Toon Talk: King Arthur
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Joining them in their task are Merlin (The Hours’ Stephen Dillane), here recast as a ‘master of the black arts’, which apparently entails wearing blue Braveheart make-up and standing around in the fog a lot, and one of his tribe, Guinevere (Pirates of the Caribbean’s Keira Knightley), who has received the most radical make-over of all: gone are the flowing gowns and ladylike trills of a Julie Andrews or Vanessa Redgrave. In their place is a primitive wild woman, running around with her bosoms tied down with leather straps and sporting tribal make-up right out of Quest for Fire; even more inexplicably, she joins the men in their fight, picking off Saxons left and right with a bow and arrow while the menfolk hardly bat an eye in protest of having a female in battle.
It’s all a rather trite exercise in hackneyed revisionism, with an unjustified, self-satisfied air of superiority over the ‘fairy tales’ that we’re all familiar with (and have enjoyed) over the years; but the fact of the matter, at least as far as this King Arthur goes, is blatantly clear: so-called ‘truth’ is not necessarily better then fiction.
Toon Talk Rating: C-
The Toon Talk Top 10 -
Classics Re-Illustrated: In addition to the denizens of Camelot, several classic characters of literature have been revisited in varied Disney productions, including:
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Coming Soon in Toon Talk:
- Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway and Hector Elizondo add another chapter to the diary in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, opening August 11th.
- Mickey, Donald and Goofy are reunited for the video premiere of The Three Musketeers, an all-new animated feature coming to DVD August 17th.
- Completing the Lion King trilogy on Special Edition DVD is The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, available August 31st.
And Coming Soon from Buena Vista Home Video:
July 13:
- The Barbarian Invasions
July 20:
- The two-disc Special Edition DVD of Lindsay Lohan’s Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.
- People I Know, a political drama starring Al Pacino, Kim Basinger and Ryan O’Neal.
August 3:
- Hidalgo
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-- Kirby C. Holt
-- Logo by William C Searcy, Magic Bear Graphics
Kirby is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. He is also an avid list maker and chronic ellipsis user ...
Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.
The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted July 7, 2004