The Sword In The Stone _BEST_
After the King of England, Uther Pendragon, dies without an heir to the throne, a sword magically appears inside an anvil atop a stone, with an inscription proclaiming that whoever removes it is the rightful King of England. Many have failed to remove the sword, which becomes forgotten, leaving England in the Dark Ages.
The sword in the stone
At the tournament, Arthur realizes he left Kay's sword at the inn. It is closed for the tournament, but Archimedes sees the "Sword in the Stone", which Arthur removes almost effortlessly, unknowingly fulfilling the prophecy. When Arthur returns with the sword, Ector recognizes it and the tournament is halted. Ector places the sword back in its anvil, demanding Arthur prove that he pulled it. He pulls it once again, revealing that he is England's rightful king, earning Ector and Kay's respect and the former's apology.
Several characters from the film made frequent appearances in the Disney's House of Mouse television series. Merlin was voiced by Hamilton Camp, and appears in the episode "Rent Day". Wart also made a few appearances in the series, usually seen in crowd shots with Merlin. He also appears with Merlin in the audience in the episode: "Mickey vs. Shelby" after a cartoon ends. Sir Kay was seen in the episode "Ask Von Drake", when he tries to pull the sword from the stone with Arthur, Merlin, and Madam Mim. Madam Mim appears as a villain in the spin-off film Mickey's House of Villains. In the past, Merlin frequented the Disney Parks, the only character from the film appearing occasionally for meet-and-greets at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. He appeared in the opening unit of Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams at Disneyland Park. He also hosts the Sword in the Stone ceremony in the King Arthur Carrousel attraction in Fantasyland at Disneyland. In 2014 and 2015, UK health directive Change4Life incorporated "Higitus Figitus" as the soundtrack for adverts promoting their Disney-sponsored "10 minute shake up" summer program.
The film begins in England with the death of the king, Uther Pendragon. No heir is named, and so England is threatened to be torn apart by war. Miraculously, the mystical "Sword in the Stone" appears in London, with an inscription proclaiming that whomever pulls it out is the rightful King of England. Many try to remove the sword, but none succeed and the sword is soon forgotten, leaving England in dark ages.
Some years later, Arthur (a.k.a. Wart), a 12-year old orphan training to be a squire, accompanies his older foster brother Sir Kay on a hunting trip. Arthur accidentally prevents Kay from shooting a deer and goes to retrieve the arrow to make up for his mistake. In the woods, he falls into the cottage of Merlin, a powerful wizard. Merlin announces he will be Arthur's tutor, packs up and the two return to Arthur's home, a castle run by Sir Ector, one of Uther's knights and Arthur's foster father. Ector does not believe in magic and refuses to allow Merlin to tutor Arthur. Merlin creates a blizzard and disappears, which persuades Ector to let Merlin stay, albeit in a decrepit old tower with countless leaks. Ector's friend and fellow knight, Sir Pellinore, arrives with news about the annual jousting tournament to be held on New Year's Day in London, only this time whose winner would be crowned King of England. Ector proposes that Kay be knighted and compete for the title, despite Kay's obvious ineptitude in both jousting and sword fighting.
When Arthur returns with the sword, Ector and Sir Bart recognize it as the Sword in the Stone, and the tournament is stopped. Demanding that Arthur proves he pulled it, Ector replaces the sword in its anvil. Kay attempts to remove it himself, but he and none of the other men succeed in removing it. Finally, Wart manages to pull it out a second time with ease. The knights all proclaim, "Hail!! King Arthur!! Long live the king!!" as the crowd, Ector, and Kay all kneel to Arthur, asking for forgiveness.
There are several scenes with animation recycled from other Disney films, as well as original animation that itself would be recycled in later productions. Some of the backgrounds of the opening credit is reused from another Disney animated film that was also set in the Medieval era and released four years early, Sleeping Beauty. When Arthur falls down with a load of dishes, Pellinore and Ector were laughing. King Stefan and King Hubert in Sleeping Beauty were animated in the same way when they were laughing after fighting and arguing over their future wedding plan of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. The deer Kay tries shooting at with his arrow was copied from Bambi's mother from Bambi. In the jousting scene the entire scene with the red knight is taken from the Disney short, The Truth About Mother Goose. This is the only occasion where a scene was used in is original form in another film. When Kay and Ector are in the kitchen fighting against the enchanted dishware, Ector swings his sword backwards and accidentally hits Kay on the head, causing Kay to groan. Jasper and Horace in One Hundred and One Dalmatians were animated in the same way during the fight scene with Pongo and Perdita, and archive audio of J. Pat O'Malley (who voiced Jasper) was used for Kay's groan. Also, the footage where Arthur is affectionately licked by the two castle dogs is reused in The Jungle Book four years later. The scene where Arthur is a squirrel jumping from one tree to the next was reused in The Fox and the Hound in 1981. When Arthur goes into the forest to retrieve Kay's arrow, he pushes aside a branch and weaves in and out of a few small trees. This animation was reused in The Black Cauldron.
