QUEST FOR CAMELOT

(Redirected from Quest For Camelot)
:''"The Magic Sword" redirects here. For other uses, see Magic sword (disambiguation)''.
'''Quest for Camelot''' is an animated feature from Warner Bros. Animation, released in 1998. It was retitled '''The Magic Sword''' in Asia and '''The Magic Sword: Quest for Camelot''' in the UK. In France, the movie was titled '''Excalibur l'épée magique''' what can be translated '''Excalibur the magic sword'''. It is based off the novel ''The King's Damsel'' by Vera Chapman. It won the 1999 Golden Globe for Best Original Song - Motion Picture and was nominated for 5 other awards, despite not being considered a commercial and/or critical success.
The movie is about a young girl named Kayley who wants to be a knight of the Round Table in Camelot like her father, Sir Lionel, a blind man named Garrett who wishes only to be left alone, and their quest to find Excalibur.

Contents

Synopsis

Characters

Reception

Trivia

Soundtrack

External links

Synopsis

Kayley's father, Sir Lionel, is one of the knights of the Round Table. Kayley wants to be a knight like her father and save Camelot. Tragically, Lionel is killed by the evil Baron Ruber, who wants to become king of Camelot instead of King Arthur, and misses the old days when Camelot was full of chaos, danger, and fear, wishing to return Camelot to those ways once he's king. Ruber attacks Arthur, but Lionel takes the blow for the king, and is killed. Ruber flees Camelot after being beaten back by Excalibur. After Sir Lionel's funeral, Arthur tells Lady Juliana, Lionel's widow, that she and Kayley will always be welcome in Camelot.
After ten years, Ruber's griffin attacks Camelot, injures King Arthur, and steals Excalibur. Merlin's falcon Ayden attacks the griffin and the sword falls down into the Forbidden Forest. A horn is sounded signaling across the country that Excalibur has been stolen. Meanwhile, Ruber goes to Kayley's home, holds everyone hostage and uses a dark magic formula he got from some witches to create steel warriors out of his human henchmen (and Bladebeak) combined with the selected weapons (maces, crossbows, flails, axes, etc.). He then takes over the village and captures Juliana, Kayley's mother. He plans to use her in order to gain entrance into Camelot. Ruber's griffin tells him that Ayden caused him to drop Excaliber into the forbidden forest and Ruber gets mad even when Kayley escapes from his clutches.
Kayley runs away to escape the warriors and finds herself in the Forbidden Forest. Determined to find Excalibur, she winds up falling down a trap and meets Garrett, a blind hermit, and Ayden, his falcon friend. Kayley convinces him to help her find Excalibur with her. She then learns about Garret's past: he was once a young stable boy in Camelot. The stable caught fire and he was rescuing the horses when one of them hit his head; the result made him blind. Yet Kayley's father still believed in Garrett and taught him to adapt.
They travel to Dragon Country and meet the funny two-headed dragon named Devon and Cornwall. Devon and Cornwall don't like each other, can't breathe fire or fly (which is why they are bullied by other dragons), and both want to be individual dragons. After escaping the dragons and Ruber and his men, Devon and Cornwall decide to join to the group after they broke the dragon code of helping humans. Garrett reluctantly agrees after Kayley manages to convince him.
Later, they discover that Excalibur is no longer where the griffin dropped it. Kayley is distressed and babbles on while Garrett warns her to be quiet. Because she is talking, he cannot hear the approach of Ruber and his cronies, one of whom shoots Garrett in the side with an arrow and injures him. Kayley drags Garrett away as the thorn bushes grab Ruber and his men and hold them captive.
Juliana worries about Kayley as Kayley drags the fainting Garrett into a small cave. She apologizes profusely as he lays there, but he tells her it's all right, and they realize that they've fallen in love as Garrett is healed by magical forest plants.
Later, the group goes into a dark cave. In the cave lives a giant, rocky, ogre who holds the sword Excalibur, and is currently using it as a toothpick. Kayley succeeds in getting the sword, but she and Garrett get stuck in the way and Devon and Cornwall have to save them.
When they arrive in Camelot, Kayley wants Garrett to go with her, but Garrett refuses. After he leaves, Ruber returns and steals the sword from Kayley as she is grabbed by the minion with the flail arms. Devon and Cornwall, who see what's happening, run to Garrett for help, finally convincing Garrett to go save Kayley. By working together for the first time, Devon and Cornwall are able to fly and breathe fire.
Meanwhile, Kayley meets her mother and tries to escape from her ropes. Bladebeak releases her and she runs to find Ruber. Garrett finds Kayley and they go to King Arthur's castle.
In the castle, Ruber meets King Arthur and tries to kill him. Kayley and Garrett stop him and trick Ruber into returning Excalibur to its stone. A blue wave strikes Camelot. It turn the mechanical men back to normal (including Bladebeak) and destroys Ruber.
After Ruber dies, King Arthur pulls Excalibur from its stone, Kayley and Garrett get married and become knights of the round table. The movie ends with the happy couple riding a horse with a sign saying: "Just Knighted"

Characters

★ 'Kayley' (Jessalyn Gilsig, singing voice by Andrea Corr) - The young girl who becomes a knight of the round table. She was born the day King Arthur pulled Excalibur out of the stone. She is resourceful, and headstrong almost to the point of foolishness, but very brave. Although she does have a tendency to speak before she thinks. She is a very impulsive character with a heart of gold.

