The Sword In The Stone (1963) - 79 Minutes

 This is the timeless tale of a little boy named Wart - uh, Arthur - who travels around with his wizard pal Merlin, transforming into many different animals, and ultimately pulling a sword from out of a stone. Today, we were lucky enough to have TWO guest bloggers, Jeff and Debra. Here is what they thought of the film as well.


Jeff

Rating: 8/10

Reaction: The Sword in the Stone is another of my very favorites from childhood (you may remember the last time I made an appearance here, with Peter Pan, perhaps my very favorite). For as long as I can remember, I've had a fantasy about being Arthur, in many of the different interpretations and times of his life, and have always related to him; I owe much of that to this film. Also, the nearly constant "physical comedy" in it mark one of Disney's funniest films, in my opinion. I will say that on this viewing I noticed for the first time how abruptly the ending comes about, but I can't say it really matters to me or changes my opinion of the movie, knowing the rest of the story and how giving us any more to see would be digging into far too much to put into a children's cartoon, much less one of a reasonable length. Mad Madam Mim is definitely one of my favorite villains, the scene with the squirrels is hilarious, and the voice acting is all around just fantastic (aside from the noticeably different actors used in a few different scenes for Wart's character). I love this movie, and will always feel nostalgia for it.


Debra

Rating: 9/10

Reaction: Although this is not a Disney musical, it is one of my all time favorite Disney films! Between the wolf looking for a good meal, the barracuda in the moat and mad Madame Mim, these are my favorite villains EVER! (When it comes to Broadway, I am soooo Madame Mim!) My favorite scene in the movie however, is the sequence with the squirrels. I roared at the antics of the older female and even got a little teary eyed when the young squirrel lost her love.
The only reason this movie didn't get a 10 from me is because of the ending. I understand why they ended it the way they did, but I still would have liked a more cohesive closing.


Eli

Rating: 7/10

Reaction: This isn't one of Disney's musical masterpieces, but it's definitely a charming little film that still makes me smile and laugh to this day. The characters are ridiculous, and anyone who says that Mad Madam Mim isn't one of the best Disney villain in the history of Disney villainhood needs to have their head examined. I mean, she sings a whole ditty about how being evil and doing black magic is her favorite thing in the world. She cheats, lies, and is just all around fun. And that pig face she does frightens me still to this day.

I wasn't a huge fan of the ending because I felt that it ends quite abruptly. It was almost as if Disney was hoping to plan a sequel. However if we found out everything about the King Arthur story, then this movie would be five hours long, and in the words of Sweet Brown, "Ain't nobody got time for dat." I would still recommend this movie to everyone, so go watch it. Huzzah!


Regan

Rating: 8/10

Reaction: Strangely, the part of this movie I remembered the most vividly was the poor wolf who despite his best efforts to have a good meal (boy, squirrel...) never manages to get anything but bruised and beaten.  This is a darling movie, although I'm not sure Merlin's lessons are quite as on point as one would hope ("who cares if it's your job to do the washing--they won't know who did it, let's go have fun!").  That was a terrifying barracuda that chased fish!Wart through the moat.  The girl squirrel who falls in love with squirrel!Wart was a tragic figure--her heart really got broken.  I'm holding out hope that ultimately Merlin changed her into a human and her name was Guinevere.

The best part of the movie is probably Merlin's duel with mad old Mim, which demonstrates some real creativity on both parts.  Merlin's victory through becoming a germ is genius--and good punishment for Mim, who now must suffer through wholesome sunlight.  I also loved the bit later on when Merlin turned himself into a rocket and jetted off to 20th-century Bermuda.

The ending of the movie was extremely abrupt.  This is definitely a prequel movie, but leaving off with an eleven year old boy on the throne of England and just telling us he's going to be awesome is a bit of a stretch. 

Lies!

Buzzfeed conveniently posted this article today, which is highly relevant to our blog.  However, I would argue that 1-4 are lies!  Did they even watch those movies?  Snooze fests!

Last Header

Here is the header for our last three films. On to the next three!

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) - 79 minutes

In which humans are dogs' pets and Pongo the dalmatian is an excellent matchmaker and adventurer, leading to two humans having, you guessed it, one hundred and one dalmatians.

Eli

Rating: 8/10

Reaction: I liked this movie a lot more than I remember liking it as a kid. Perhaps I was able to see all the clever little tidbits that were thrown in - the Lady & the Tramp cameos, the puns, the fabulousness of Cruella De Vil ("Anita, daaaaarling!"). They were all wonderful traits of this movie that I had forgotten (or never had noticed) as a kid. With that said, the plot is kind of silly at times - why didn't Roger and Anita just have the police search Cruella's mansion (I mean, it is her father's old estate after all... where else would she be keeping the puppies?) But oh well, I can over look that. I was also kind of disappointed that Cruella never got her comeuppance. All she does is crash her fancy car at the end - we never find out if she's going to attempt to steal the puppies again, or if they throw her in the London tower for her crimes. However, if the puppies escaped, I guess they wouldn't be able to prove that she was the one who stole them in the first place.

But this is a cute movie. It was never one of my favorites, but for some reason, I really enjoyed watching it this evening. Maybe it's because I needed something light and fun in order to cheer me up. Who knows. All I know is now I'm going to watch this one more often because of all the cute animal characters and their pets.

