Quest for Camelot

[albinotanuki]

I wrote a small review on the movie and why I liked it as a kid on TGWTG. Here's what I wrote (some of the content censored for this board's sake):

Most people whenever you talk to them about the movie Quest for Camelot, its normal to get a response of "Oh yeah, that stupid movie.". However, there'll be the rare instance that you'll find someone who will genially like the film. While I agree that its a bad film with its Disney-esque cliches, not being part of any actual Arthurian Legend Canon, songs that didn't fit the scenes they were in, a female heroine that makes Cinderella look like Mulan in comparison, and an overall underwhelming story, I seem to be one of the people that actually kinda enjoy it.

I was young and at the age when anything that seemed remotely Disney-ish, regardless to quality or whether or not it was actually made by Disney, seemed entertaining. It was the last days of school for me before the summer break and I decided for a treat that I should ask my mom to go take me to see it (especially since Mulan didn't come out till next month and I needed something to do). I finally got to see it and ended up enjoying it more than usual and became a bit of an obsession throughout my childhood. At the time, I didn't know that the movie was "LOOSELY" based off of the novel The King's Damsel by Vera Chapman, or that the movie was going to be a much darker and more adult oriented film, or that the movie went though extensive corporate meddling that cause frustration from the people who worked on it, like Brad Bird, Lauren Faust, and Mark Andrews (co-director of Disney and Pixar's Brave). The only thing I knew at the time was that it was Non-Disney Disney film that very few people ever saw or even knew about.

The one thing that everyone seems to like from the film, even for people who hate the movie, is the soundtrack (with one or two exceptions). The Prayer has become a very popular song over the years despite the movie tanking at the box office and the fact that the scene it was introduced in doesn't fit at all. I kinda like those songs, including I Stand Alone.

The thing I liked most about the movie was the blind hermit, Garrett; out of all the contrived and cliche characters in the film, he seemed to be the most complex. I'm sure the two characters that Garrett was based off of were better written (I never read the book, so I wouldn't know), but I liked the conceptual idea of someone who becomes a recluse because he feels society would reject him because of his handicap and starts to learn to trust others. I also liked the fact that he could do so many things despite his blindness and I liked whoever did the animation for him. While the way the movie handled the character wasn't perfect, like the mismatched singing voice against Cary Elwes' or the fact that he never gets his sight back in the end after excalibur heals everyone, he still intrigued me as a kid and... I also kinda had a crush on him.

I know this movie is bad and is in no standard Disney quality or Warner Bros. previous The Iron Giant quality, but some of it sticks in my heart a bit.

[FaPingMulan]

Not a bad review and thanks for editing some of the content for the board's sake too.

[Miriam]

Oh, I really love that movie! Movies I like I always watch a view times in a row and this movie belong to my favorite list.

It came across it when I heard a song of that movie. That song was really beautiful and I decided to watch the movie.

I really cry every time Kaileigh's father dies. I really don't like it when someone dies and it was just really sad that a little girl like her loses her father.

I love the songs in the movie, they have all such great voices. I was really surprised by the singing of Gary Oldman (Did the voice of Ruber in the movie and played Serius black in Harry Potter.) I didn't know he could sing!

I somehow like Garrets story. It's sad that he is blind, but I also like that. In other movies the man is the Hero and there is nothing wrong with him. Being blind gives the man some trouble.

[FaPingMulan]

I agree. They had to make Garrett different from other animated heroes so he wouldn't be as generic and come across as an individual and the blindness was a good touch to that though it's still sad that he is so.

I didn't know Gary Oldman played Sirius Black XD

Always glad to meet another fan of this movie as it does not get enough love in my opinion =3

[Renton]

I haven't seen this movie in full yet, just in clips; from what I've heard, this movie had a rushed production, and this can be noticeable in some of the faults that this movie has, particular in the story and the way it doesn't explain some things very well.

[FaPingMulan]

I had heard that too but for being rushed its a lot better than other movies that had been rushed and turned out bad. I personally would recommend it to you Thomas if only just for a rental to see once though I myself own it and love watching it

[Renton]

I remember as a kid wanting to see it when it was out in theaters at the time, but I never did get the chance to. It wasn't until recently that I got a copy of it on DVD and watched it, never realizing how much of a letdown it was. Though it does have some impressive animation, it has many, many flaws, like bland characters, forgettable songs (except "The Prayer," which is a classic), a story with questions that are never really explained, and it feels as though it were trying to emulate Disney but leaves out that special spark in order for it to leave some kind of impression on audiences. From what I hear, this movie had a production schedule that was very rushed, and I could kind of see that in the finished results. If only it had more time to be fleshed out more, it could have been a lot better.