The Magic Sword: Quest for Camelot Review

The Magic Sword: Quest for Camelot


Release Date: 17th September 1998 - Australia


Production Companies
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Feature Animation


Genre: Animation/Family/

Fantasy

Rating: G

Runtime: 86 minutes


Budget: $40,000,000

Box Office Gross: $38,172,500 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Kayley is a young teenage girl who dreams of becoming a knight like his father. When the evil knight Ruber steals the sword of Excalibur from King Arthur, Kayley goes on an adventure with the help of a blind hermit named Garrett to retrieve the sword. And to stop Ruber from taking over Camelot. All the while, they pair up with a talking two-headed dragon named Devon and Cornwall, who help them in their journey.


Voice Cast
Jessalyn Gilsig - Kayley
Andrea Corr - Kayley (singing voice)
Sarah Freeman - Young Kayley
Cary Elwes - Garrett
Bryan White - Garrett

(singing voice)

Gary Oldman - Ruber
Eric Idle - Devon

Don Rickles - Cornwall
Jane Seymour - Juliana
Celine Dion - Juliana (singing

voice)
Pierce Brosnan - King Arthur
Steve Perry - King Arthur

(singing voice)
Bronson Pinchot - The Griffin
Jaleel White - Bladebeak
Gabriel Byrne - Sir Lionel
John Gielgud - Merlin
Frank Welker - Ayden

Crew
Director - Frederik Du Chau
Based on the Novel "The King's Damosel" - Vera Chapman
Screenplay - Kirk De Micco, William Schifrin, Jacqueline Feather and David Seidler
Producer - Dalisa Cohen

Creative Consultant - Mike Ockrent
Production Designer - Steve Pilcher

Art Directors - Carol Kieffer Police and J. Michael Spooner

Head of Story - Bruce Morris

Storyboard Artist/Lead Animator: "Bladebeak

and Minions" - Stephan Franck

Head of Layout and Workbook -

William H. Drake
Head of Layout - Jeff Purves
Layout Supervisor: United States -

Brendan Houghton

Layout & Background Supervisor: A-Film -

Matthias Lechner

Production Managers - Igor Khait and

Patrick J. Love

Choreographer - Kenny Ortega

Scene Planning Supervisor - Steven Wilzbach

Head of Background - Brian Sebern
Background Supervisor: United Kingdom -

Ray Rankine
Background Supervisor: United States -

Jeff Richards

Lead Animator: "Kayley" - Athanassios Vakalis

Lead Animator: "Juliana" - Cynthia Overman

Lead Animator: "Garrett" - Chrystal Klabunde

Lead Animator: "Ruber" - Alexander Williams

Lead Animator: "Devon and Cornwall" -

Dan Wagner

Lead Animator: "Ayden" - Mike Nguyen

Lead Animators - Lennie K. Graves and

Alyson Hamilton

Supervising Animator: United Kingdom -

Russell Hall

Animation Supervisor: A-Film - Jesper Møller
Animation Consultant - Stan Green

Head of Effects - Michel Gagne

Editor - Stanford C. Allen

Associate Editors - Darren T. Holmes and

Richard L. McCullough

Supervising Sound Editors - Alan Robert Murray

and David M. Horton
Sound Designers - Christopher Boyes

and Tom Meyers

Sound Effects Editors - Bub Asman,

Adam Johnston, Andy Kopetsky and

Bill Manger

ADR Supervisor - Curt Schulkey

Re-Recording Mixers - David Campbell,

John Reitz and Gregg Rudloff

Foley Walkers - John Roesch and

David Lee Fein
Songs & Lyrics - David Foster and
Carole Bayer Sager
Music - Patrick Doyle


Awards

1999 Academy Awards
Best Music, Original Song "The Prayer" -

Carol Bayer Sager, David Foster,

Tony Renis and Alberto Testa (Nominated)


Review
The animated feature THE MAGIC SWORD: QUEST FOR CAMELOT was okay, but it's an attempt by Warner Bros to do non-Disney animated musicals. Aside from their Looney Tunes, Warner Bros isn't known for their animated features (except The Iron Giant), but this one is a Disney rip-off. Readers might think it's funny how I often mention that Warner and Disney have been competing with each other since the Golden Age of Animation. But when comparing this failed effort to Disney's many masterpieces, you can see why I make the comparison.

Because it has forgettable songs (minus one), a few pop culture references and sidekicks like that two-headed dragon Devon and Cornwall, there is a fair amount to QUEST FOR CAMELOT. Devon and Cornwall are nothing more than wasted comic relief. What makes it worse is a few plot inconsistencies, but there are some redeeming qualities, like the blind character voiced by Cary Elwes and the falcon Ayden.

THE MAGIC SWORD was pretentious and mediocre but could have been better if there were a few songs, no attempts at comic relief and no movie references. All these steps would have made this movie different and impressive.

Star rating: (3/5) Average

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