Regan

Rating: 9/10

Reaction:  Two dog movies practically in a row--what a treat!  I enjoyed this from start to finish.  Cruella De Vil isn't a particularly terrifying villain but she is horrific--from her jutting cheekbones to her devil phone to her remarkable snow-defying car.  And of course you can't get much worse than to want to kill and skin 99 puppies.  Pongo and Perdy are a sterling example of parents, effortlessly managing their 15 children (and 99 at the end), and battling the weather and two very Home Alone-ish goons to rescue them.

It was fun seeing a number of the Lady and the Tramp dogs reappear as members of the Twilight Bark in this movie.  The animation was interesting in that there was a lot more noticeable use of pencil than in any of the previous movies.  I'm not sure how I felt about it but I think I wasn't a huge fan.  Overall I loved this movie.  I would definitely watch it again in the not too distant future.

Cinderella Etc. Header

Sleeping Beauty (1959) - 75 minutes

Sleeping Beauty - the tale of Love, Loss, Excessive Magic, and Naptime. This is one of Disney's last Princess Films for a while, and one of the last to be based on classic fairy tales. Princess Aurora is born, and when the evil witch Maleficent isn't invited to the shindig, she curses Aurora. As in most Disney films, love and goodness win out in the end, and all ends happily ever after.

Eli

Rating: 8/10

Reaction: This movie is cute, short, clever, and actually gives some depth to the character of the Prince, which is very rare in Disney films. (In most cases, the Princesses are the ones who the story focuses on, while in this I'd say the Prince is just as rad.) However, it's the 3 good fairies that steal the show. Whether they're granting wishes, baking cakes and making dresses, or even using their magic to change the color of Aurora's dress, they are always entertaining and seem to be at the center of every even. (They save Aurora's life, they cause Maleficent to find the princess, they help Prince Philip, etc.) They are the essential plot point - and thank goodness, because they are amazing.

I was never really big on this movie growing up. I think it was considered too much of a girl movie, and god forbid I like girly things. (Wait...didn't my mother get me a dollhouse when I was 10 for Christmas? Anyway.) I never owned this title on VHS, and though I had seen it a few times, it has never been a film that I've watched over and over again. I'm glad, because it is still fun to watch now, and not knowing all the little tidbits that happen in the film make it even more enjoyable (whereas in Aladdin, say, I can quote the whole damn movie.) So I would (and will) watch this movie again, and it could totally be a drinking game. Every time Merriweather turns the dress blue, boys take a shot. Every time Flora turns it to pink, girls take a shot. See who is drunkest by the end of the movie! Yay!


Regan

Rating: 7/10

Reaction: This movie is curious in that the main character is not the eponymous Sleeping Beauty, nor is it even Prince Phillip (who is much, much more interesting and likeable than the princes in Snow White and Cinderella)--instead it's the three witches, who in their general silliness are rather reminiscent of Cinderella's animal friends (Merriweather in particular resembles GusGus, albeit a more intelligent version).  It's a fun story, but may be the fairytale princess movie most lacking in plot (which is really saying something).  There's no particular reason for Maleficent to have cursed Aurora or to expend so much energy trying to kill her (the reason that's given is sheer evilness, which is always a bit boring--now if she'd been a step mother it would have made absolute sense!).  Still, I really enjoyed the scenes of the three fairies trying to prepare for Aurora's birthday, and especially the blue/pink battle (blue, of course!), even if that's what gave away their location to Maleficent's evil crow.  The big battle between Phillip and Maleficent was appropriately terrifying, if ended a bit too easily--one would think a sword, no matter how shiny, would bounce off of a dragon's scales!

Lady and the Tramp (1955) - 76 minutes

This is a movie about two dogs who fall in love and have adorable puppies.  Also cats are evil.

Eli

Rating: 5/10

Reaction: This is a film that I didn't watch much growing up, and I think that's partly the reason I find it kind of slow and uninteresting. I mean, I love dogs, but I just didn't really care about what happened to them. The film seems to be made up of short vignettes about the various adventures Lady and her Tramp get into: the pound, the rat, Aunt Sarah, etc. I mean, I do so love the part where the Peggy Lee Pooch sings "He's A Tramp", and the Siamese Cat song is quite deliciously evil, but other than that, this movie is quite forgetful to me. And don't get me started on how lame Jim Dear and Darling are. Yawn. But I guess that was with the times. I guess all in all, I would only watch this movie with folk who maybe had never seen it before. Not one of my Disney favorites, but not an awful film.


Regan

Rating: 9/10

Reaction: As if I needed any more reason to want a dog!  Lady and the Tramp are the adorable couple who first made me believe that animals are people too (except for cats, which are just evil demons sent to torment us--the movie espoused that theory as well!).  It's impossible not to love a character who's a puppy when you meet her, and Lady's ridiculous ears just add to her general adorableness.  The Tramp is exactly the kind of Steve McQueen-ish rascal designed to win us over by being a charming ne'er-do-well, and he succeeds at that marvelously.  The two older dogs--and their attempted proposal--are fun characters as well.

Not much need be said about the plot.  This is just a love story about a girl who falls in love with a guy from the wrong side of the tracks (also cats are evil).  Their adventures are enjoyable, nothing special, although that dog pound is a chilling and terrifying place.  Here's hoping all dogs find the Italian restaurant with a kind-hearted chef willing to prepare a delicious meal for them and their dates!