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Many of our favorite Masters of Horror actually found themselves being accidentally thrust into this position after an early genre success, with very few of them actively choosing to only tell scary stories. From Stephen King to John Carpenter, there are many such cases, but I think that one of the most curious examples of a renaissance man who found himself backed into a spooky corner is that of the legendary George A. Romero.

The father of the modern zombie movie, Romero was also a deeply passionate idealist and multitalented artist with ideas spanning multiple genres. And while most of his fans focus on success of his Living Dead films (and the occasional obscure gem like Martin), today I’d like to discuss the director’s most overlooked feature, 1981’s Knightriders – a film that I think will appeal to hardcore horror fans despite featuring almost none of Romero’s penchant for exaggerated blood and guts.

Joe Hale, who spent 35 years as an animator, layout artist and producer at Disney and received an Oscar nomination for his effects work on the 1979 film The Black Hole, has died. He was 99.

Hale died Jan. 29 of natural causes at his home in Atascadero, California, his wife of nearly 60 years, Beverly Hale, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Hale started out as an inbetweener on Alice in Wonderland (1951) and worked on such other classics as Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), Mary Poppins (1964), The Jungle Book (1967), The Fox and the Hound (1981), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and Pete’s Dragon (1977).

In 1980, Hale was named a first-time producer on The Black Cauldron (1985), a project that had been languishing at Disney for about seven years, and he oversaw a staff of 300 artists — including a young Tim Burton — and a big budget of $44 million.

When some children found scenes in the...

Quick Links Disneys The Sword in the Stone Is Based on a Book Madame Mim Is One of Disney's Most Overlooked Villains Disney Has Started Utilizing Madame Mim More in Recent Years

Disney's The Sword in the Stone premiered in 1963, just three years before the death of Walt Disney. The movie was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman -- one of Walt's fabled "Nine Old Men" -- with a story by future children's author Bill Peet. Like many of Disney's films, it's based on a fantastical source material complete with wizards, destined kings, and highly educated talking owls. With the 79-minute run time, the movie's story meanders and might not be one of Disney's strongest, but it's certainly entertaining. It also introduced one of Disney's most memorable but underutilized villains.

Madam Mim appears as a shapeshifting witch and arch-nemesis of the great wizard Merlin. Unique in her own right for many reasons,...

There are very few comic book writers who have attained the status of ‘legendary’. Comic book enthusiasts unanimously agree one of them is Alan Moore, who took DC comics to its heights during the 80s and 90s. He revived a number of forgotten supernatural characters, especially through his run with Swamp Thing, such as Spectre, the Demon, the Phantom Stranger, Deadman, and introduced John Constantine.

Watchmen by Alan Moore

Moore’s contribution to the comic book world is immense, and being an industry expert for decades, he knows all the ins and outs. He understands how times have changed, and how several concepts that worked before won’t work today.

Suggested“It was all white people like me”: HBO Didn’t Want Damon Lindelof to Unmask One Watchmen Character That Alan Moore Didn’t Even Dare To

He realizes that as he reads more printed material, he cannot help...

Quick Links Most Recent Live-Action Sword In The Stone Movie News The Live-Action Sword In The Stone Is Not Confirmed Disney’s Live-Action Sword In The Stone Movie Story Live-Action Sword In The Stone: Further News & Info The live-action remake of Disney's The Sword in the Stone has been in development since 2015 but has faced a lack of updates and uncertainty about its future. Disney has officially shelved the live-action Sword in the Stone remake, according to director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Though no story details have been revealed, the live-action remake would likely follow the same plot as the 1963 animated film.

Disney’s The Sword in the Stone is getting a live-action remake, with the 1963 animated version of T.H. White’s novel The Once and Future King being reimagined by 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo for Disney+. While not the most popular animated Disney Classic, The Sword in the Stone...

The live-action adaptation of The Sword in the Stone has hit a roadblock.

For several years a planned live-action remake of The Sword in the Stone has languished in development hell. The project was first put into development in 2015, and Damsel helmer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo boarded the Disney+ film's production as director in 2018. Since then, no major updates on the project have been shared, and the latest status update has been revealed as an unfortunate one. While speaking about the movie with Screen Rant, Fresnadillo insinuated that the film might have fizzled out after it was "put on hold" by Disney. While he also thought the remake would be a "great project," the director also shared his doubts that the film will ever end up getting made.

