Premiere Date:
December 25, 1963

Running Time:
79 Minutes

Rated: G

Set in medieval times at a time when the English king dies leaving no heir. In the churchyard of a cathedral in London a sword appears embedded in a stone inscribed, "Who so pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England". Although many try, no one can budge the sword from the stone. Merlin the Magician begins to teach 11 year old Arthur who is called "Wart" and who lives in the castle of Sir Ector where he is an apprentice squire to Sir Kay. Using magic to change Wart into many different animals, Wart learns the basic truths of life. On New Year's Day a great tournament is held in London to pick a new king. Wart, attending as Kay's squire, forgets Kay's sword, and runs back to the inn to get it, but the inn is locked. Wart, seeing the sword in the stone, innocently, and easily, pulls it out. Wart is proclaimed king by the marveling knights. Wart as King Arthur is apprehensive of his ability to govern, but Merlin returns to reassure him.

CHARACTER

VOICE TALENT

Arthur (Wart)

Rickie Sorenson

 Arthur

 Robert Reitherman
Richard Reitherman

Merlin the Magician

Karl Swenson

Archimedes

Junius C. Matthews

Madam Mim, Granny Squirrel

Martha Wentworth

Sir Ector

Sebastian Cabot

Sir Kay

Norman Alden

The Scullery Maid

Barbara Jo Allen

 Little Girl Squirrel

 Ginny Tyler

 Sir Pelinore

 Alan Napier

 Knight

Thurl Ravenscroft

Based on the book by T. H. White

DIRECTOR

Wolfgang Reitherman

STORY

Bill Peet

DIRECTING ANIMATORS

Frank Thomas
Milt Kahl
Ollie Johnston
John Lounsbery

CHARACTER ANIMATION

Hal King
Eric Larson
Eric Cleworth
John Sibley
Cliff Nordberg
Hal Ambro
Dick Lucas 

EFFECTS ANIMATION

Dan MacManus
Jack Boyd
Jack Buckley

CHARACTER DESIGN

Milt Kahl
Bill Peet

LAYOUT

Don Griffith
Basil Davidovich
Vance Gerry
Sylvia Cobb
Dale Barnhart
Homer Jonas

BACKGROUND

Walt Peregory
Bill Layne
Al Dempster
Anthony Rizzo
Ralph Hulett
Fil Mottola

PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR

Ken Peterson

SOUND SUPERVISOR

Robert O. Cook

FILM EDITOR

Donald Halliday

MUSIC EDITOR

Evelyn Kennedy

MUSIC

George Bruns

ORCHESTRATION

Franklyn Marks

SONGS

Richard M. Sherman
Robert B. Sherman

ART DIRECTION

Ken Anderson

Arthur (Wart), Merlin the Magician, Archimedes, Madam Mim, Sir Ector, Sir Kay, The Scullery Maid, Squirrels

"A Most Befuddling Thing", "That's What Makes the World Go Round", "Higitus Figitus", "The Legend of the Sword in the Stone"

N/A

Home Video

(Order)

DVD

(Order)

LaserDisc

Soundtrack

No Links Found

"The Sword in the Stone Ceremony":
Merlin challenges young guests to pull the sword from the
stone in regular presentations, in Fantasyland at
Disneyland and at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.
It opened in California in 1983 and in Florida in 1994.

The film marked Wolfgang Reitherman's first solo directional effort for a feature film.

The motion picture was rereleased theatrically in 1972 and 1983. Released on video in 1986.