The Sword itself appears in all of the Disneyland-style parks, located in front of their respective Carousels, with Disneyland's being King Arthur Carrousel. A sword pulling ceremony hosted by Merlin where a lucky child who pulled the sword would be declared the temporary ruler of Fantasyland was a common show until the ceremony ended in 2006 in the Magic Kingdom. The show operates seasonally at the other parks.
Based on the book The Once and Future King by T.H. White, THE SWORD IN THE STONE is the story of the early years of King Arthur. Nicknamed "Wart," the future King Arthur is squire to a knight when he meets Merlin the magician, who promises to take on his education. Merlin turns him into a fish, a bird, and a squirrel to teach him lessons like the importance of brains over brawn. He gets to see this in action when Madame Mim, Merlin's enemy, challenges Merlin to a duel by magic, and, though she cheats, Merlin is able to defeat her. Wart still has his duties as a squire, and, having forgotten the sword for a jousting match, he runs to get it. He sees a sword stuck in a stone and pulls it out, not knowing the legend that whoever will pull the sword out of the stone will be the rightful king. He becomes King Arthur, and listens when Merlin reminds him that knowledge is the real power.
Families can talk about what made Arthur the one who could pull the sword out of the stone in The Sword in the Stone. How does this compare to other versions of the King Arthur story you might have heard/seen/read?
As soon as the crowd knew about the message, men jumped up to that white marble block. One after another, they gave the sword a yank. Each tried and tried, but the sword stuck fast. It would not move.
Another knight tried. Then another. But no one could move the sword. Some waited, thinking the longer they pulled the sword, the looser it would get. But when each man took their turn, the sword did not move for them.
YouTube is full of videos of guests attempting to remove the sword. Sometimes they are successful, but more often they are not. Sometimes one particular member of a group can withdraw the sword multiple times, despite their friends trying unsuccessfully in between attempts.
The process makes for some magical moments for guests and onlookers. It also mimics perfectly the scene in the animated film when young King Arthur easily lifts the sword from the stone before and after his larger, stronger and faster brother fails to do so.
My 5 year old daughter Lena pulled the sword from the stone 3 times today at the Magic Kingdom Florida. It was so amazing! Everyone was going crazy . She was flexing and kissing her muscles after it was a memory we will all never forget.
The story of Excalibur is a tale of duty and destiny, telling of a sword in a stone that can only be pulled and wielded by its rightful owner. The Sword in the Stone is a medieval metaphor for the purpose that lies in all of us. For a young Arthur pulling Excalibur from its stone when no one else could, that divine purpose was being heir to the throne, to becoming who he was destined to be: King Arthur.
Galgano Guidotti was born in 1148 near Chiusdino. After spending his youth as a wealthy knight, in 1180 Giudotti decided to follow the words of Jesus and retired as a hermit near his hometown. He began to experience visions of the Archangel Michael, leading him to God and the twelve apostles on the hill of Monte Siepi. In one vision, Michael told Guidotti to renounce all of his earthly possessions. He responded that this would be as difficult as splitting a stone, and to prove his point, thrust his sword into a rock. To his surprise, the sword went through the impenetrable surface as though it was water. Shortly after, an errant horse led Guidotti to the very hilltop that had appeared in his visions, where he was moved to plant a cross. Not having any wood handy, he plunged his sword into a rock, just as he had in the vision, where it was embedded for all time. One year later Guidotti died, and in 1185 Pope Lucius the 3rd declared him a saint, and the Montesiepi Chapel was built up around it.
Allegedly countless people have tried to steal the sword. On display at the chapel are the mummified hands of a thief who tried to remove the sword and was suddenly slaughtered by wild wolves. Why only the hands survived is unexplained, but they serve as a warning to would-be sword snatchers. These days the sword is protected by a Perspex shield as well as the disembodied hands. 041b061a72