Disney Prince Review: Arthur, The Sword in the Stone and Taran, The Black Cauldron

*Officially, neither Arthur nor Taran are Disney Princes but they are some of the characters considered to be "unofficial" Disney Princes similar to how Eilonwy from the Black Cauldron is also considered a Disney Princess. 

Arthur (Wart) Pendragon

"Just because you don't understand something it doesn't mean it's wrong."

Sword in the Stone is sort of a middle ground movie when it comes to Disney's animated history and at times it is a bit hard to tell people that Arthur is the protagonist cause it does feel like it's Merlin at times because of how interesting he is, he's like the Genie in Aladdin that way. I once said that with films like Snow White it really felt like the Princesses themselves were after thoughts and it was characters like Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, and later the Good Faeries to actually lead the story. Arthur (Wart as most people call him) does get plenty of screen time but it does feel like Merlin is more a main character though we could easily argue that it is both of them with Merlin teaching Arthur and Arthur taking it all in.

Arthur is a lot like a companion in Doctor Who, where it's his story but it's his experiences with this strange and wise character that make the story. As a character, Arthur is someone who in a lot of ways has given up on his dream of being a knight as as far as he knows he is not of proper birth so he resolves to do the best at everything else accepting that where he is now is as good as he can get. It is his encounters with Merlin that teach him to use his brain but Arthur still sees himself as a nobody and doesn't try for better. Arthur reminds me a bit of Mr. Mosely from Downton Abbey, both characters feel they will be nothing more than what they are. At the end he tells Merlin "What do you want me to be, I'm nobody" and it sums up Arthur's opinion of himself because he is aware that despite what he's been taught, nothing will change who he is; and then he pulls the sword and becomes king. It's a bit weird because there is never a point where we see Arthur truly put into play what he's learned, about brain over brawn, the importance of knowledge and wisdom, and the power of love. We never get to see a payoff as the film ends with him getting his birthright. The idea I think is that Merlin has taught Arthur what he needs to know to be a good king; he knows the important oc knowledge and wisdom, of a bigger world, and he knows what it's like to feel worthless. With Merlin at his side, Arthur will usher in the great era that the stories say he created. 

 Taran of Caer Dalban
"Without my sword I'm nothing.. just an assistant pig keeper"

The Black Cauldron is a holdover from Disney's first Dark Age of Animation where essentially the company was in a downturn after the death of Walt Disney. Looking at the movie again it's easy to see what's good about it but the flaws are just as easy to spot and Taran is a good example as well as the writing. As a character, Taran is very much a Luke Skywalker character in that he wants to see what the world has, he wants to fight but where Luke's development made sense, Taran's feels more rushed than anything else. Taran quickly grows up from the moment Hen Wen goes missing and then slightly regresses for a moment after escaping the Horned King's castle. Taran grew up more in one movie than he did in the first couple of books and that ultimately is the biggest problem with the movie, it tries to cram in a five book series into 80 minutes while only focusing on two books.

Like we talked about earlier, Taran wants to be a hero, feeling like a lot of young men in history when it comes to war, "what if the war ends before I can fight?" and he reminds me a bit of William from Downton Abbey that way. Taran doesn't see the big picture but when he comes face to face with reality, actually fighting men, facing the Horned King, and being in a dungeon, he learns it isn't a game and he has to take it seriously. When he gets the sword (a reference to the sword Dyrnwn from the book) he sees it as the mark of him being a great warrior and when he gives it up for the Black Cauldron (another reference to him giving up a magic brooch for it) he sees himself as just an Assistant Pig Keeper. Taran comes to learn to believe in himself, not in the gimmicks and when presented with the sword again, he turns it down in exchange for his friend Gurgi. Taran's character progresses in a way that does pay homage to the books loosely but it is so rushed and compressed that it often gets missed which is sad because I feel The Black Cauldron as a film is what an adaptation should be..

Final Thoughts

Arthur and Taran are both characters who show how different the Disney Prince is from the Disney Princess, at least in my mind. Arthur's story is about him learning to want more, not being a mediocrity and fight for something more whereas Taran learns to look beyond himself for the bigger picture and what it means to be a hero. If I had to say what really separated them from Florian, Henry, and Phillip, it would be their interactions with other characters, and this is important. The original three did not interact with any of the characters from the films for the most part so we don't know a lot about them whereas we learn a lot about the princesses from their interactions with others. 

Taran takes what Dalban tells him to heart after losing Hen Wen, and her loss served to wake him up to the reality of the situation as his daydreaming cost him someone he cared about. Gurgi, Flueder and Eilonwy all play off of Taran as a character like Eilonwy serving as Taran's sense of hope, Gurgi his sense of courage, and Flueder his friendship. The Horned King symbolizes in a lot of ways, Taran's fears or rather fear itself and is a good foil for him. A good example would be how he treats Creeper compared to how Taran treats Gurgi, and Taran's simplistic design when put next to the Horned King's design which makes him come off as an example of fear. Everything about the Horned King and Taran are designed in opposition to each other down to their homes.

With Arthur, he doesn't have as large a cast but we do see that Merlin does have an effect on him as the wizard essentially broadens Arthur's mind and worldview. We could argue that the people in Arthur's life represent what he could be or the options before him. Sir Ector and Kay represent what would happen to Arthur if he stays where he is, Mim could be an example of what would happen if he or Merlin directed their knowledge and powers inwards, and the knights who fail to pull the sword out of the stone could represent old outdated ideas and ways of thinking. Merlin and Archimedes finally could represent both the importance of knowledge and wisdom used to better society.

As Disney Princes, there is a lot to be said about Arthur and Taran but honestly, they are more like Disney Princlings. When most people think of a Disney Prince, they think about a dashing her coming to save the day and honestly they aren't there yet. I like to think that is part of their charm and they remind me of the Toonami short about how a boy has a right to dream and that's what they do before the medieval society demands more of them.