Hi everyone! First off, I want to say that I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving last weekend. Second, for those of you who had been following my blog as of earlier this year, you know how one of my reviews was for a non-Disney film by the name of The Swan Princess, which was released back in 1994? Well, tonight, we review yet another one of the “Disney knock-offs” (again, a group of non-Disney films that were released back in the 1990s, when the Disney Renaissance occurred). This time around, we are going to talk about one that, unlike The Swan Princess, did not become popular enough to spawn a franchise of sequels, and ended up just being a standalone film as a result. Also, on a side note, this film, along with Paulie, and The Horse Whisperer (all three of of which came out back in 1998) were some my most anticipated films to either watch for the first time, or rewatch for the first time in a long while. Released by Warner Bros. back in 1998, the movie is Quest For Camelot. Now, before we talk about the plot, and any positives, or negatives about Quest For Camelot, I have a mini story to tell in regards to this film. For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you may recall that I posted a picture of my VHS copy of the movie, and wished Quest For Camelot, along with Touchstone Pictures The Horse Whisperer, a happy 22nd anniversary, yes? That is especially because of the fact that a newer Warner Bros. animated film by the name of Scoob had come out on the same day that both films would turn twenty-two years old, May 15th. Well, because of this, I had originally planned to especially see Quest For Camelot again sometime between May, and July. However, long story short, I got caught up in in watching all of the James Bond movies due to the newest film being announced to come out soon (now set for April of next year). Along the way, however, I came up with an idea. Since both Sean Connery, and Pierce Brosnan played James Bond at different points in the film series, as well as play the role of King Arthur in First Knight, and Quest For Camelot respectively, why not make First Knight my 400th review, rewatch, and review Quest For Camelot shortly after that, as well as try to finally see, and review The Horse Whisperer shortly before then as well? Well, fast forward to towards the end of this year, and here we are with me finally seeing The Horse Whisperer, as well rewatching First Knight, and Quest For Camelot before 2020 officially comes to a close. Anyway, let’s move on!
Plot: A young female teenager named Kayley (Jessalyn Gilsig for speaking, and Andrea Corr for singing) dreams of becoming a Knight after seeing that her late father, Sir Lionel (Gabriel Byrne) was one, as well as heard of the good ideals that Camelot, and it’s citizens stand for. She may yet have her chance when the legendary sword, Excalibur gets stolen, is lost in a place called the Forbidden Forest along the way, as well as the fact that Ruber (Gary Oldman), a former Knight of Camelot, who was exiled after attempting to assassinate Camelot’s King Arthur (Pierce Brosnan speaking, Steve Perry singing) ten years before, returns from banishment with an army, hell-bent on claiming Excalibur for themselves, overthrowing Arthur, and claiming the kingdom of Camelot for themselves. With the help of new friends, such as a blind squire named Garrett (Cary Elwes speaking, Bryan White singing), a silver-winged falcon named Ayden (Frank Welker), and a two-headed dragon named Devon and Cornwall (Eric Idle, and Don Rickles play both the speaking and vocal roles for this comedic duo), can they, together, overcome all odds to save Excalibur, and save Camelot before Ruber, and his new army carry out their diabolical scheme?
Now, before we get into the meat of this review, I have an additional story to tell. I can surprisingly still vividly recall the very first time that I saw the teaser trailer for Quest For Camelot. What happened was my Mom, and I at least saw The Little Mermaid back when that was re-released in theaters back in November 1997 (six months before Quest For Camelot would be released in May of the following year). Anyway, when we saw that movie, a couple of the trailers that we saw were for A Bug’s Life (which was also a first time that we saw that trailer), Quest For Camelot, and a couple other movies. I can also recall a lot of things from the Quest For Camelot trailer, such as the drums beating during the intro of the song, “United We Stand,” a Griffin flying away from Camelot with Excalibur, with fiery arrows on his tail, as well as bits of the film’s other songs playing, like “On My Father’s Wings,” “If I Didn’t Have You,” Looking Through Your Eyes,” & “I Stand Alone.” After first seeing the trailer, I have to confess that, unlike a lot of people, strangely enough, I was very hyped for this film. I say unlike a lot of people, since the film seemed to only gross a domestic gross of $22-23 million in the US, and Canada, and a total of around $38-39 million worldwide, which seems to prove that not many other people were stoked about this movie. Anyway, my family, and I finally saw it when it came out in May 1998. I have to admit that after first seeing it in theaters, and then several times on video months later, I really loved this film. Heck, I also recall rewatching this film again back in the spring of 2004, if I recall correctly, during my last year of homeschooling, when my Mom, and I read about Stonehenge (which was the place where the Sword Excalibur was pulled from IN THE MOVIE), and learning about cities in England called Devon and Cornwall. It made me want to rewatch Quest For Camelot again.
