Another one I watched while young that I didn't remember much about these days. Rewatching it now though I think this is one of the movies I enjoyed more than when I was a kid. Following around Merlin and a young squire named Arthur, Merlin is attempting to teach Arthur the virtues of math and science. Despite being a story about the youth of King Arthur before he rose to become a king, the idea he is even going to be a king, or the sword itself, doesn't become relevant until the very end of the movie.
That said, I like the idea behind the movie. Merlin tells Arthur that the way forward in the world isn't just brawn and training, but also knowledge. You have all kinds of fun little lessons about how the world works, both literally and thematically, and the show is broken up into a what are a series of loosely connected shorts following along this theme. You have a variety of viewpoints present as well so the show just isn't putting knowledge above all else. Merlin himself is kind of detached from notions of hard work and labor. You don't just need the knowledge of Merlin, but the structure and dedication of the knights of the era, as well as the desire to grow that Arthur himself possesses.
Furthermore, I love the other side of knowledge being presented as the every wonderful Mad Madam Mim. Magic works in this narrative as a sort of catch-all metaphor for science and progress. Merlin shows the good, whereas Mad Madam Mim shows the negative. In terms of pure theme, Sword in the Stone does probably the best job of any Disney movie so far at expressing them effectively. It can feel a little too on the nose and preach at times, but it does a good job all the same.
The actual narrative and characters, on the other hand, are a bit weak. No one manages to escape very basic character archetypes, but none of them are bad either. Pair that with the lack of any solid narrative, and the sudden ascent of Aurthur from Squire to King, which has never been set up in the slightest in the rest of the movie, and you have a rather poor story overall.
The show manages to make up for a lot of that by just being constantly funny. There is a lot of slapstick that works very well, Merlin being horribly lame but always impressed with himself, and Madam Mim who is just a treat to watch the brief time you get to see her. The show is one of the more consistently funny of any of these earlier Disney Films I've watched yet and stands as the biggest point in the show's favor.
On another note, unrelated to the movie directly, this is the first time we are seeing the songs take a more prominent role in the movies. Musical numbers have always been a part of the shows, and there have been some good ones, but here they seem to be taking a more prominent role. Going back to my favorite part of the show, Mad Madam Mim, her song was the best song of any Disney Film so far. I mean as I get later into their filmography there are better songs for sure, but in these early stages, this was my favorite.
There is a kind of weak spot at the end where he does become king by pulling the sword and this kind of betrays the whole idea of growing and learning to advance in the world. While I do still think that, on a whole, the show does a great job with its themes, there is no doubt this ending undercuts it a bit.
In the end, Sword in the Stone is held up by its strong themes and comedy, but held back with its weak story and flat characters, though the characters themselves are pretty funny. I don't think I'd call this great, or ranking anywhere near the best of their movies, but it's still a lot of fun to watch.
