What’s the best ever King Arthur film then? Excalibur? First Knight? Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Fine movies all, but none can hold a moistened scimitar to the greatest and, given the talking animals, probably most historically accurate of all, the animated classic, The Sword in the Stone.

Boasting a new anamorphic transfer and 5.1 audio, The Sword in the Stone: 45th Anniversary Edition will arrive on Disney Region 1 DVD on 17 June for around $29.99. Extras will include will a profile of Richard and Robert Sherman, the musical geniuses behind some of the greatest Disney scores of all time, including The Jungle Book and Mary Poppins; a Goofy short, ‘Knight For a Day’, and a Mickey short, ‘Brave Little Tailor’; a ‘Merlin’s Magical Academy’ game,  and a ‘Sword in the Stone Scrapbook’ interactive stills gallery. 

Hailing from the days when Disney didn’t use famous actors to voice their characters, The Sword in the Stone follows young Wart (Rickie Sorensen) as he befriends the wizard Merlin (Karl Swenson) and goes on to wield Excalibur and fulfil his destiny to become Arthur, King of England. Even if, as a wise peasant once said, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government...