Die Hexe und der Zauberer (1963)

Die Hexe und der Zauberer: Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, Clyde Geronimi, David Hand. With Sebastian Cabot, Karl Swenson, Rickie Sorensen, Junius Matthews. A poor boy named Arthur learns the power of love, kindness, knowledge and bravery with the help of a wizard called Merlin in the path to become one of the most beloved kings in English history.

“The 18th animated Disney classic is among the most hilarious of all time. It was never very popular, which is too bad, because it deserves to be more known. However, like other forgotten Disney classics, it has been winning a legion of fans with time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The Sword in the Stoneu0026quot; is almost at the same level of the 1960u0026#39;s and 1970u0026#39;s Disney classics when it comes to artwork. It was one of the last movies with the participation of Walt Disney himself.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The Sword in the Stoneu0026quot; is Disneyu0026#39;s version of the famous King Arthuru0026#39;s story. Disney tells this story with its personal touch and classic humor.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI donu0026#39;t know if the Disney version is totally faithful to the real story, but thatu0026#39;s not the point.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eArthur, called u0026quot;Wartu0026quot; by Sir Ector (his adoptive father) and Kay (Sir Ectoru0026#39;s son), is overworked and humiliated by them both. u0026quot;Wartu0026quot; is almost like a u0026quot;Cinderella boyu0026quot;. But despite these problems, he remains optimistic and still dreams about being a great warrior and a knightu0026#39;s squire. Somehow u0026quot;Wartu0026quot; was the inspiration for the character Taran from u0026quot;The Black Cauldronu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn the meantime, he meets the powerful but clumsy and hilarious wizard Merlin, who wants to give him education and culture. Merlin believes that pure strength means nothing when a person has no brain.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTogether, Merlin and u0026quot;Wartu0026quot; live great adventures, funny moments and Merlin teaches everything he knows to u0026quot;Wartu0026quot;. We mustnu0026#39;t forget the owl Archimedes too. The owl, as you know, is usually «the fountain of knowledge» on cartoons.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eArchimedes is wise, intelligent, clever but also very lazy, very confident, grumpy and has a strong personality. Thatu0026#39;s what makes him so funny. In fact, both Merlin and Archimedes are a comic relief.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film might take place in medieval times (which year is unknown). But it is one the funniest Disney classics ever, like u0026quot;Pinocchiou0026quot;, u0026quot;Aladdinu0026quot;, u0026quot;Robin Hoodu0026quot; and u0026quot;The Aristocatsu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt has lots of hilarious moments which can make one get into uncontrollable laughter.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLet me mention some of them: the scenes with Merlin and the Granny Squirrel; the scene when the dishes wash themselves and Sir Ector and Kay get a u0026quot;bathu0026quot;; the scene when Kay brutally crashes with the castleu0026#39;s oldest tower; the part when the plane model gets stuck on Merlinu0026#39;s beird and Archimedes laughs so hysterically that he almost canu0026#39;t breathe; that part when Archimedes nearly shrinks inside his little house; the moments with the sugarpot…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI could go on, but it would take forever because there are so many hilarious moments.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe songs are clever and enjoyable, such as u0026quot;The Sword in the Stoneu0026quot;, u0026quot;Thatu0026#39;s what makes the world go roundu0026quot; and especially u0026quot;Higitus Figitusu0026quot;, my personal favorite.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI like this movie and Iu0026#39;ve gotta say that humor is, without a doubt, the strongest attribute of this movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis should definitely be on Top 250.”