The Witch and the Wizard
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The witch and the wizard (originally Merlin and Mim) |
| Original title | The Sword in the Stone |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1963 |
| length | 79 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK o. A. |
| Rod | |
| Director | Wolfgang Reitherman |
| script | Bill Peet based on the novel by T. H. White |
| production | Walt Disney |
| music | Soundtrack: George Bruns Songs: Richard M. Sherman , Robert B. Sherman Orchestration: Franklyn Marks |
| cut | Donald Halliday |
The Sword in the Stone (AKA: The Sword in the Stone ., English for The Sword in the Stone ), originally in Germany under the title Merlin and Mim published, is the 18th full-length animated film of the Walt Disney Studios and was published in 1963 . The film is based on the 1958 novel The King on Camelot by TH White .
action
The prologue tells in a medieval picture book story that the King of England had died and the line of succession remained unregulated. There is a record of a sword that was thrust into a stone from heaven by an inexplicable miracle. The hilt of the sword said that whoever could pull the sword out of the stone was the rightful King of England. Many strong men tried to draw the sword, but none could even move it. And so England remained without a king.
The second part of the story describes the discovery and upbringing of the future King Arthur by the wizard Merlin . Arthur is a twelve year old orphan who lives with the knight Sir Hector, but who calls him "Flea". The story takes place in medieval England around the year 600 , recognizable by the fact that Merlin mentions in a scene that the first edition of the London Times will appear "in 1200 years".
In search of a lost arrow that he lost while hunting with his stepbrother Kay, Flea meets Merlin and his pet, a grumpy owl named Archimedes. Merlin recognizes the boy's great deficit and takes care of his upbringing, which mainly consists of reading , science and magical transformations. So he turns Flea into a fish so that he can learn that cunning is more important than strength, into a squirrel to learn about the power of love and finally into a bird to realize his dream of flying.
When Flea is first transformed, it is attacked by a large pike . However, he manages to outsmart the beast and escape it for a while. Then Archimedes comes to his aid and rescues him from the water, which he then refuses to admit and instead claims that “young perch” is his favorite food.
During his second transformation, Flea learns about gravity . He makes the acquaintance of a female squirrel who is very pushy and chases him and wants to kiss him all the time. Merlin is amused at first until he is harassed by a squirrel lady. After the squirrel has saved Flea from a hungry wolf, it realizes that Flea is a human and therefore turns away from him in deep sadness. Merlin explains to him that she cannot get over this disappointment, because if a squirrel chooses a partner, it will be for life. He also explains that while gravity is very powerful, love, in its own way, can be a far more powerful force.
When he is a bird, Flea meets Madame Mim, a witch who takes him prisoner and wants to kill him. She claims that her magic is much stronger than Merlin's. When Mim finds the transformed flea, the two hold a magic tournament. The rules are: 1. No mineral or plant, but transform into living beings, 2. No beings that do not exist, such as pink dragons, 3. Do not make them invisible, 4. Do not cheat. The tournament ends with Mim getting very sick (caused by a bacillus called Merlinis Merlinitis, as Merlin adds) and has to stay in her bed for a long time.
Arthur is later hired as a squire for his stepbrother Kay, who wants to take part in a tournament whose winner is to be King of England . Merlin does not accompany him, because he does not believe in it and has settled disappointed in the Bermudas of the 20th century . Arrived in London, the venue of the tournament, Flea forgets Kay's sword in the hostel. In search of a replacement for Kay, who would otherwise be disqualified, he accidentally pulls the famous sword out of the stone and into a churchyard. Thereby he fulfills the only requirement to become King of England.
