38 Fun Facts About The Sword in the Stone

What is Wart trying to retrieve when he first meets Merlin?

An arrow from the spoiled hunt leads Wart to Merlin, who promptly declares himself the boy's tutor.

The Sword in the Stone's songwriters also wrote which theme park anthem?

It's a Small World was written for the UNICEF pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair.

Which creature does Madam Mim become during the wizards' duel, breaking her own rules?

A purple dragon: Mim had banned 'pink dragons and stuff', so she argued a purple one didn't count.

Which animal keeps trying to catch Wart in the forest, only to fail every time?

A wolf nearly eats Wart during the squirrel lesson, but a girl squirrel saves him before discovering he is a boy.

What does Merlin enchant to do Wart's punishment chores in The Sword in the Stone?

The dishes wash themselves so Merlin can take Wart off for another lesson, and Sir Ector later blames black magic.

What does Merlin conjure indoors to prove his magic to Sir Ector?

A blizzard proves the magic to Sir Ector, who still turns Merlin away until the wizard vanishes and Ector changes his mind.

What is the name of Wart's older foster brother?

Kay is the brother whose sword Wart forgets at the inn, which sends Wart to the sword in the stone.

Into which creature does Merlin first transform Wart for a lesson?

As fish, Merlin and Wart swim the castle moat until an angry pike attacks them.

What lesson are the squirrel transformations meant to teach Wart?

Gravity is the plan, but the squirrel lesson ends with Merlin calling love the greatest force on Earth.

Which bird does Merlin turn Wart into for his flying lesson?

As a sparrow, Wart learns to fly with Archimedes, and the lesson ends with him meeting the witch Madam Mim.

In Disney comics, Madam Mim often teams up with which other sorceress?

Magica De Spell often took Mim on as a sidekick in 1960s and 1970s comics, hounding Scrooge McDuck.

How does Merlin finally defeat Madam Mim in their wizards' duel?

He becomes a germ that infects her, leaving Mim sick and confined to bed.

Where does Merlin angrily transport himself after arguing with Wart?

From 20th-century Bermuda he returns at the end to help Wart, now king, become the great ruler he foresaw.

What does Wart find when he rushes back to the inn for the sword he forgot?

The inn is locked for the tournament, so Wart pulls the sword from the stone instead, unknowingly proving he is king.

What is the sword embedded in, atop the stone?

An anvil atop the stone holds the sword, which appears after the king dies without an heir.

Which king's death leaves England without an heir at the start of The Sword in the Stone?

Uther Pendragon's death leaves the sword forgotten for years, plunging England into the Dark Ages.

On what day is the tournament to crown England's next king held in The Sword in the Stone?

New Year's Day is set for the tournament, so Sir Ector enters his son and appoints Wart as that son's squire.

Which actor voiced Merlin in The Sword in the Stone?

Karl Swenson later played Lars Hanson on Little House on the Prairie and died about a week before his character's death episode aired.

Who voiced Sir Ector and narrated The Sword in the Stone?

Sebastian Cabot was away from Family Affair for a while, so John Williams stood in as Mr. French's brother Nigel.

Who voiced Madam Mim?

Martha Wentworth voiced Mim, who challenges Merlin to a wizards' duel and cheats her way through it.

Why was Arthur voiced by three different actors in The Sword in the Stone?

The original actor hit puberty: Rickie Sorensen's voice broke mid-production, so Arthur's voice shifts between scenes.

In T. H. White's novels, why does the wizard Merlyn already know what will happen?

He lives backwards in time, so knowing Wart's destiny, he readies the boy to rule by turning him into animals.

Who wrote both the story and screenplay for The Sword in the Stone?

Bill Peet developed the story single-handedly, then left Disney in 1964 after clashing with Walt over a later film.

Which rival project lost out to The Sword in the Stone for Walt Disney's approval?

Chanticleer's rooster hero was judged too odd to work, and Walt said nobody feels like picking up a rooster to pet it.

Seeing which Broadway musical prompted Walt Disney to greenlight The Sword in the Stone?

Camelot also led Walt to Julie Andrews: he saw her play Guinevere and offered her the role of Mary Poppins.

Who wrote the songs for The Sword in the Stone?

The Sherman Brothers joined Disney as staff songwriters after their hit Tall Paul for Mouseketeer Annette Funicello.

Who composed the score for The Sword in the Stone?

George Bruns kept playing jazz while at Disney, including with the studio's in-house Dixieland band, the Firehouse Five Plus Two.

The Sword in the Stone's only Oscar nomination was in which category?

It lost to Irma la Douce.

Which animation technique carried over from 101 Dalmatians to The Sword in the Stone?

Xerox photocopying of drawings onto cels continued, joined by a new touch-up step that let assistants draw directly on animators' sketches.

In which city did The Sword in the Stone hold its premiere on December 12, 1963?

London premiered the film, which went on to inspire a Sword in the Stone ceremony at Disney's theme parks.

The Sword in the Stone's 1983 re-release came with a new short about which Pooh character's birthday?

Eeyore is delighted to find he can put Piglet's popped balloon into Pooh's empty honey pot and take it out again.

In which video game series does Merlin train Sora, Donald and Goofy in magic?

Kingdom Hearts began after a Square producer pitched the idea to a Disney executive during a chance meeting in an elevator.

T. H. White's novel later became the first part of which tetralogy?

The Once and Future King reworked White's first novel, cutting the Madam Mim duel that Disney's film kept.

Which retrospective honour did White's book receive in 2014?

A Hugo for 1939 went to the novel White wrote about Arthur's boyhood, the part of the legend Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur leaves out.

The Sword in the Stone's director belonged to which famous group of Disney animators?

The Nine Old Men got their name from Walt, borrowing a nickname for the aging justices of the US Supreme Court.

The Sword in the Stone's writer resigned from Disney in 1964 after a row over which film?

The Jungle Book's early version kept Kipling's dark tone, so Walt had the story lightened and told his team to set the book aside.

The voice of Sir Ector went on to play which Disney jungle character?

Bagheera finds the baby Mowgli and, years later, tries to lead him to the Man-Village.

Where was T. H. White born?

Bombay, British India, was his birthplace; later he tried to train a goshawk by old falconry methods and wrote The Goshawk about it.