Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Wart is a young boy who aspires to be a knight's squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for him beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give him an education, believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.
A charming but loosely structured Disney adaptation of T.H. White's Arthurian legend. The plot meanders through a series of episodic transformation sequences without strong narrative momentum, and the ending feels abrupt and undercooked given the legendary subject matter. The voice performances are warm and likable, particularly Karl Swenson's Merlin, and the animation has moments of visual invention in the magic duel sequence. Novelty is modest — the whimsical, comedic take on Arthurian legend was distinctive for its time but the film overall feels like a minor entry in the Disney canon, less cohesive than its contemporaries.