely strange.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGFTCMHakR4
That is actually most of what I remember from the Sword and Stone as well. I don’t even remember why Merlin gets into a magic duel. I wonder if a lot of references and spin offs of the Arthur legend use it because it is well known and yet only vaguely known, something like Greek mythology or Roman history. Everyone knows who Caesar is and how he died but not a lot of people know everything about him or the people surrounding him and so it’s the same with King Arthur.
ReplyDeleteIt strange that everyone knows how King Arthur is and for most of us the first thing we thing of is "The Sword and the Stone". Especially since in the movie Arthur is not a King until the very end. He is just a little boy who is an underdog.This is the first idea of Arthur I think of too, but I think of Arthur and Merlin as fish in the water scene.
ReplyDeleteYou weren't there to hear me say in class that "The Sword in the Stone" SCARES THE CRAP OUT OF ME. I have no clue why but that movie gave me nightmares. Everything I can remember from the movie is terrifying: Arthur being changed into various animals, and especially the magic fight. I distinctly remember not being able to watch the magic fight because it scared me so much.
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