Related Disney Unveils First Look and Plot Details for Tron: Ares Disney has unveiled the first official look at the upcoming sequel Tron: Ares,...

Quick Links Most Recent Live-Action Sword In The Stone Movie News The Live-Action Sword In The Stone Is Confirmed Live-Action Sword In The Stone Release Date Prediction Live-Action Sword In The Stone Movie Cast Disney’s Live-Action Sword In The Stone Movie Story The live-action remake of Disney's The Sword in the Stone has been in development since 2015 but has faced a lack of updates and uncertainty about its future. The movie will be a Disney+ exclusive and is expected to follow the plot of the original animated film while fleshing out certain elements and characters. There has been no casting information provided yet, but characters like Arthur and Merlin will be important roles to fill in the live-action adaptation.

Disney’s The Sword in the Stone is getting a live-action remake, with the 1963 animated version of T.H. White’s novel The Once and Future King being reimagined by 28 Weeks...

Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of the classic musical Camelot will ends its Broadway run on Sunday, July 23, producer Lincoln Center Theater has announced.

The Tony-nominated musical revival, directed by Bartlett Sher and starring Andrew Burnap, Phillipa Soo and Jordan Donica, began previews March 9 and opened April 13. It will have played 38 previews and 115 regular performances at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater upon closing. Plans for a U.S. national tour and West End production are underway.

Though receiving mixed critical reviews, the revival of Lerner and Loewe’s 1960 musical received five 2023 Tony Award nominations, including for Best Musical Revival, Best Actor in a Featured Role/Musical, and scenic, costume and lighting designs. The revival didn’t win in any category.

Staged at the non-profit Lincoln Center, the revival has seen a fairly steady decline in box office during recent weeks, having peaked during the...

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Camelot never achieved the status of their My Fair Lady. But the 1960 musical about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, long cherished for its lush score and evergreen songs, attained a kind of mythic status, becoming a potent symbol of a certain political moment in our national history. Shortly after the assassination of J.F.K. in 1963, Jacqueline Kennedy told a reporter that her husband was a big fan of the romantic and idealistic musical and suggested, quoting a lyric from the title song, that the Kennedy era was, like Camelot itself, a “brief shining moment” that must never be forgotten.

I recently spoke with Bartlett Sher, director of the new Lincoln Center Theater revival of Camelot, currently at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Sher previously helmed a string of deluxe musical revivals at the same theater over the past 15 years:...

Aaron Sorkin, whose adaptation of the classic Lerner & Loewe musical Camelot opened on Broadway earlier this month, will be eligible for Tony consideration in the Best Book of a Musical category, the Tony administration committee ruled today.

The Camelot book was originally written by Alan Jay Lerner (Frederick Loewe composed the music) but Sorkin’s revisions for the new Lincoln Center Theater production were apparently substantial enough to merit consideration for a Tony Award.

Among other changes, Sorkin vastly revised the dialogue, changed the Morgan Le Fay character from a sorceress to a scientist, and generally did away with the supernatural elements prevalent in the original book. (Camelot was adapted by Lerner and Loewe from T.H. White’s 1958 novel The Once and Future King.)

The Tony committee’s decision was one of a number of rulings that came out of today’s third and final eligibility meeting. Tony nominations will be announced Tuesday,...

There was a moment I knew much was going wrong with Aaron Sorkin's musical bookwriting debut with the "Camelot" Broadway revival. It arrives when Phillipa Soo groans at the title number "Camelot" with an attitude that reads "Is this guy seriously doing a musical number?"

Yet, the same scene builds to a realization that Sorkin's penmanship can go right. It's when the young King Arthur (Andrew Burnap) persuades his arranged betrothed, Guenevere (Soo), of a risky experiment: "Together we may discover if power might be harnessed as a force of good." The promise of this experiment persuades the skeptical princess that her marital purpose might yield a net gain — as long as she doesn't over-test her obligations.

Those aware of "Camelot" and its often-adapted legend source material (credited to T.H. White's "The Once and Future King" in this case) know that the burgeoning passions between Guenevere and the...

What’s a Camelot without a little magic?

Aaron Sorkin works up an answer to that question in the new Lincoln Center Theater production of the 1960 Lerner & Loewe musical, and the result is an adaptation that seems at every turn to be pleading its case for its own relevance. Where the West Wing creator conjured a real sort of writerly sorcery in 2018 with his transformation of the beloved property To Kill A Mockingbird into a new, relevant and thrilling stage work, his efforts this time around often seem strained in their attempts to drag Camelot into the 21st Century.

