The Sword in the Stone (45th Anniversary Special Edition)

this is one of my favorite movies of all time. it's a great movie to watch with your kids and family. It's a creative piece and i certainly recommend it.

I can't add anything about the movie itself. I gave it 4 stars because the movie was good, but not in the top of the Disney class.

The only reason to buy these special editions is for the extra features. Behind the scenes stuff, how the movie came about, interviews with actors who did the voices, ect. If you care about those things, this is a great set. If you don't, there is no reason to upgrade.

There is a small miracle included with this DVD. For those who like good magic, the incredibly difficult to get Disneyland episode 'All About Magic' is really special. It has taken me decades to track this one down. If ever black and white television looked colourful, then this is a fine example.

Walt does an exceptional job at making the magic he handles look carefree and surprising. That wonderful Disney animation and special effects crew of that era make this magic even better. Small swirls of stars, puffs of smoke and those distinctive Disney music touches are really something. This is the way to make magic of the conjuring kind look simply marvellous.

The superb Hans Conried as the face in the magic mirror pulled out every stop in his bag of character acting tricks. The sleight-of-hand magician who provided his hands for these sequences is uncredited, but if you would like to see a master at work ... see this. The techniques shown here are surely those of a genius in the art of deft hand manipulation. It would be great to know which magician performing at the time was that good.

The magical equipment presented by Walt Disney was state-of-the-art in the early 1950s and has, arguably, never been bettered.

This lovely episode of Disneyland displays the sort of finesse the entertainment industry has lost.

Now, I must watch the cartoon component.

The Sword In The Stone is a necessity to have in every Disney lover's collection. It's simplistic, heart warming, and a real feel good movie. Many Disney movies these days are over the top, more about the celebrities doing the voices, and won't be remembered in 30 years time - Walt will be spinning in his grave.

Everyone knows the story about The Sword In The Stone. The story starts before the myth that King Arthur is dead, but is just waiting til Britain is in trouble again, before he rises. Along with Merlin, he's supposed to be buried in Scotland somewhere, but there are so many places laying claim to it, and it's just a myth. But I'd like to believe it.

We meet Arthur, an orphaned, scrawny little boy, who meets Merlin, an eccentric crackpot, with a talking owl called Archimedes, who funnily enough, can do magic. And so starts an amazing story.

There are some very memorable characters in this, particularly Archimedes, who not only has terrific sarcasm, but is hilarious. Also Merlin gets up to no good with his magic, turning Arthur into a fish, and then into a squirrel, where he gets a love interest. That's one of the sweetest moments, when the girl squirrel realises, hey there's a cute male squirrel. It's probably one of the films that I saw when I was young that I thought that's what love was supposed to feel like. Can't keep away from them, need to be with them all the time, and then get your heart broken when you discover they're actually a strange creature and not a squirrel at all.

The Madam Mim sequence is a bit silly, and frankly, doesn't have much to do with the rest of the story, so it's easily skipped past. The ending I found dull and uninteresting when I was young, and still find it the same today. It seemed wound up too fast.

The Sword In The Stone, although often skipped over when people list the Disney classics, needs to be taken more notice of, and you will be laughing so hard you have to pause the movie.

My wife had been asking about this movie. It was one of her fav childhood movies. We i gave it for her b-day she was overjoyed and almost speechless. We watch it several times a week. We love it, it now a part of family time.

Thanks
The Harvey'sThe Sword in the Stone (Disney Gold Classic Collection)