Growing up as a Disney kid I never really though much about what our favorite Disney movies said about us. They inform a certain lens you see the world through and you become part of your person narrative. I wrote about this when I watched Hercules a bit and when I get to Aladdin and Peter Pan I am sure I will have plenty to say. The Sword and The Stone for me was always the story of a boy needing to rise to his full potential. I always identified with the idea of being someone who could just slip into the background and fade into the crowd but was always being pulled out to do something more even when sometimes I didn't want to. I always came back to The Sword and The Stone in these moments. In times where I just wanted to be left alone to be mediocre I could go back and see Merlin yell at Arthur to learn and grow and shape and then knew what was going on.
This movie is my favorite of the period for more than just it's story. I love the animation and how it looks very period of the 1960s while telling a story of Medieval times. Warts tunic and boots some how echo Mod fashion while the sharp lines of the drawing style somehow echo Mid Century modern. It isn't a far stretch to image this movie playing while someone watched on from an Eames chair. How many more stylist terms of the 1960s can I fit in here?
One of my favorite moments in animation is the fight between Merlin and Madam Mim where animators had to animate somewhere close to 20 individual characters what still exemplify the main character as they shape shift in their magic battle. The creativity as the battle and the care they use to personify Madam Mim in a rhino or dragon and Merlin as a crab or a rabbit.
No comments:
Post a Comment