In its way, Camelot, at least as we’ve come to know it until now, is, in its stodgy and fitful way, a musical as emblematic of the 1960s as the more obvious generation-defining theatrical statements of the era (“Gimme a head with hair!”). Camelot, with its “might for right” social...

Slip into a pair of Bermuda shorts, pack your magical traveling bag, and get ready for an Arthurian adventure because we’re looking back on Disney’s The Sword in the Stone. For this final episode of Animation Movies Revisited, we’ll embark on a grand Arthurian adventure filled with valuable life lessons, prestidigitation, and one of the greatest wizard duels in cinema. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, The Sword in the Stone presents Mouseketeers with a film that nearly broke the studio, being the product of artist feuds and significant changes to the original story by T.H. White. Join us as we explore Camelot alongside some of Disney’s most extraordinary characters and relive the magic of the animated classic that teaches generations about the importance of a good education, how to embrace the unknown, and Darwinism!

Animation Movies Revisited is written and narrated by Steve Seigh and was edited by Jasmyn Evans-Samuels.

Bernard Cribbins, the beloved narrator of 1970s British children’s show “The Wombles” and actor on “Doctor Who,” has died. He was 93.

Variety confirmed Cribbins’ death with his agent on Thursday.

The actor’s career spanned seven decades, with memorable performances in the BBC’s iconic “Doctor Who” series, where Cribbins played the Doctor’s companion Tom Campbell in the 1966 film “Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.” He later returned to star in the revived TV show as Wilfrid Mott, the grandfather of actor Catherine Tate’s Donna. Cribbins played Mott from 2007 to 2010.

“Doctor Who” showrunner Russel T. Davies posted a heartfelt Instagram tribute to the veteran actor, saying, “I love this man. I love him.”

“He knew everyone! He’d talk about the Beatles and David Niven, and how he once sat on the stairs at a party impersonating bird calls with T H White. Then he’d add, ‘I...

The Lincoln Center Theater production of Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot with a new book by Aaron Sorkin will arrive on Broadway next spring rather than this fall, producers announced today.

Camelot, which will reteam Sorkin (who is writing the book based on the original Alan Jay Lerner book) with his To Kill A Mockingbird director Bartlett Sher, will now begin previews at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater on Thursday, March 9, 2023, with an official opening on Thursday, April 13, 2023.

The production previously had been set to begin performances this November. No reason was given for the rescheduling.

Based on The Once and Future King by T.H. White, Camelot, Lerner and Loewe’s 1960 follow up to their My Fair Lady, is, as described by the production, “a story about the quest for democracy, striving for justice, and the tragic struggle between passion and aspiration, between lovers and kingdoms.”

This musical features such characters as King Arthur,...

Aaron Sorkin has found his Broadway follow-up to To Kill A Mockingbird: The West Wing creator will pen a new book for the classic Lerner & Loewe musical Camelot.

The Lincoln Center Theater revival of the 1960 musical will reunite Sorkin and Mockingbird director Bartlett Sher, with previews set to begin at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater on Thursday, November 3, with an opening night of Thursday, December 8. Casting and design team will be announced later.

In announcing the project today, Lincoln Center Theater described “a new version of the classic tale” and said the musical will be “reimagined for the 21st century.” Sorkin’s new book will be based on the original by Alan Jay Lerner.

Camelot, based on T.H. White’s 1958 novel The Once and Future King, features an original score by Lerner and Frederick Loewe, including now-classic songs “If Ever I Would Leave You,” “What Do the Simple Folk Do?...

Image Source: Netflix

Sh*t is getting real in the second installment of the Fear Street trilogy, and Sarah Fier's case is one that would send even the Scooby gang running. Like a supernatural blast to the past, Fear Street Part Two: 1978 sees camp counselor Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd) and her younger sister Ziggy (Sadie Sink) fight off ax-wielding serial killer Tommy Slater (McCabe Slye), aka Cindy's boyfriend, who's been exposed to Sarah Fier's chilling curse. Fast-forward to the last few minutes of part two and we learn that C. Berman (Gillian Jacobs) - the Shadyside resident Deena turns to for help in Fear Street Part One: 1994 - isn't Cindy, as many fans predicted, but Ziggy, aka Catherine Berman. With the mystery of C. Berman's true identity solved, fans suspect that she might be hiding an even darker secret.

Is C. Berman Working With Sarah Fier?

