The Warner Brother's fantasy musical Quest for Camelot premiered in 1998. It's the story of an adventurous young girl named Kayley who dreams of becoming a knight. She joins a blind man to retrieve King Arthur's stolen sword, Excalibur. The overall idea is great. I enjoyed it...as a small, small child anyway. Reviews are generally poor and there are certainly reasons. So, let's get to the reimagining for this colorful tale.
The story opens with a charming scene. Kayley and her parents go for one last ride before her father, Lionel, leaves for Camelot. At this point he tells her about Excalibur and King Arthur. How he united the people of England. It's nice, but a qualm about it I heard is that it makes her father's death too predictable. So I would change the opening.
Picture this
A mist shrouded tapestry. A nice slow zoom in with mysterious music. A narrator takes the place of Lionel, introducing the legend to the audience. As he or she talks the tapestry comes to life with the elements of the story.
Excalibur and Arthur being the one to unite warring England.
All of this told in stirring animation inside the tapestry. Then the narrative should end with a compelling cliff hanger. A nice baited hook to get the audience wondering. The narration itself could go something like this:
Long ago when England was young, darkness and treachery reigned as a plague. Brother fought against brother, father against son. The only hope for peace was the sword Excalibur. Legend said that the true King, destined to unite the people would pull the sword from the stone. Many men tried. Men of great strength, men who thought themselves worthy, but all failed. At last, when all seemed hopeless a hero arose. His name was Arthur. With Excalibur at his side, he began his rule of justice and truth from the shining city, Camelot. The people rejoiced!
But, shortly after, a time came when treachery, darkness, and murder returned. The worst of nightmares descending upon Camelot.
Yeah, something like that. Then enter the Knights, riding into Camelot and singing their union song. The union song is pretty good. It talks about their ideals. On point.
Then comes the death of Lionel at the hands of the dastardly villain. Speaking of which:
Yeah. Another qualm I've heard was that Ruber looks too obviously evil. I agree. Some changes to his appearance would be good. Personally, I'd make him actually quite handsome. Let all the evil come from personality alone.
Anyway, on with the death of Lionel. The movie has it pretty good. The only thing about it I would change is to make it more gradual lead up to the violence. In the movie, Ruber charges Arthur roughly forty two seconds after the union song. It wouldn't have hurt for it to have taken a little longer. King Arthur discusses matters of state, Ruber objects showing his greed and irritation. Other knights verbally take Arthur's side, Lionel being among the strongest opinions. Then, without another word Ruber charges. No I'm going to kill you announcement and Lionel dies saving the King. Ruber retreats.
Then you meet Kayley and her mother at the funeral which remains just as it is. Grief, grief, grief. Then, as an intro to Kayley's character the song On my Father's Wings stays right where it is. It's a great intro to her as a person.
As for the theft of Excalibur scene, I wouldn't change too much of that. The main element that bugs me is the appearance of the thief.
Ruber's griffin. The idea is awesome. But the creature is just a bit cartoony for my taste. Increasing the menace a bit more would be good. Change the orange parts to black, leave the eyes and insides of the wings alone. Keep it mostly to the night time scenes and, above all, DO NOT MAKE THE GRIFFIN TALK! The second they did that he became too comical.
Fast forwarding. Excalibur is stolen and instead of everybody everywhere instantly knowing what the alarm horn means, the other knights go to search. One of said knights, a family friend, stops by Kayley's house for a rest and a bight to eat. Naturally her mother would be hospitable. Then, through their discussion, Kayley hears the bad news. Now is her chance to do great things! The knight leaves and she wants to go charging, find the sword, and save Camelot. But, her mother says no. So instead of Ruber attacking, the creation of the ridiculous mechanical army, and Kayley slipping unrealistically right through their fingers...
How about she just sneaks away?! She wants to save Camelot!
This way, you don't even find out that Ruber is behind the whole plot until later. But where, you may ask, could he get a menacing enough army?
"In a place of untold danger, the forbidden forest."
PRECISELY
Ruber would already be in the Forbidden Forest with an army of thieves, rebels, and monsters native to the woods. Also in the forest Kayley meets Garrett, a blind hermit who wants to finish the same quest on his own. In fact his whole loner song can stay put. But afterward instead of giveing in to Kayley wanting to join him, he goes off, ON HIS OWN. But, determined, Kayley shows a little spunk and she decides to find it before the lot of them.Then there would be the commonality between them. Neither of them would want Ruber to find the sword. So, they would have to work together to halt his progress and in this struggle their romance could bloom. They discover just how much they need each other.
Kayley would have the determination and the out of the box ideas and Garrett the experience and good sense. The balance would be both harmonious and believable.
These are just a few basic changes that I believe could enrich this tale. All in all, leading to a more interesting set of circumstances. Just one or two final thoughts.
Not much need for...
And replace this...
With something like this...
And there you have it, the new and improved Quest for Camelot! Thanks for reading.
