IT'S NOT DISNEY, BUT `QUEST FOR CAMELOT' DOES JUST FINE.Byline: Rob Lowman Daily News Entertainment Editor Films, television and theater have long mined the Arthurian legend Arthurian legend, the mass of legend, popular in medieval lore, concerning King Arthur of Britain and his knights. Medieval Sources The battle of Mt. Badon—in which, according to the Annales Cambriae (c. , and it continues to turn up riches. NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. recently scored big with its ``Merlin'' miniseries, and now Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . makes its own knight move Knight Move is an action puzzle game created by Alexey Pajitnov (the creator of Tetris) for the Famicom Disk System in 1990. A similar but notably different game by the name of Knight Moves (Note, "Moves" is now plural) was released in 1995 for Microsoft Windows. into feature-length animation with ``Quest for Camelot
Quest for Camelot is an animated feature from Warner Bros. Animation, released in 1998. .'' Reports had it that the studio was worried that ``Quest'' would have the dreaded ``F'' word attached to it - that's for family. Some box-office observers believe that when a film is labeled family entertainment, it scares off much of the adult and teen audiences. But solid, enjoyable family entertainment is exactly what ``Quest'' is - with enough fun for kids and adults alike. So naysayers be ... uh ... darned darned adj. Damned. Adj. 1. darned - expletives used informally as intensifiers; "he's a blasted idiot"; "it's a blamed shame"; "a blame cold winter"; "not a blessed dime"; "I'll be damned (or blessed or darned or . Any new feature animation film, however, will inevitably be compared to the best of Disney, which holds all the benchmarks. Unlike ``Anastasia'' - Fox's lavish entry last year into the animation sweepstakes - Warners seems to take a less ambitious approach to ``Quest,'' almost saying, ``Look, we're not Disney.'' On the other hand, by taking this lower-expectations approach, the film suffers somewhat by not reaching a bit higher. The story is about a young girl named Kayley who dreams of becoming a knight. Her father, Lionel (Gabriel Byrne For the Irish radio and television presenter, see . Gabriel Byrne (born 12 May, 1950) is an Irish actor. Born in Dublin Ireland, the first of six children born to devoutly Roman Catholic parents, Byrne was educated by the Irish Christian Brothers. ), is slain by the power-mad knight Ruber (Gary Oldman) in an aborted attempt to take over Camelot. Ruber flees, and Kayley grows up fatherless. Years later when Kayley has grown up (now voiced by Jessalyn Gilsig Jessalyn Gilsig (born in 1971 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian actress most famous for her roles in the television series Boston Public and Nip/Tuck. She has also appeared in several episodes of NYPD Blue and Prison Break ), Ruber sends a huge griffin (a mythological creature part eagle, part lion) to steal Excalibur, King Arthur's magical sword. The plan works, but the griffin drops the sword into the Forbidden Forest Forbidden Forest can refer to:
Feeling useless, Garrett had exiled himself to the woods, where he has learned to compensate for his blindness by enhancing his other senses. Needless to say, their early thorny relationship blossoms into love as they overcome the terrors of the Forbidden Forest in search for Excalibur. Along the way, they pick up the aid of a friendly two-headed dragon, Devon and Cornwall (Eric Idle and Don Rickles), who function as comic relief. ``We're the reason cousins shouldn't marry,'' quips Cornwall. Kayley bears a resemblance to the heroine in the other big animated summer film, Disney's ``Mulan.'' Both are fiery and determined as they attempt to overcome the barriers of sexist stereotypes and should be good role models for young girls. No one is going to mistake Warners' animation for Disney's, though. While ``Quest's'' animation is adequate, there is none of the striking richness of something like ``Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale (type 425C -- search for a lost husband -- in the Aarne-Thompson classification). The first published version of the fairy tale was a meandering rendition by Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in ,'' and a computer-generated scene involving an ogre doesn't mesh well with the others. Instead, ``Quest'' moves along quickly, albeit jerkily at times, boosted by a soundtrack that includes songs sung by Bryan White, Celine Dion and LeAnn Rimes (``Looking Through Your Eyes''). It also has a lively score from Patrick Doyle, and there is even a bit of clog dancing thrown in for good measure (think ``Riverdance''). Being Warners' 75th anniversary, the film throws in a number of references to the studio's past hits, including ``Dirty Harry,'' ``Superman,'' ``Taxi Driver'' and ``Casablanca,'' which should amuse movie buffs. The inclusion of a reference to Road Runner cartoons, however, reminds us that this is the studio of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, leaving us to wonder why Warners didn't try for something a little loonier for its first animated feature. THE FACTS The film: ``Quest for Camelot'' (G). The stars: Jessalyn Gilsig, Andrea Corr, Cary Elwes, Bryan White, Gary Oldman, Don Rickles, Eric Idle, Jane Seymour, Pierce Brosnan, Sir John Gielgud Noun 1. Sir John Gielgud - English actor of Shakespearean roles who was also noted for appearances in films (1904-2000) Arthur John Gielgud, Gielgud , Bronson Pinchot, Jaleel White and Gabriel Byrne. Behind the scenes: Directed by Frederik Du Chau. Score by Patrick Doyle. Songs by David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager. Released by Warner Bros. Running time: One hour 28 minutes. Playing: Citywide. Our rating: Three Stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Warner Bros. takes the plunge into feature-length animation with the Arthurian tale ``Quest for Camelot.'' |
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