As the only Shadyside...

The following contains spoilers for Netflix’s Cursed. Read our spoiler-free review of the series here.

While Netflix’s Cursed focuses primarily on the story of Nimue, a young girl with a magical gift and a dark destiny as the future Lady of the Lake, it asks its audience to engage with the traditional tropes of Arthurian legend in new and interesting ways.

Cursed’s Merlin may also feel a bit strange to viewers who are only familiar with the character as the legendary wizard from film adaptations like Disney’s The Sword in the Stone, or the famous T.H. White novel it’s based on, The Once and Future King. In these – and most other – retellings, Merlin is a figure of great power and wisdom. His magical abilities are substantial and he’s generally depicted as a sort of all-seeing sage, who engineers the birth of Arthur and the...

Netflix’s Cursed will (rightly) generate a lot of buzz for the way it injects a much-needed female perspective into the traditionally male world of Arthurian legend. The series gives a voice to a largely unexplored female character by focusing on the story of Fey girl Nimue, who is destined to one day become the Lady of the Lake. But in doing so, it also reimagines our understanding of Arthur himself, putting a fresh, new spin on a centuries-old figure.

The Arthur we first meet in Cursed isn’t exactly what you’d call once and future king material. A young mercenary for hire, initially he seems to be little more than a hustler looking out for his own ends. That this is a significant departure from the stories we generally know, to put it mildly.

Traditionally, Arthur is generally presented as the noblest of terms, either as a legendary...

A likable enough, Amblin-esque update to the classic Arthurian legend, “The Kid Who Would Be King” is hardly the first time a group of adolescents have saved England from supernatural harm in a Joe Cornish movie. That said, much of the attitude and originality that drew fans to the irreverent writer-director’s inner-city alien-invasion debut, “Attack the Block” — wherein underdog heroes faced off against fluorescent-fanged beasties from outer space — has gone missing from his eight-years-later second feature, which skews considerably younger and safer than that 2011 cult favorite.

Maybe that’s because the kid in question is bland 12-year-old Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis). Polite, white, and thoroughly unexceptional, Alex comes across as an average student in most respects, proving that chivalry is not dead by intervening when best friend Bedders (Dean Chaumoo) is hassled by classmates Kaye (Rhianna Dorris) and Lance (Tom Taylor), two bullies who would no doubt have...

Disney is continuing on with the live-action remakes. 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo will helm The Sword in the Stone, this time with human actors. The script was penned by Game of Thrones writer Bryan Cogman, and The Jungle Book's Brigham Taylor will also serve as a producer on Disney's latest take on the Arthurian legend. The movie has the potential to be one of the biggest live-action remakes, especially with the talent involved behind-the-scenes. There is no current release date set, but news is expected to drop soon.

The Hollywood Reporter announced that Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is in negotiations to helm The Sword in the Stone, Disney's live-action reimagining of the studio's 1963 animated fantasy. The movie was the last that the studio put out before the death of Walt Disney. Fresnadillo started in Hollywood with his production company in the late 1980s that made short films as well as commercials.

Disney's going to take a crack at Arthurian legend with their live-action version of The Sword in the Stone. The studio's 1963 Oscar-nominated animated feature was the last to be released before Walt Disney's death, and now it's but the latest in a long line of reboots, reimaginings, and reworkings of their existing titles. That film was a very lighthearted take on T.H. White's novel of the same name, itself a part of "The Once and Future King" collection. But as Disney's reported choice for a director suggests, the live-action …...

It’s Halloween time, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that you’ve heard some Edgar Allan Poe verse in the past few weeks. “The Raven,” most likely. If you had been alive during the time when Poe was still living, your chances of hearing “Once upon a midnight dreary…” would have been just as good.

“‘The Raven’ was a massive hit. [Poe] was a huge celebrity during the time ‘The Raven.’ Everybody knew ‘The Raven.’ People did parodies of ‘The Raven.’ Kids memorized it in school,” actor and literary superfan Denis O’Hare explained in a recent interview

In Eric Stange’s new PBS film “Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive,” O’Hare plays Poe in surreal, reimagined moments, performing the writers’ work to empty rooms and slinking through the streets of Poe’s eventual home city of Baltimore under cover of darkness.

Read More:Ken Burns,...

King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword opens in theaters May 12, 2017.

Acclaimed filmmaker Guy Ritchie brings his dynamic style to the epic fantasy action adventure. Starring Charlie Hunnam in the title role, the film is an iconoclastic take on the classic Excalibur myth, tracing Arthur’s journey from the streets to the throne.