★ 'Garrett' (Cary Elwes, singing voice by Bryan White) - He was blinded after an accident in the stables during a fire, and Kayley's father was the only one who believed in him. After the death of Sir Lionel, he abandoned society and went to live in the Forbidden Forest with only Ayden for company. After meeting Kayley he learns to trust others....and himself.

★ 'Ayden' (Frank Welker) - Merlin's pet falcon with silver wings, he works with Garrett and uses his maneuver-ability to out-wing the larger Griffin.

★ 'Griffin' (Bronson Pinchot) - Ruber's pet griffin. Is surprisingly well-mannered for a terrifying mythological beast.

★ 'Sir Lionel' (Gabriel Byrne) - Kayley's father, he is murdered by Baron Ruber during the knights battle with him. He was King Arthur's most trusted knight.

★ 'Juliana' (Jane Seymour, singing voice by Céline Dion) - Kayley's mother and the wife of Sir Lionel.

★ 'Baron Ruber' (Gary Oldman) - The fallen Knight of the Round Table, he wants to own Excalibur and to be the king of England. Appears to have a thing for Juliana, as well as an eye twich. Is exceptionally strong, taking on a dragon in hand-to-hand combat, and winning.

★ 'Devon & Cornwall' (Don Rickles as Cornwall and Eric Idle as Devon) - A two-headed dragon, they cannot fly or breathe fire, but when Kayley needs them most, they learn they can do anything if they work together.

★ 'Bladebeak' (Jaleel White) - A strange mixture of one of Juliana's chickens and an axe created by Ruber.

★ 'King Arthur' (Pierce Brosnan, singing voice by Steve Perry) - The king of England, who resides in Camelot, he is wounded towards the beginning of the movie and healed near the end.

★ 'Merlin' (John Gielgud) - King Arthur's wizard who sends Ayden to retrieve Excalibur.

Reception

This movie received mostly negative reviews. It was criticized for being too bland and mostly a Disney-type rip-off movie. At the box-office, this movie did poorly. Making $6,041,602 on its opening weekend, the film made $22,717,758 during its theatrical run (on a $40 million budget), it was largely overshawdowed by the release of Disney's ''Mulan'' (although ''Mulan'' was a box office bomb in China).
Nonetheless, the soundtrack is quite well-known due to the celebrity vocals present on it, such as Celine Dion singing "The Prayer", LeAnn Rimes singing her single version of the movie's romantic duet, "Looking Through Your Eyes", The Corrs singing "On my Father's wings", "Looking through your eyes" with Steve Perry adding "I Stand Alone", which is also featured on his "Greatest Hits + 5 Unreleased" album.

Trivia

★ When Devon and Cornwall sing "If I Didn't Have You", they dress up as famous people like Elvis Presley and "Sonny and Cher". Cornwall also dons a mask similar to that of the Phantom of the Opera.

★ The film is one of Abigail Breslin's favourite.

★ In that same song, Cornwall sings the lines "'Cause I would be the dragon king" and Devon holds up baby Cornwall on a cliff. The scene is a reference to "Lion King" In another scene, when Devon says "I'd be a fire-breathing lizard," he temporarily transforms into Godzilla.

★ Also in Devon and Cornwall's song, Devon sings that if Cornwall did not exist, he would "cease to be." This is a line from the famous parrot sketch of Monty Python fame. Devon is voiced by Eric Idle, a member of Monty Python.

★ When Devon and Cornwall burned the Griffin, the theme song of the movie "Superman" (1978) is played.

★ Gabriel Byrne (Lionel) played King Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, in the earlier movie ''Excalibur'' (1981).

★ Pierce Brosnan, who provides King Arthur's voice, was the fifth official cinematic James Bond. Sean Connery, the first such Bond, played King Arthur in ''First Knight'' (1995).

★ Cornwall, the name of a dragon, is also the name of the region of England where King Arthur was supposedly born.

★ The two headed dragon, Devon and Cornwall, are named after counties in southwestern England.

★ Sir Lionel is an actual Knight of the Round Table. The name "Garett" is similar to "Gareth", who is also an actual knight (though not blind), the brother of Sir Gawain, Sir Agravain, Sir Gaheris, and according to some versions, Sir Mordred.

★ When Ruber is holding the green potion, it reads "Acme".

★ Bladebeak quotes from both ''Taxi Driver'' and ''Dirty Harry''.

★ During Devon and Cornwall's song, Cornwall dances with Red from the cartoon Red Hot Riding Hood.

★ There is a scene during Devon and Cornwall's song which is a reference to the "Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner" cartoons.

★ When tracking the ogre, the comrades discover several bones left behind, one of them chiefly being a dragon skull. Devon picks it up and says, "Poor Yoric; I knew him well." This is a famous line from Hamlet.
''See also List of films based on Arthurian legend''

Soundtrack

Main articles: Quest for Camelot: Music from the Motion Picture

External links

★ Official Website

★ Kayley's page at the animated heroines

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