As another retelling of King Arthur, the story focuses on a young boy named Arthur whom people call “Wart.” Arthur is an orphan who lives to serve as a squire to this man, Sir Ector, and his son, Kay, who is presumably in his early 20s.

However, a powerful but kind wizard named Merlin, and his talking owl, Archimedes, decide to teach Arthur in unique ways. For instance, Merlin transforms Arthur into different animals, such as a fish or squirrel – even if it leads to unexpected consequences.

But there is also this sword in a stone. Whoever pulls it out becomes the next king.

Below are the different strengths and weaknesses I found in this film:

Strengths

The humor

Even though this movie is not intended to be a comedy, there were some parts that made me laugh. For example, after Merlin and Arthur turned into squirrels, 2 different female squirrels fell in love with them. And they wouldn’t leave them alone. That was honestly quite funny.

Merlin and Arthur’s bond

Despite the hardships Arthur goes through and even accepts, he and Merlin still share a sweet bond as student and instructor.

When Merlin turns Arthur into different animals, tells him to wait for him somewhere, and then rejoins him as the same animal, it feels very credible in terms of communication. This makes a big and positive impact on the viewer – especially because transforming into another creature obviously isn’t possible in real life.

How Archimedes reminds me of Owl from Winnie-the-Pooh

Because both stories were adapted from different source material, Owl was not inspired by Archimedes. However, there is a reason for so many of their similarities.

Back in the 20th century, in order to save time and money, Disney did a lot of recycling of older content for later movies. Aside from scene perspectives and character movements, character development was also commonly reused.

Like Owl from Winnie-the-Pooh, Archimedes is also cranky, but very intelligent and even good-hearted. In addition, their physical appearances are very similar. And they were voiced by the same actor.

The futuristic revelations

Unlike other King Arthur adaptations, Merlin has taken trips into the future. He reveals that the world is actually round and not flat. He also says that the new world of the Americas will be discovered, and that aircraft, such as helicopters, will eventually exist.

Arthur’s reaction was pretty believable His response to the world being round was, “The world is round?”

The various twists and turns

I won’t spoil anything major from this movie. But I will say that there were a lot of twists and turns. That made it even more exciting.

Weaknesses

Somewhat confusing at times

Despite the short runtime and ability to keep the viewer engaged, I will admit that the story was a little bit hard to follow. And this is a G-rated family-friendly movie. Yet I do not let that bother me.

Arthur has an American accent, despite being British

And most of the other characters have English accents. It’s a bit strange, huh? But – I guess it’s cartoon logic.

Not a lot of female presence

Aside from the 2 female squirrels that fell in love with Arthur and Merlin after they turned into squirrels,  the only other female character is an evil witch named Madam Mim. I didn’t even notice any girls or women as background people.

This was a common trend throughout the 20th century, though. But from a modern-day lens, it feels kind of sexist.

Too many rough outlines in the animation

The same thing occurred with a 101 Dalmatians, just 2 years prior to this one. And that also received criticism for the rough outlines.

I understand that the rough pencil marks were kept in order to save time and money during the making of this movie and 101 Dalmatians. But it still doesn’t make it visually appealing. Not surprisingly, Walt Disney said the same thing himself at the time.

Overall Impression

I enjoyed The Sword in the Stone very much. Regardless of some of the flaws, it still remains a timeless Disney classic that can appeal to people of all ages.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.