When the child Arthur’s father is murdered, Vortigern (Jude Law), Arthur’s uncle, seizes the crown. Robbed of his birthright and with no idea who he truly is, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, his life is turned upside down and he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy…whether he likes it or not.

Starring with Hunnam (FX’s “Sons of Anarchy”) and Oscar nominee Law (“Cold Mountain,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley”) are Astrid Bergès-Frisbey (“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides...

Rob Leane Simon Brew Nov 1, 2016

Disney adds Snow White and Mulan to its list of live action takes on its animated features...

You’ve probably noticed the influx of live action fairytales gracing cinemas in recent years. This isn’t about to stop any time soon, since re-spinning a recognisable fantastical yarn with real people instead of animated ones always makes big money for the studio behind it.

See related Crazyhead episode 2 review: A Pine Fresh Scent Crazyhead episode 1 review: A Very Trippy Horse Buffy The Vampire Slayer: an episode roadmap for beginners Wolfblood: Buffy for the Cbbc generation

This process has become so popular that there are currently more of these live action fairytales in production than Marvel Studios, DC Entertainment or Star Wars movies. That’s a lot of films.

We've recently learned that two movies based on or around Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs are now in development at Disney.

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When to expect all the upcoming live action fairytale movies, including Dumbo, Beauty And The Beast and two Jungle Books…

You’ve probably noticed the influx of live action fairytales gracing cinemas in recent years. This isn’t about to stop any time soon, since re-spinning a recognisable fantastical yarn with real people instead of animated ones always makes big money for the studio behind it.

This process has become so popular that there are currently more of these live action fairytales in production than Marvel Studios, DC Entertainment or Star Wars movies. That’s a lot of films. (A whopping 21 by our count.)

Although it wadsn’t the first movie of this kind, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland – and its worldwide gross of over a billion dollars – can surely take the credit for kick-starting this trend. Here are all the in-development movies trying to repeat its success,...

Disney has added yet another beloved cartoon classic to its roster of upcoming live-action remakes: The Sword in the Stone.

Variety reports that Game of Thrones writer Bryan Cogman will pen the updated take on the 1963 film. Originally written by Bill Peet — and based on T. H. White's book of the same name — The Sword in the Stone told King Arthur's fictionalized origin story as an orphan who proves himself worthy of royalty as he does the impossible by pulling a sword from a stone.

Cogman has written seven...

What's old is new again. Walt Disney Studios is reportedly developing yet another live-action remake of one of its animated classics. The Hollywood Reporter revealed Monday that Bryan Cogman, a writer-producer on HBO's Game of Thrones, has been hired to write a script for a live-action version of The Sword in the Stone. The movie is loosely based on the T.H. White's novel of the same name. It tells the story of a 12-year-old orphan named Arthur, who befriends a wizard named Merlin. After the King of England dies, leaving no heir to the throne, a sword appears inside an anvil. It bears an inscription that says whoever removes it will be the new king. No one is able to remove the sword, and eventually, it...

In an unlikely mashup, Disney flick "The Sword in the Stone" is getting a facelift courtesy of "Game of Thrones": Bryan Cogman, a writer and producer for the hit HBO show, is set to pen the screenplay for a live-action remake of the animated classic.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cogman will work with Disney and producer Brigham Taylor (who's also producing the live-action "Jungle Book" remake) on the project, which is in the early development stages. Cogman himself also commented on the news on Twitter, sharing his elation and revealing that he's already very familiar with the source material.

"I have cherished both the novel and 1963 film since childhood," Cogman wrote, referencing the movie and the T.H. White book of the same name on which it's based. "Hugely excited and honored to be working on this."

The writer also shared a snap of himself attempting to pull a...

Another day, another remake. Another Disney live-action remake. This time it's Sword in the Stone, the original animated 1963 movie about King Arthur. The film is based on T.H. White's book of the same name, which is part of his series The Once and Future King, about King Arthur. The new feature will draw from the book as well, and Disney has hired Bryan Cogman, a writer-producer on HBO's "Game of Thrones", to write the script. This is yet another project from Disney taking one of their familiar animated movies and making it live-action, because why not - from Cinderella to The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Fantasia) to Beauty and the Beast (coming up). Below are two great tweets that nicely sum up our initial reaction to this news. Seriously, though, a quarter of the Disney animated canon have been made into or are being developed as live-action films.— Josh Spiegel (@mousterpiece) July 20, 2015 Oooh,...

