Naiveté and the Depiction of Arthur’s Childhood in Disney’s The Sword in the Stone

Abstract

This chapter examines Disney’s animated feature film The Sword in the Stone (1963), based on T. H. White’s account of the future king’s childhood. The final film features six songs written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, designed to add to the tone of Disney’s adaptation as a fantasy for children. This chapter considers how the Disney version alters the characters depicted in White’s book. Unsurprisingly, the animated film abridges White’s story for its seventy-nine-minute runtime. Despite the numerous changes, The Sword in the Stone contributes to the musical retellings of T. H. White’s interpretation that enter into popular culture in the 1960s.