The Sword in the Stone

"Tired of living in a Medieval mess... Merlin uses all his magic powers to change a scrawny little boy into a legendary hero!"

1963 1h 19m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

🍅

65%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.1

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 4,186🍅65%Rotten Tomatoes●61Metacritic★7.1IMDB · 112,942

AnimationFamilyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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 him beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give him an education, believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.

“Tired of living in a Medieval mess... Merlin uses all his magic powers to change a scrawny little boy into a legendary hero!”

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Cast

Sebastian Cabot
The Narrator/Sir Ector (voice)
Karl Swenson
Merlin (voice)
Junius Matthews
Archimedes the Owl (voice)
Martha Wentworth
Madam Mim / Old Lady Squirrel (voice)
Norman Alden
Kay (voice)
Rickie Sorensen
Wart (voice)
Ginny Tyler
Little Girl Squirrel (voice)
Alan Napier
Sir Pellinore (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Writers: Bill Peet, Bill Peet
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 79-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 7.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

63 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by George Bruns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Donald Halliday shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sebastian Cabot and Karl Swenson and Junius Matthews carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Tired of living in a Medieval mess... Merlin uses all his magic powers to change a scrawny little boy into a legendary hero!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Wolfgang Reitherman directs. George Bruns scores. Donald Halliday cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 79-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Made its money back 7.4× over at the box office.
463 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Original score by George Bruns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Donald Halliday shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Sebastian Cabot and Karl Swenson and Junius Matthews carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Tired of living in a Medieval mess... Merlin uses all his magic powers to change a scrawny little boy into a legendary hero!".
9IMDB entry: tt0057546 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 14 themes, including "witch", "based on novel or book", "magic", "transformation".
11Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Original score: George Bruns
Editing: Donald Halliday
Sound: Robert O. Cook
Runtime: 79 min · 1h 19m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,000,000
Box office: $22,200,000
Return: 740% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Rotten Tomatoes: 65% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 61/100
IMDB rating: 7.1/10 · 112,942 votes
MPAA: G

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 win & 1 nomination total

Also by

Wolfgang Reitherman

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Kamurai2020-07-11
★ 5/10
Decent watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend. Now it's been a while since I've seen this one, and now I remember why. There just isn't anything in the well in which to return. Sure all the magic is amusing, and the animal adventures are cute, as well as a nice reminder of how good we have it as humans, but I really feel like we ruined that squirrel's life, and I'm sad about it. The actual story of the sword in the stone is very short, because it's not interesting: it's all the adventures that Arthur has growing the kingdom, establishing rule over (what would be) England, and his adventures as an adult king (most of which were his knights') to include warring with neighbors. While the jocks versus nerds analogy through the movie is interesting, it feels polarizing, and the message of education / knowledge is mixed throughout the movie. Future references to the (1963) present just dates the movie and aren't all that funny, and it tells the audience that just because you have knowledge, doesn't mean you can use it. Then in the 3rd act, we start a controversy over having knowledge / skills can be used to better or worsen things, and other than inspiring Star Wars, I don't know what the point of it was. My favorite part was when Archimedes got to laugh: he seemed like he really needed it.
CinemaSerf2023-12-27
★ 7/10
"Arthur" - rather unkindly nick-named "Wart" is a stable boy with grand ambitions. He wants to be the squire to a bold and chivalrous knight. Those plans are soon up in the air, though, when he has a chance encounter with "Merlin" in the forest and is soon the wizard's pet project. You see, the wise if scatty old man knows the true identity of the young man, and is determined to prepare him for what's to come. What now ensues isn't so much an Arthurian legend, more a compendium of fun and colourful escapades at "Wart", his boss "Sir Ector" and his scholarly tutor "Archimedes" have some messy and sometimes scary escapades. I quite enjoyed this. It's quickly paced and makes no bones about it's intention to entertain rather than do any educating of it's own! We've got suits of armour, dragons, magical dishwashers and, of course, "Madame Min" and the characterisations are engaging and mischievous. It's written with light-hearted comedy in mind, takes in easy on the moralising, and I found it a joyful production to watch for eighty minutes.