“Walt [Disney] never knew that I patterned Merlin the magician (in
the animated feature Sword in the Stone)
after him when I wrote the script," remembered Disney storyman Bill Peet.
At Walt Disney World’s Magic
Kingdom, in front of
Cinderella Carousel, from 1993-2006, Merlin came to life to perform the “Sword
in the Stone Ceremony” several times a day where he sought out a new temporary
royal ruler of Fantasyland while good King Arthur took a brief vacation. An adult was unable to draw the mighty sword
from the anvil but up to six times a day, a young child with a little magic
from Merlin always accomplished the feat.
Since Merlin is a real person and there is only one Merlin, a
Disney entertainment performer is not Merlin but might be a “friend of” Merlin
or “assist in the portrayal of” Merlin.
Over the years, Merlin has had many friends at Disneyland,
Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.
I had just completed performing as a “friend” of Prospector Pat in
Frontierland as Summer ended and in September 1995, I found myself “assisting
in the portrayal” of Merlin several days a week. In
early 1996, I became part of the Opening Team for the Disney Institute as a
salaried animation instructor and bid a sad farewell to my old friend.
In the Fall of 1995, my parents visited me several times and took
photos and video of the performance. I
even arranged for my dad (who passed away a few years ago) to actually pull out
the sword and receive the special medallion and certificate that he displayed
proudly over his desk at home for many years.
[Jim Korkis is still looking for a permanent job or for freelance writting or speaking assignments. If you need a great Disney historian, writter, speaker, etc. Please keep him in mind and more importantly email him at jkorkis@aol.com to hire him ASAP.]
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