At first he doesn't feel like being crowned king. He calls for Merlin, who immediately appears in modern beach clothes and explains to him that he will be a very good king and later very famous. Flea, now Arthur, eventually opts for the crown .
synchronization
The film was set to music at Simoton Film. Hermann Gressieker wrote the dialogue book, directed the dialogue and translated the lyrics into German.
| role | Original speaker | German speaker |
| Arthur (flea) | Rickie Sorensen | Helo Gutschwager |
| Merlin | Karl Swenson | Hans Nielsen |
| Archimedes | Junius Matthews | Hans Hessling |
| Sir Hector | Sebastian Cabot | Benno Hoffmann |
| Sir Kay | Norman Alden | Gerd Duwner |
| Sir Pelinor | Alan Napier | Erich Fiedler |
| Witch Mim | Martha Wentworth | Friedel Schuster |
| Maid | Barbara Jo Allen | Ingeborg Lapsien |
| Knight | Thurl Ravenscroft | Alexander Welbat |
| teller | Sebastian Cabot | Arnold Marquis |
background
The film was the last animated feature film to be released while Walt Disney was still alive . The film premiered on December 25, 1963 in the United States . In West Germany it made its debut on December 17, 1964 under the title Merlin and Mim . In Austria it was released on December 3, 1965. The German dubbed version (script, lyrics and direction) is by Hermann Gressieker . In 1972 and 1983 the film was released again in cinemas, from 1986 also on video cassette . The first German DVD was released on June 30, 1999. On October 10, 2013, the film was released on Blu-ray .
The film grossed US $ 22.2 million in the US and was therefore significantly less successful than its predecessor 101 Dalmatians , which brought in almost US $ 145 million from all North American cinemas into the studio box.
Reviews
“An entertaining Disney cartoon, produced comparatively carelessly and sparingly. Without a sense of the mysticism of the novel, but also without any ideas of its own, the film primarily relies on funny anachronisms, which have made it age faster than other Disney films. A bright spot, albeit unmotivated within the plot, is the "duel of the magicians" between Merlin and the witch Mim, in which they mutually transform each other into all kinds of animals. "
"The amusing and enigmatic cartoon, at first very successful in the USA, then almost forgotten [...], reports in a child-specific way about the fun of youth and the obligations of old age and cleverly uses the psychology of the cartoon ensemble for gentle instruction."
"This new film has one plus point compared to earlier productions: it lacks the sweet lovers and thus a good deal of opportunity to accommodate kitsch [...]."
"The delightful classic brings the Arthurian legend to life."
"Apart from the owl Archimedes, none of the characters leave any impression."
Awards
George Bruns was nominated for an Oscar in the category of best film music in 1964 .
DVD / BD publishing
- June 13, 2002: The witch and the wizard. Special Collection . Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
- October 9, 2008: The Witch and the Wizard. For the 45th anniversary. Special Collection . Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
- October 10, 2013: The witch and the wizard. Anniversary Edition . Blu-ray, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
Real film remake
In July 2015 it was announced that the Disney studios were planning a real-life version of The Witch and the Wizard . The screenplay is written by Brian Cogman and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo . Filming is scheduled to begin on September 24, 2018 in Dublin .
Trivia
The hungry wolf can be seen as a parody of Wile E. Coyote .
literature
- TH White : The King on Camelot. (Original title: The Once and Future King ). German by Rudolf Rocholl and HC Artmann (Verse), Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2004, (635 pages), ISBN 3-608-93713-7 .
- Leonard Maltin : The Disney Films. 3rd edition, (384 pages), Hyperion, New York 1995, ISBN 0-7868-8137-2 .
- Elmar Biebl, Dirk Manthey, Jörg Altendorf: The films of Walt Disney. The magical world of animation. 2nd edition, (177 pages), Milchstraße, Hamburg 1993, ISBN 3-89324-117-5 .
Web links
- The Sword in the Stone in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The witch and the wizard in the online movie database
- The Sword in the Stone at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Comparison of the cut versions SuperRTL - UK-DVD , UK-DVD - SuperRTL by Die Hexe und der Zauberer at Schnittberichte.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ German synchronous index: German synchronous index | Movies | The Witch and the Wizard. Retrieved November 10, 2018 .
- ↑ The Sword in the Stone in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ a b c The witch and the magician in the lexicon of international films .
- ^ Lexicon "Films on TV" (extended new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 363
- ↑ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sword_in_the_stone/reviews/
- ↑ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sword_in_the_stone/reviews/
- ↑ The Witch and the Wizard is now also a real film on Disney In: filmfutter.com, July 21, 2015.
- ↑ Disney's live-action Sword in the Stone Sets Filming Date & Location In: screenrant.com, April 5, 2018, accessed April 8, 2018