If you’ve been disappointed that your favourite Disney animated adventure hasn’t yet been lined up as a potential live-action film, all you really need to do is wait. Because at the rate the studio is going, all of them will be in the works within a few months. The latest addition to the list is 1963’s The Sword In The Stone. That original was loosely based on T. H. White’s novel, which became a part of the multi-book Arthurian series The Once And Future King. While Sword focuses on Arthur’s youth, the books follow his rise to power and his struggles with ruling the isle of Gramarye, trying to prove that chivalry can be just as effective as force, but ultimately realising that even he needs to use might to maintain order. Game Of Thrones writer-producer Bryan Cogman is on board to script the new version,...

Less than a week after Disney announced a live-action version of Aladdin, The Hollywood Reporter reveals the studio is also developing a live-action remake of The Sword in the Stone. Disney has hired Bryan Cogman, a writer and producer on HBO's Game of Thrones, to write the screenplay. Brigham Taylor, a former Disney production executive, is serving as a producer on the project.

The original animated movie The Sword in the Stone was released in 1963, the studio's last animated movie to debut before the death of Walt Disney himself in 1966. The story is loosely inspired by T.H. White's novel of the same name, which was later added into his multi-book King Arthur series The Once and Future King. The plot centers on a young King Arthur who begins training with the wizard Merlin, leading to Arthur pulling the enchanted sword from the stone to become the king of England.

Disney's bet on live action versions of their animated classics paid off with Kenneth Branagh's "Cinderella." Now the studio is developing "The Sword in the Stone," adding to a roster of live-action remakes that includes "Pinocchio," written by Paul Thomas Anderson, as well as "Mulan," "Beauty and the Beast" (bowing March 17, 2017) and "Winnie the Pooh." Variety reports that Disney vet Brigham Taylor, who oversaw the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, will produce Cogman's script, which awaits a director. The 1963 original, about King Arthur as a boy, was partly based on T.H. White's wonderful must-read novel, one in a series of Arthurian fantasies titled "The Once and Future King." (Which in turn is based on Sir Thomas Mallory's classic "Le Mort d'Arthur.") Cogman contributed two scripts to season 5 of "Game of Thrones," which George Rr Martin will not be returning to next...

Disney is continuing its quest to seemingly remake all of its animated movies into live-action features with the announcement today of a new take on the 1963 animated fantasy "The Sword in the Stone".

Loosely based on the T.H. White's novel of the same name and part of White's multi-book series "The Once and Future King," 'Stone' follows a young King Arthur who is being mentored by Merlin.

"Game of Thrones" writer-producer Brian Cogman has been set to pen the script for the film which Brigham Taylor will produce. Taylor is also attached to the Jon Favreau-directed remake of "The Jungle Book" at the studio.

Source: Heat Vision...

Today in 1980, the first Broadway revival of Camelot opened at the New York State Theatre, where it ran for 56 performances. Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner book and lyrics and Frederick Loewe music. It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King. The original 1960 production, directed by Moss Hart and orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang, ran on Broadway for 873 performances, winning four Tony Awards and spawning several revivals, foreign productions and a 1967 film version. The 1980 cast starred Richard Burton, Christine Ebersole, and Richard Muenz.

Today in 1993, the second Broadway revival of Camelot opened at the George Gershwin Theatre, where it ran for 56 performances. Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner book and lyrics and Frederick Loewe music. It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King. The original 1960 production, directed by Moss Hart and orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang, ran on Broadway for 873 performances, winning four Tony Awards and spawning several revivals, foreign productions and a 1967 film version. The 1993 cast starred Robert Goulet, Steve Blanchard, and Patricia Kies.

T.H. White’s Arthurian fantasy classic will air as a six-part radio drama on BBC R4 this November…

Following on from its Dangerous Visions sci-fi season, and before this December’s Good Omens adaptation, the BBC Radio 4 drama department is serving up yet more glorious geek fare in the form of a six-part dramatisation of T.H White’s The Once And Future King.

White’s tetralogy of books, largely written in the early Second World War though first published collectively in 1958, tells the legend of Arthur’s apprenticeship to wizard Merlyn as a young boy, the inception of the Round Table at Camelot and King Arthur’s struggles as ruler, dealings with Morgause and Mordred, and the relationship between Queen Guenever and Sir Lancelot.

