A Kid in King Arthur's Court

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A Kid in King Arthur's Court
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Gottlieb
Produced by	Peter Abrams J.P. Guerin Robert L. Levy
Written by	Michael Part and Robert L. Levy
Starring	Thomas Ian Nicholas Joss Ackland Art Malik Paloma Baeza Kate Winslet Daniel Craig Ron Moody
Music by	J.A.C. Redford
Cinematography	László Gárdonyi
Editing by	Anita Brandt-Burgoyne and Michael Ripps
Studio	Trimark Pictures
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	August 11, 1995
Running time	89 min.
Language	English
Budget	N/A

A Kid in King Arthur's Court is a 1995 film directed by Michael Gottlieb, produced by Trimark Pictures, and released by Walt Disney Studio Entertainment. It is based on the famous Mark Twain novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, transplanted into the twentieth century.

The short cartoon Runaway Brain was included in the film's original theatrical release.

Trimark later released a sequel, A Kid in Aladdin's Palace, in 1998, but without Disney's involvement. Since Trimark's dissolution, the sequel is now distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment.

Plot summary

Calvin Fuller is a nerdy young adolescent living in Reseda, California. The gangly, unsure youth is first seen at a baseball game, standing at bat, ready for yet another strike out. Suddenly a terrible earthquake hits; as the others run for safety, the ground opens up under Calvin's boots and he falls through the chasm. He falls and falls until he finds himself landing on the head of a 6th-century black knight. Upon hearing of his miraculous appearance, the elderly King Arthur, seeing him as the savior whose appearance Merlin has predicted, dubs the boy Calvin of Reseda and invites him to dine with the court.

Calvin begins his knight training to help Arthur retain his crown. When the earthquake hit, Calvin was lucky enough to grab his knapsack, a fact that enables him to wow the Arthurians with his futuristic 'magic', including an introduction to rock and roll via CD player, and a wonderful Swiss Army knife. The young wizard also shows them how to make inline rollerskates. His work wins him adulation and renown; but it also rouses the jealousy of the wicked Lord Belasco, who will use any means to take over the throne. Meanwhile, Calvin finds himself falling for young Princess Katey. After he helps Arthur keep the crown, he is returned to the 20th-century moments just before he struck out and steps up to the plate: this time, he is ready and hits a home run.

Cast

• Thomas Ian Nicholas .... Calvin Fuller
• Joss Ackland .... King Arthur
• Art Malik .... Lord Belasco
• Paloma Baeza .... Princess Katey
• Kate Winslet .... Princess Sarah
• Daniel Craig .... Master Kane
• David Tysall.... Ratan
• Ron Moody .... Merlin
• Barry Stanton .... Blacksmith
• Michael Mehlnan.... Shop owner
• Melanie Oettinger.... Peasant woman
• Rebecca Denton.... Washer woman
• Michael Kelly.... Apprentice
• Louise Rosner.... Lady in waiting
• Paul Rosner.... Peasant boy
• Béla Unger.... Head guard
• Shane Rimmer .... Coach
• Tim Wickham.... Ricky Baker
• Daniel Bennett .... Howell
• Debora Weston.... Mom
• Vincent Marzello .... Dad
• Catherine Blake .... Maya
• J.P. Guerin.... Umpire

Production

Most of the 6th century portion of the film was shot in Budapest, Hungary, while the majority of the 20th-century portion was filmed at the softball field of London Central High School (LCHS), an American institution at RAF Daws Hill, High Wycombe, England. Dozens of LCHS pupils sought to participate in the project; those with permission from their teachers were allowed to venture to the shooting location, where they were auditioned and costumed. The "Ventilate 'em, Calvin" line spoken by one of the protagonist's teammates was originally offered to upperclassman Shane Bursae, but was instead given to freshman Jerome Brumby after he was heard advising Bursae on his delivery. Bursae became the double for the pitcher, performing in all of the pitching shots in that portion of the film.

Actor Sean Penn was originally set to play the role of Master Kane but dropped out because of disagreements with Director Michael Gottlieb's vision of the film. Upon the movie's release, Penn was a vocal critic of the project, arguing that the scope of the script was not fully realized and that the final product was "sub par, to say the least." To this day, Penn generally refuses to talk about the film. In a rare 2003 interview, Penn made a brief allusion to the movie, saying, "Good ideas go to die in Hollywood. I worked on a movie about a kid in King Arthur's court once. It was completely bureaucratized. They took something that had art in it and put it in the laps of people that only cared about the bottom line, and look what happened." In a later portion of the interview, Penn went on to say, "Yeah, projects like A Kid in King Arthur's Court—they just make you sick. That's why I left this town. It's all about the money, the bottom line. It's disgusting."

Reception

Upon its release the movie was universally blasted by critics, it currently holds 0% on Rotten Tomatoes (aggregating six reviews).

The Nostalgia Critic lambasted the movie for being historically innacurrate, poorly written, and having princess Katey be portrayed as strong and capable in the first half of the movie, then degrading to an archetypal damsel-in-distress near the end. However, was surprised by the appearance of Winslet and Craig being in a "bad" movie.

See also

List of films based on Arthurian legend

External links

• A Kid in King Arthur's Court at the Internet Movie Database
• A Kid in King Arthur's Court at Rotten Tomatoes