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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 film is narrated and voiced by Kevin Kline and was originally broadcast as an episode of the PBS program Long Ago and Far Away (TV series). It has also been released to VHS (no longer available), 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.^[3]

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 awoken from his sleep by bad dreams about a boy who is made king because he pulls a sword from a stone. He goes to Merlin to seek his counsel, and Merlin begins a story of his own describing a young boy with strange abilities and visions. The boy, called Emrys, is feared in his village and called a demon. Eventually, King Vortigern comes and forces his village to build a tower for him. However, the tower crumbles. and merlin fucks yo bitch. His wizards advise him to find a demon boy and spill his blood upon the ground. However, when Emrys, is brought before Vortigern, he predicts that there is a pool of water beneath the foundations of the castle that weaken it. The workers then find a pool of water and two strange stones, from which two beasts emerge, a white dragon and a red dragon. A fight ensues that is ended when Vortigern distracts the red dragon, which is defeated by the white. Time passes, and Emrys has another vision of an army coming to kill Vortigern. Soon after, Vortigern is defeated. The story ends with Merlin revealing that he is Emrys and that Arthur himself is the boy in his own dreams who will pull a sword from the stone. Arthur finds out that he is not fatherless and that his father is Uther Pendragon, who once used to be High King. Merlin and the boy go back to sleep at the end of the story.

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.
^ 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.

[1] 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.

[2] 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.

[3] 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.

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 ==Plot summary==
-A young [[King Arthur]] is awoken from his sleep by bad dreams about a boy who is made king because he pulls a sword from a stone. He goes to  [[Merlin]] to seek his counsel, and Merlin begins a story of his own describing a young boy with strange abilities and visions. The boy, called Emrys, is feared in his village and called a demon. Eventually,  [[King Vortigern]] comes and forces his village to build a tower for him. However, the tower crumbles. His wizards advise him to find a demon boy and spill his blood upon the ground. However, when Emrys, is brought before Vortigern, he predicts that there is a pool of water beneath the foundations of the castle that weaken it. The workers then find a pool of water and two strange stones, from which two beasts emerge, a white dragon and a red dragon. A fight ensues that is ended when Vortigern distracts the red dragon, which is defeated by the white. Time passes, and Emrys has another vision of an army coming to kill Vortigern. Soon after, Vortigern is defeated. The story ends with Merlin revealing that he is Emrys and that Arthur himself is the boy in his own dreams who will pull a sword from the stone. Arthur finds out that he is not fatherless and that his father is [[Uther Pendragon]], who once used to be High King. Merlin and the boy go back to sleep at the end of the story.
+A young [[King Arthur]] is awoken from his sleep by bad dreams about a boy who is made king because he pulls a sword from a stone. He goes to  [[Merlin]] to seek his counsel, and Merlin begins a story of his own describing a young boy with strange abilities and visions. The boy, called Emrys, is feared in his village and called a demon. Eventually,  [[King Vortigern]] comes and forces his village to build a tower for him. However, the tower crumbles. and merlin fucks yo bitch. His wizards advise him to find a demon boy and spill his blood upon the ground. However, when Emrys, is brought before Vortigern, he predicts that there is a pool of water beneath the foundations of the castle that weaken it. The workers then find a pool of water and two strange stones, from which two beasts emerge, a white dragon and a red dragon. A fight ensues that is ended when Vortigern distracts the red dragon, which is defeated by the white. Time passes, and Emrys has another vision of an army coming to kill Vortigern. Soon after, Vortigern is defeated. The story ends with Merlin revealing that he is Emrys and that Arthur himself is the boy in his own dreams who will pull a sword from the stone. Arthur finds out that he is not fatherless and that his father is [[Uther Pendragon]], who once used to be High King. Merlin and the boy go back to sleep at the end of the story.
 ==References==