Merlin and the Dragons

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Merlin and the Dragons - Wikipedia

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Merlin and the Dragons is a 1991 animated film adapted from a story by Jane Yolen and illustrations by Alan Lee. It was directed by Dennis Woodyard (as Dennis J. Woodyard) and Hu Yihong and includes a musical score by composer Michel Rubini. The production is a retelling of the Arthurian legend, with Merlin the magician, based on material from Nennius and Geoffrey of Monmouth.^[1] Yolen is a prolific author of Arthurian-themed texts, and this production continues her series of retellings of the Merlin story.^[2] The half-hour film is narrated and voiced by Kevin Kline and was originally broadcast as an episode of the PBS program Long Ago and Far Away, which first aired on November 9, 1991.^[3]

The film has been released on VHS, DVD, and CD by Lightyear Entertainment as part of the "Stories to Remember" series; the CD includes the narration only and adds illustrations by Iain McCraig.^[4]

The story was later adapted by Yolen and illustrated by Li Ming, under the title "Merlin and the Dragons" (Cobblehill Books, 1995).

Plot summary

A young King Arthur is woken from sleep by dreams questioning his right to rule, and consults Merlin, who narrates a story of his own of a young boy capable of precognition. The boy, called Emrys, is feared in his village and therefore called a demon. Eventually, King Vortigern forces his village to build him a fortress, which repeatedly collapses; whereupon his prophets advise the sacrifice of Emrys' life to support it. When Emrys is brought before Vortigern, he reveals a pool of water eroding the foundations of the fortress. When the pool is exposed, two dragons emerge from the stones therein, and the red is slain by the white. Time passes, and Emrys perceives an army coming to kill Vortigern. Soon after, Vortigern is defeated, and the story ends with Merlin revealing that he is Emrys and that Arthur's father is Uther Pendragon, whereupon Merlin and Arthur return to his mother.

References

^ Salda, Michael N. "Arthurian Animation". The Arthuriana/Camelot Project Bibliographies and Reprints. University of Rochester, May 2005 (retrieved 1 August 2013). Salda, Michael N. Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013.
^ Yolen first expressed her interest in Merlin in the anthology Merlin's Booke (1986) and has since expanded a number of these stories into novels for children, including The Dragons Boy and The Young Merlin Trilogy. She speaks about her work in a 1988 interview with Raymond H. Thompson available as part of Taliesin's Successors: Interviews with Authors of Modern Arthurian Literature.
^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 295–296. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
^ Nastali, Dan, and Raymond H. Thomson. "Yolen Jane." The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, Updated Paperback Edition with Supplement. Ed. Norris J. Lacy. New York: Garland, 1996. 614.

External links

"Merlin and the Dragons". The Internet Movie Database. N.d.
"Merlin and the Dragon" product page at Lightyear Entertainment. N.d.
Yolen, Jane. "Merlin and the Dragons (book)." JaneYolen.com. N.d.
- - -. "Merlin and the Dragons (Film)." JaneYolen.com. N.d.

v t e Films based on Arthurian legends
Medieval Arthur	The Adventures of Sir Galahad (serial, 1949) Knights of the Round Table (1953) The Black Knight (1954) Lancelot and Guinevere (1963) Siege of the Saxons (1963) Camelot (1967) Excalibur (1981) First Knight (1995) Arthur and Merlin (2015) King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Pearl Poet	Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) Sword of the Valiant (1984) The Green Knight (2021)
Roman Arthur	King Arthur (2004) The Last Legion (2007)
Foreign adaptations	Lancelot du Lac Perceval le Gallois Kaamelott: The First Chapter
Films based on Wagner's Parsifal	Parsifal (1904) The Evil Forest (1951) Parsifal (1982)
Films from Twain's Connecticut Yankee	A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1921) A Connecticut Yankee (1931) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949) Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979) New Adventures of a Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1988; Soviet Union) A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995)
Based on the Tristan legend	L'Éternel retour (1943) The Woman Next Door (1981) Lovespell (1981) Fire and Sword (1982) In the Shadow of the Raven (1988) Tristan & Isolde (English 2006)
Adaptations of Prince Valiant	Prince Valiant (1954) Prince Valiant (1997)
Parodies and modern adaptations	Knights of the Square Table (1917) King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942) Squareheads of the Round Table (1948) Knutzy Knights (1954) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Knightriders (1981) The Fisher King (1991) Seaview Knights (1994) Kids of the Round Table (1995) Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (1996) The Mighty (1998) Merlin: The Return (2000) The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2002) Merlin and the War of the Dragons (2008) The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
Animation	Knight-mare Hare (1955) Knighty Knight Bugs (1958) The Sword in the Stone (1963) Willy McBean and his Magic Machine (1965) Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw (1988) Merlin and the Dragons (1991) Quest for Camelot (1998) Shrek the Third (2007) Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2021)
TV films	Merlin and the Sword (1985) Guinevere (1994) The Four Diamonds (1995) Merlin: The Quest Begins (1998) A Knight in Camelot (1998) The Excalibur Kid (1999) Young Arthur (2002) Avalon High (2010)

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