The big studios are more serious than ever in their battle for supremacy in the world of animated features. Disney no longer has a monopoly on big budget animation, as others have seen the potential for profits and have jumped in with both feet. Fox made a strong showing with Anastasia and now Warner Brothers have checked in with a strong, if less successful, production of Quest for Camelot.
The story is based on a novel by Vera Chapman. It's about a young woman who sets out to save Camelot after a vicious knight steals the magical sword Excalibur. Along the way, she joins up with a blind hermit and a two-headed dragon and this unlikely gang sets out to be heroes.
There are plenty of recognisable voices in Quest for Camelot, including those of Cary Elwes, Gary Oldman, Don Rickles, Eric Idle, Jane Seymour, Pierce Brosnan, Bronson Pinchot, Gabriel Byrne and John Gielgud.
The songs, some performed by Celine Dion, sound much the same as those in your average Disney film. The same can be said for the wacky 'sidekick' (or is it sidekicks?), the two-headed dragon. Their running dialogue is reminiscent of Robin Williams in Aladdin and others since then.
The story includes few surprises, but it is extremely refreshing to have a strong female lead and a male lead who isn't 'perfect.' While the idea of a woman and a blind man as heroes might set off 'politically correct' alarms in some minds, none of this is presented in a preachy way. That's just the way these folks are.
Quest for Camelot might have been a superior film, if only the makers had felt less need to walk the well-word path of its predecessors. All the same, this is an enjoyable and worthwhile endeavour.
