Best Disney Movie ever! Great comedy, great sing-a-long music like Disney did best in the early era and a compelling story.

T.H. White’s work on Arthurian legend comes to life in the Walt Disney animated film The Sword in the Stone. Set in Medieval England, an eccentric magician named Merlin takes an aspiring squire named Wart under his tutelage. There really isn’t much actual story, as most of the film consists of a series of random adventures where Merlin turns Wart into an animal in order to teach him some vague lesson. And, there aren’t any memorable musical numbers. Part of this is likely do to the tone, which doesn’t have much joy to it. Unfortunately, The Sword in the Stone is a disappointing and lackluster film (especially considering the richness of the source material).

Now here's a Disney movie that I'm sure I saw when I was very young. I vaguely remember it. In fact, I likely saw it on TV, possibly on "The Wonderful World of Disney", viewed on some old black-and-white television. "The Sword In the Stone" is not one of the more fondly remembered Disney films, but I really enjoyed it. I prefer it over "Sleeping Beauty", which I just recently watched and was released just four years earlier. What I enjoyed most, of course, was the animation. I loved what I'll call the scratchiness of some of the backgrounds and the slightly sloppy look of the characters. And speaking of those characters, Merlin, Archimedes the Owl, Wart, they were terrific. It's a story much less grand in its scale and lacking of a primary villain. Merlin and Wart get into their share of trouble but most of it is of their own doing as Merlin teaches the young boy about life. Thinking about the animation a bit more, it recalls the style of another Disney classic, "Winnie the Pooh" and maybe even "The Jungle Book". Something that really stood out was the way that there is always water or something that the characters are sloshing around in, ringing out of their clothes or their beard or feathers. It made me laugh because a character would be arguing for a minute or two, and as they are carrying on, they are continually trying to dry off or clean themselves up. It happens a lot and it was a neat touch by the animators. "The Sword In the Stone" seems unfairly forgotten as a Disney classic. It's got great animation, lovable characters and is a fun little adventure that adults and kids will enjoy.

For a movie about King Arthur there wasn't a whole lot of being King and way more turning into animals than I thought there would be. Still it is entertaining.