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The Sword in the Stone

The Sword in the Stone (1963)

Tired of living in a Medieval mess... Merlin uses all his magic powers to change a scrawny little boy into a legendary hero!

Release:1963
Runtime:1h 19m
Country:United States
Director:Wolfgang Reitherman
Language:English

Genre

AnimationFamilyFantasy
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Keywords

witchBased On Novel Or BookmagicTransformationCartoonvillainKnightKing Arthur
iRank68

The Sword in the Stone rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb7.1/10· 113K votes
Rotten Tomatoes65%
Metacritic61%
TMDb7.2/10· 4K votes

With 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 7.1/10 on IMDb and 61/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been mixed.

About The Sword in the Stone

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.

Cast of The Sword in the Stone

  • Sebastian Cabot

    Sebastian Cabot

    as The Narrator/Sir Ector (voice)

  • Karl Swenson

    Karl Swenson

    as Merlin (voice)

  • Junius Matthews

    Junius Matthews

    as Archimedes the Owl (voice)

  • Martha Wentworth

    Martha Wentworth

    as Madam Mim / Old Lady Squirrel (voice)

  • Norman Alden

    Norman Alden

    as Kay (voice)

  • Rickie Sorensen

    Rickie Sorensen

    as Wart (voice)

  • Ginny Tyler

    Ginny Tyler

    as Little Girl Squirrel (voice)

  • Alan Napier

    Alan Napier

    as Sir Pellinore (voice)

  • R

    Richard Reitherman

    as Wart (voice)

  • R

    Robert Reitherman

    as Wart (voice)

  • Barbara Jo Allen

    Barbara Jo Allen

    as Scullery Maid (voice) (uncredited)

  • James MacDonald

    James MacDonald

    as The Wolf / Pike / Tiger Mim (voice) (uncredited)

The Sword in the Stone facts

Budget
$3M
Box office
$22.2M

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026MethodologyData sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

  • •Fantasy adventure captures King Arthur legend with magical charm
  • •Animation brings Excalibur mythology to accessible family storytelling
  • •Female villain character provides compelling antagonist for narrative

What the audience disliked

  • •Pacing occasionally stalls during wizard training montage sequences
  • •Animation style shows age compared to modern feature-length standards

Trailer

Where to watch The Sword in the Stone(US)

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Availability may change. Data by JustWatch.

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