As well as wry humour and action romps, a thread of political debate over the philosophy that “might is right” runs throughout White’s book,...

The X-Men movies are important. They make a lot of money and they helped create Superhero-Era Hollywood and they incepted a certain kind of lucrative career arc in the heads of a generation of young actors. (Do the franchise, take the money, spend a year on greenscreens and the press circuit pretending you understand anything that’s happening, try for the Oscar, repeat.)

And the X-Men movies are important to me. I grew up loving superhero comic books and I grew up loving movies. These two fascinations were not mutually exclusive; but now, more and more, they feel diametrically opposed.

By Todd Garbarini

Walt Disney’s The Sword in the Stone, which opened on Wednesday, December 25, 1963, may not be all that familiar to young viewers unless they grew up seeing it on VHS in the 1990s or on its maiden DVD release five years ago. I first saw it in January 1973 during a re-release and again in elementary school in the all-purpose room on 16mm in 1975, which was a real treat as it was rare to see a feature-length film in school (the obvious exception being Charlotte’s Web (1973) which was de rigueur for elementary school students.) Having just viewed the new 50th anniversary Blu-ray, I was shocked to realize just how little of the film I had remembered other than the jousting sequence.

Based upon the 1938 novel by Terence Hanbury White, who passed away some 24 days after the film’s release, The Sword in the Stone concerns the death of King Pendragon,...

Anyone familiar with “The Sword in the Stone,” the 1963 Walt Disney animated feature (the last one released before Walt’s untimely death) based on the T.H. White novel, knows that it begins with a storybook opening, accompanied by a wonderful Sherman Brothers song recounting the turbulent recent history of very old England, and the legend of the miraculous sword in the stone (“Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England,” ya dig). We are then introduced to Merlin (Karl Swenson), who is more annoyed by the Dark Ages than anything else. But originally, there was a very different opening to the animated classic, one that is finally being revealed thanks to the new Blu-ray release. In this new opening, courtesy of USA Today, we are immediately introduced to Madam Mim, the powerful witch and main villain of “The Sword in the Stone.

Feature Kirsten Caspers Feb 13, 2013

Kirsten appeals to Merlin's creators, arguing that the BBC fantasy show deserves a film or television revival...

Contains spoilers for the Merlin series 5 finale.

Normally, I’m not a TV kind of person. I prefer books, and the longer the better! True storytelling is what I love, and in a time where narrative culture is more and more determined by the length of a Twitter message, the spinning of a grand old-fashioned tale has become a rare thing on television. Such a rare exception was the BBC series Merlin – until it was announced late in 2012 that the show wouldn’t be continued after the end of series five. When I read that in an interview, my first thought was that it seemed quite a daunting task, if not even an impossible one, to tie up all the loose threads that were glaringly left hanging about...

The Sword in the Stone

Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman

Written by Bill Peet

Starring Rickie Sorenson, Richard Reitherman, Robert Reitherman, Karl Swenson, Junius Matthews

How important is fidelity in a movie adaptation? And, more to the point, do you need to be familiar with the source material for a movie to get more enjoyment out of that film? I’ve considered these questions with previous movies covered on the show, and my overall opinion remains the same. A movie is a movie, and a book is a book (or play, or musical, or what have you). I wouldn’t say “never the twain shall meet,” but frankly, one story can and should be able to work in various media. Though it doesn’t often happen, we’ll sometimes see movies that are better than the books they’re based on. All too frequently, we find the cinematic adaptation is a letdown.

…and they became intertwined in the same story. Along with Grimm, the other notable fairy tale/fantasy on TV had a busy day of casting, with a lot more notable roles.

EW reports that Brit Julian Morris (above) of Pretty Little Liars (he’s not one of the liars I don’t think) will play Prince Phillip, or the man looking to wake up Sleeping Beauty. His character is described thusly: “…as a man who’s traveled from a kingdom that’s in decline. He’s described as a young, skilled warrior and selfless hero who’s the veteran of many tough journeys.” He will play opposite Sarah Bolger (The Tudors), who plays Princess Aurora.

Teen Wolf’s Sinqua Walls (below) has been cast as Sir Lancelot and has been booked for one episode, according to THR. He “will be introduced as a one-time member of King Arthur’s Round Table who has been expelled.

