Walt Disney Productions
Starring: Karl Swenson, Rickie Sorensen, Martha Wentworth
Directed by: Wolfgang Reitherman

Synopsis: The animated tale of young King Arthur when he was known simply as Wart (voiced by Rickie Sorensen) and his mentoring by the Wizard Merlin (voiced by Karl Swenson) who knows the boy is destined for greatness.

Cartoon Cat: This underrated Disney film includes a fascinating sequence in which Merlin battles an evil female witch named Madame Mim during a duel in which they change into various animals.  The setup for this scene comes when Merlin changes Wart into a bird and Archimedes, Merlin’s owl companion, endeavors to teach Wart how to fly.  Wart is threatened by a hawk and flies into the forest, ending up in the cottage of Madame Mim.

When Mim realizes that Merlin must have a special interest in the boy for something good she announces she must destroy him, but makes a game out of it by changing into a cat.

Mim chases Wart around the cottage as a cat for a while before finally catching him.  This is when Merlin bursts in and the magicians challenge one another to a wizarding duel.

Final Mewsings: Who wouldn’t change themselves into a cat if they could?

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