Now, I have finally rewatched Quest For Camelot again as of recently. I’ll be honest, I am still surprised with the mostly positive outcome. Why I say mostly positive outcome, you may ask? Well, because Quest For Camelot does seem to fall short in a couple areas. First off, while most of the acting is good, the one actor who could have improved was Gary Oldman, who played Ruber. Okay, allow me to clarify! He wasn’t exactly a bad actor, but he could have most definitely improved. I mean when you compare Oldman to say Ben Cross, who played Malagant in 1995’s First Knight, there’s no doubt that Gary Oldman could have maybe taken some acting lessons from him. Seeing as not a lot of people seemed to like Gary Oldman’s acting for this film, or the live-action Lost In Space (which was released in the same year as this one), at least his acting most definitely improved over the years, as evidenced when he would return to voice a peacock villain named Lord Shen in 2011’s Kung Fu Panda 2. Not to mention that Ruber’s sidekick Griffin, who could be very much like say Maleficent’s raven in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, but much more menacing, and multi-dimensional, could possibly serve as a better villain, than Ruber himself. Yeah, when people may find themselves liking the villain sidekicks more than the villain him/herself, that might be a bit of a problem, yes? Anyhow, the other flaw was that some of the CGI could have blended better with the animation of this film. This especially is true when you compare the CGI of Ruber’s mechanical army to say the ogre that was made of rock, and stone in this film. Just comes to show that some of the animation in this movie might have been a little ahead of it’s time.
Other than those aspects, Warner Bros. Quest For Camelot is most definitely better than many people seem to give it credit for. In fact, when compared to most of the other non-Disney cartoons that came out at least in the early 1990s, like Rock-A-Doodle, Pebble & The Penguin, or even Swan Princess, all of which were lucky enough to make around $5-10 million, if not lower, Quest For Camelot seems to miraculously stand out on it’s own. Sure, it’s not quite Prince Of Egypt, Anastasia, or Iron Giant good, per se, but still. Anyway, one of the benefits of Quest For Camelot is that even if Quest For Camelot does seem to share similarities to 1995’s First Knight, such as both movies having a villain that used to be a Knight in Camelot, and a male protagonist that had a tragic story, for instance, there are some areas where this film can go newer. For instance, having a female dream of being a Knight, that may have been inaccurate to what life was actually like in England during the Middle Ages. Still, it does sound like an interesting new concept, wouldn’t you say? Anyway, the animation is also very good too. Granted, it may not be Disney, or even Dreamworks quality great, but even so. Now, about the comedic relief characters like Devon & Cornwall. Are they as memorable as say certain side characters from certain well-known Disney films? Not quite! Still, this movie gives them some very hilarious lines of their own. Also, there’s this comedic villain sidekick named Bladebeak, who’s played by Jaleel White. If you liked say Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove, chances are you’ll also come to love, and adore Bladebeak as well. He has some very entertaining moments too. This movie, as a whole, is also very funny at unexpected moments. Overall, the side characters, especially Devon and Cornwall, should be given more credit than they’ve seemed to have gotten over the past twenty plus years. Oh, and let’s take a moment to talk about some of the non-talking animals. Even if some of them don’t speak, they do an excellent job of expressing emotion, while also acting realistic in an animated film like this one as well. Now, about the characters overall, they are all very well-developed too. Our main characters, Kayley, and Garrett especially grow, and mature as characters as this story progresses. Not only that, but people may find Garrett’s blindness to be a very interesting element for this film. Same may go for Kayley’s determination to not give up on her dreams as well. People may also like the relationship with Kayley, and Garrett. It works unbelievably. Oh, and as you watch this film, and see what kinds of things that Garrett is able to do with his blindness, that can spark some intriguing discussions about what blind people can surprisingly do despite their blindness. As for the songs, like the ones that I mentioned earlier, a good majority of them, even if they may not be remembered by many, most of them all stand out on their own too, like “On My Father’s Wings,” “The Prayer,” and songs like those. The only one that was just okay was the villain song, “Ruber.” Finally, the movie teaches a couple very good lessons. First off, there’s the lesson about how people with disabilities should not let their setbacks keep them from achieving their goals in the end. The other lesson is that even if certain leaders, or places that are set on good ideals may be destroyed, those ideals are most likely to live on. Oh, and it’s great to have the idea of the Sword Excalibur representing all that is good, and right in the world.
And that’s my review for 1998’s Quest For Camelot. Sure, it may not be up there with movies like First Knight, or excellent non-Disney animated films like Anastasia, The Prince Of Egypt, or The Iron Giant. Still, because of this movie getting overshadowed by movies such as The Horse Whisperer, and Mulan later on, Quest seemed to unfavorably be compared to movies like those. Not to mention that the dislikes seemed to outweigh the likes for this film from the general public. It’s sad that this movie doesn’t seem to be talked about all that much because of that. Overall, if you want to watch an animated film that is most likely superior to non-Disney films from the 1990’s like Rock-A-Doodle, or The Swan Princess, or even mediocre Disney movies from the 2000s, like Home On The Range, Chicken Little, or possibly even Brother Bear (although that one has quite a few good things in it too), then that’s all the more reason to check our Quest For Camelot. Also, even if you saw this film as a kid, and didn’t like it, I’d say that this is one of those times that you should give it another chance as an adult. You may yet find yourself appreciating it more as an adult than you might have as a kid. Well, definitely try to see Quest For Camelot either for the first time ever, or the first time in a long while. It’s most certainly worth seeing.
Final Grade: A-
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 