History YMMV / TheSwordInTheStone

* ToughActToFollow: ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'' has a tendency to overshadow this movie in the public eye, as does the movie that ''followed'' them both, ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967''.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Did Ector and Kay really feel any sort of sincere regret for the years of mistreatment they showed Arthur or were they just afraid of retribution now that their whipping boy is the new king?

* MemeticMutation: The fat female squirrel's reaction to Merlin changing back to normal has become a YouTubePoop fad.

** Archimedes hysterical laugh has been used as Schadenfreude-esque reaction gif.

* PopularWithFurries: The female squirrel has a lot of fans due to her cute design and personality.

* EvilIsSexy: Madame Mim's younger, slender form.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: If you look up Madam Mim on a photo website of any kind, you'll notice that half her pictures will be her in her beautiful lady form instead of her usual old self.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Merlin when he scolds Arthur for accepting to be Kay's squire instead of pursuing his education under Merlin. The fact is, Arthur's seemingly low birth doesn't give him many options for a future in a medieval society, a fact Arthur himself angrily points out to Merlin, neither does he have Merlin's magic to compensate for it.

* TearJerker: During the OpeningNarration, no less.
---> ''A legend is sung of [[YeGoodeOldeDays when England was young\\
And knight were brave and bold]]\\
The good king had died and no one could decide\\
[[SuccessionCrisis Who was rightful heir to the throne]]\\
It seemed that the land would be torn by war\\
Or saved by [[DeusExMachina a miracle]] alone\\
And that miracle appeared in Londontown\\
[[TitleDrop The Sword In the Stone]]''
-->'''Narrator:''' And below the hilt, in letters of gold, were written these words: "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England." Though many tried for the sword with all their strength, [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield none could move the sword]] nor stir it. [[WhamLine So the miracle had not worked]], and England was still without a king — and in time, the marvelous sword was forgotten. This was [[DarkAgeEurope a dark age]], without law and without order. [[DownerEnding Men lived in fear of one another, for the strong preyed upon the weak.]]

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: The 60th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray disappointed fans hoping for a physical release of the 2019 4K remaster. Instead, it repackaged the [[DigitalDestruction digitally-destroyed]] 50th Anniversary Edition with poster-inspired cover art and a code to stream HD downscales of the improved master.

* HilariousInHindsight: Merlin wouldn't be the only spellcaster in a Disney film with [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} a talking bird familiar]], and he wouldn't be the last genius with an avian companion named [[Videogame/TeamFortress2 Archimedes]].

* TheScrappy: You will find very few fans of [[JerkAss Sir Ector]], mainly because of his obnoxious treatment of Wart and Merlin, his thoroughly unpleasant HolierThanThou attitude, and having only a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold handful of sympathetic moments]] (such as the ending where he at least [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone owes up to what a jerk he was]]). While it's clear he's meant to be disliked, he has no real charismatic elements to his personality to balance it out [[EvilIsCool like Madame Mim does.]] The fact that he's [[AntiVillain not even evil--just an unlikable taskmaker]]--also makes him a rather unimpressionable character and puts him below even the most forgettable of Disneys rogues gallery like [[WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}} Ratcliffe.]]

* MemeticMutation: The fat female squirrel's reaction to Merlin changing back to normal has become a WebAnimation/YouTubePoop fad.

** Madam Mim herself. While she's officially the only villain, she's also a PlotIrrelevantVillain who appears during the third act without any previous mention or foreshadowing and has roughly ten minutes of screentime. However, her entertaining and creative WizardDuel with Merlin made her one of the most well-known and well-remembered parts of the movie.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Did Ector and Kay really feel any sort of sincere regret for the years of mistreatment they showed Arthur or were they just afraid of retribution now that their whipping boy is the new king?
* BestKnownForTheFanservice: if you look up Madam Mim on a photo website of any kind, you'll notice that half her pictures will be her in her beautiful lady form instead of her usual old self.

* RecurringFanonCharacter: Hazel, a human version of the squirrel that fell in love with Wart while he was transformed into a squirrel, was created by a fan who wanted to give her a happy ending. She became popular in the fandom and is used in many fanworks. If one is familiar with the ''rest'' of Arthurian legend, it's easy to imagine that she would've been far better to Arthur than [[YourCheatingHeart Guinevere]] was. (In fact, it's been [[https://tyrantisterror.tumblr.com/post/160730781634/duskargentum-tyrantisterror-tyrantisterror pointed out]] that him ending up with her could have saved Camelot in the long run.) Some even suggesting ''[[FixFic she is Guinevere]]'' before being [[ShapeshifterModeLock turned forever human]] at some point by Merlin so she can be with the boy she loves (That is, until Lancelot arrives).

* RecurringFanonCharacter: Hazel, a human version of the squirrel that fell in love with Wart while he was transformed into a squirrel, was created by a fan who wanted to give her a happy ending. She became popular in the fandom and is used in many fanworks.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Merlin when he scolds Arthur for accepting to be Kay's squire instead of pursuing his education under Merlin. The fact is, Arthur's seemingly low birth doesn't give him many options for a future in a medieval society, a fact Arthur himself angrily points out to Merlin, neither does he have Merlin's magic to compensate for it.

* ValuesResonance: Arthur argues with Ector over Merlin's magic, with Ector dismissing it as wicked and dangerous despite knowing little about it (or perhaps even ''because'' he knows little about it), despite Arthur's attempts to show him otherwise. Arthur's line "Just because you can't understand something, it doesn't mean it's wrong" can be widely applied to other situations, and is just as relevant and meaningful nowadays as it was in 1963.