The Sword in the Stone (1963 film)

The Sword in the Stone
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Wolfgang Reitherman
Story by	Bill Peet
Based on	The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White
Produced by	Walt Disney
Starring	Sebastian Cabot Karl Swenson Rickie Sorensen Junius Matthews Ginny Taylor Martha Wentworth Norman Alden Alan Napier Richard Reitherman Robert Reitherman
Edited by	Donald Halliday
Music by	George Bruns
Production company	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release dates	December 12, 1963 (1963-12-12) (London) December 25, 1963 (1963-12-25) (United States)
Running time	79 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3 million[1]
Box office	$22.2 million (United States and Canada)[2]

The Sword in the Stone is a 1963 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Distribution. It is based on the novel of the same name by T. H. White, first published in 1938 and then revised and republished in 1958 as the first book of White's Arthurian tetralogy The Once and Future King. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, the film features the voices of Rickie Sorensen, Karl Swenson, Junius Matthews, Sebastian Cabot, Norman Alden, and Martha Wentworth. It was the last animated film from Walt Disney Productions to be released in Walt Disney's lifetime^[3][4][5].

Disney first acquired the film rights to the novel in 1939, and there were various attempts at developing the film over the next two decades before production on the film officially began. Bill Peet wrote the story for the film, while the songs were written by the Sherman Brothers. This was the first animated Disney film to feature songs by the Sherman Brothers; they went on to contribute music to such Disney animated feature films as Mary Poppins (1964), The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats (1970), and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977). George Bruns composed the film's score, following his work on the previous two animated Disney films, Sleeping Beauty (1959) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). He also composed the scores of the next three Disney animated feature films, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, and Robin Hood (1973).

The Sword in the Stone premiered in London on December 12, 1963, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 25. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but it became a box-office success, grossing $22.2 million in the United States and Canada.