#24 – The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Best Character: Merlin
Worst Character: Archimedes
To me, The Sword in the Stone exemplifies films where the moral of the story is abundantly clear. In this case it seemed like it was constantly reinforcing the notion that you need more than just brawn in this world to succeed; you need intelligence! An admirable lesson to tech young Wart and the audience as a whole. Really the entire film consists of these episodic lessons, most of which go back to the moral previously mentioned. The Sword in the Stone probably jumped higher than any of the other films on my list. If you would’ve asked me last year where I would rank the Sword in the Stone I would probably say somewhere in the late 30’s to early 40’s. The way its characters performed in the SMDC contests above what I deemed them worthy only added fuel to my dislike of the film. Since then however I’ve come to appreciate the characters much more.
Merlin is a lot of fun. He is by far the best character in the film, and it’s his antics that save the film from a placement in the late 30’s. His interactions with the rest of the characters really make this film great. He and Archimedes are old friends who just bicker back and forth at each other all day long. Archimedes is a cranky, arrogant know-it-all though, so I’m glad he received some verbal abuse from Merlin. The support and life lessons Merlin gives to Wart are crucial not only to his future as king, but it also represents his affection for the boy. Wart never truly believes in himself in the beginning of the film but Merlin sees through all of that. He becomes just the figure Wart needs to persevere and succeed in life. My favorite interaction between Merlin and the other characters is when he has turned himself into a squirrel and just shuts down Madame Squirrel. She’s fallen head-over-heels in love with him and he takes no effort to spare her feelings. In fact he instead turns back into a human and proceeds to torment the poor thing. Hilarious. On the other hand you have Wart, who in his squirrel form has attracted the attention of a young girl squirrel. The entire squirrel scene is really funny, but man it has a sad ending. Seriously, after Wart turns back into a human I feel so bad for girl squirrel. I wanted Merlin to change her into a human! Oh well, at least Wart tried to be gentle about the whole thing. He just has he worst luck with animals. He’s almost eaten by a bigger fish when he’s a fish, by a wolf when he’s a squirrel, and by a hawk when he’s a bird, all because of Merlin’s antics. Merlin is hilarious, and I’m sorry I ever doubted his brilliance.
His duel with Madame Mim is my favorite scene of the film, and it stands as one of the best duels between a protagonist and an antagonist throughout the entire canon. It has fantastic animation and it’s the most exciting segment of the film. When I watched it I remember thinking to myself, “Why is Merlin being so stupid? Morph into a bigger animal and stop playing on the defensive!” He was visibly getting dominated during the entire fight scene, but he’s Merlin. Of course he would have a trick up his sleeve! His idea to shrink down into a germ to infect Mim with was brilliant, reinforcing the theme that brute strength alone, even in the form of an imposing dragon, will succumb to intelligence and cleverness. It’s too bad this scene wasn’t the end of the film, as after it was over we had to endure the final 10 minutes or so.