Camelot hardly needs any introduction at this point, unless it’s aimed at those who have to this point dismissed the classic status of the musical, but I’m going to give it one anyway. Built from the Lerner and Loewe production, and now celebrating its 45th Anniversary, it is one of the best musicals to ever grace the big screen. Somewhat surprisingly, among musicals (and classics for that matter) it actually holds up rather well insofar as its ability to engage new audiences.

The story of King Arthur, specifically with “The Once and Future King” as inspiration (and it makes a difference), has rarely been so passionately put forward, and Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, and Franco Nero give performances that are themselves the stuff of legends.

The second to last directorial work of Joshua Logan (Paint Your Wagon, South Pacific, Bus Stop), Camelot shows his obvious hand when it...

Camelot -- the musical classic based on the Tony Award-winning stage production from Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (Gigi, My Fair Lady) will celebrate its 45th anniversary this year with a newly remastered Blu-ray version, debuting April 24 from Warner Home Video.

Based on T.H. White's "The Once and Future King," this lavish film adaptation recalls a fleeting, mythical time of love and chivalry -- the reign of King Arthur and the Knights of The Round Table. Although torn apart by the conflicts between passion, love, honor and duty, it was a golden era that could have been ... and could yet be. Richard Harris (Harry Potter 1 and 2, Unforgiven) stars as King Arthur, with Vanessa Redgrave (Coriolanus, Letters to Juliet) opposite him as Queen Guinevere and Franco Nero, Redgrave's current husband (Die Hard 2) as Lancelot. Joshua Logan directed and Jack L. Warner produced.

Winner of three 1968 Academy Awards (Best Adaptation Scoring,...

The saga of King Arthur and his round furniture-loving knights has been done to death — so it’s no surprise that Starz’s new series, Camelot, changes a few key details in an attempt to inject new life into the story. While some of those tweaks are welcome (hello, Joseph Fiennes as a badass, baldheaded Merlin) others might end up rubbing Arthurites the wrong way. Here are the four main ways Camelot switches things up:

– The young Arthur himself is usually portrayed as a humble misfit — T.H. White nicknames the kid “Wart,” for Galahad’s sake. But the first time we see Camelot’s Arthur,...

Apparently, Hollywood thinks American wants an adventure in a desert. Thursday (May 27) saw the opening of "Sex and the City 2" (most of which takes place in Abu Dhabi), and today sees the release of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," which also spends most of its time in the middle of the desert. The latter (perhaps best thought of as a male counterpart to "Sex and the City 2") casts Jake Gyllenhaal as the heroic Dastan, a heroic character who must battle his evil adopted uncle Nizam (played by Ben Kingsley). It's based on a hugely popular and innovative video game series, so the flick features plenty of jumpy action and pretty-looking stunts.

For that kind of adrenaline rush, you should really prepare yourself with a batch of film-appropriate tunes. That's why we've put together the video playlist below, which brings together one of the best songs ever...

Just two days ago, I brought you the rundown of what filmmakers were dusting off their Tennyson, Le Morte d'Arthur, T.H. White and John Boorman and heading back to that spot that was once known as Camelot. One of them is now officially official, as Variety reports that Guy Ritchie is attached to direct a new King Arthur film for Warner Bros. But instead of the Warren Ellis script that was being bandied around, Variety says it'll be scripted by Ritchie and John Hodge.

Beyond that, there's as little to go on as there was in the scraps of my previous Arthurian article. Variety notes that it will be a "re-imagining" of the Arthur myth, but that it's drawing on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d' Arthur. This 15th century collection of tales has been the basis of just about every Arthur story to date, including John Boorman's Excalibur.

As many children educated in the American public school system, most of my required reading was supplemented with any film adaptation my teacher could get his/her hands on. So when I read T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, of course I remember watching John Boorman’s Excalibur as well. That story will always hold a dear place in my heart, so I was stoked to learn that Bryan Singer would have a hand in bringing it back to the big screen.

Read more on Guy Ritchie considering Excalibur film for Warner Bros….

'Tis the season for jaunty holiday soirees, which naturally got me inspired to create some new iPod playlists. One that I'm particularly happy with is called "Cocktail Hour," a hodge-podge of dance-club classics, electronic oddities, and underrated diva tracks that's festively upbeat, yet not so propulsive that inebriated guests will be threatening to push my kitchen table against the wall in an effort to get their boogie on. After the jump you'll find my 21-song party-starter (best played in "shuffle" mode). Once you're done reading, post your own recent playlist creations, be they for hosting get-togethers, surviving the treadmill, commuting to the office,...