In the 1990s to the early 2000s, Disney experienced a boom in their animation department known as the “Disney Renaissance”. Beginning with 1989’s The Little Mermaid, the company released hit after hit with films like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Hercules, Mulan and many more. But of course, with great success comes competition.



Many companies piled onto Disney’s animation boom with their own films. Some tried to experiment and be their own thing, while others desperately tried to copy the Disney formula. Most notable were the films that tried to copy Disney’s “Princess Formula.” But one other film from that era that tried desperately to be like Disney was from their long-time rival Warner Bros.

Twenty-five years ago, Warner Bros. released the film Quest for Camelot, an animated musical adventure that did everything that it could to attract the usual Disney audience. The film was originally based on the 1976 novel The King’s Damosel by British author Vera Chapman and was the third installment in her Three Damosels trilogy.

When production initially began, it was originally titled The Quest for the Grail and was going to try to stick close to the source material. However, as production got underway, management forced a number of changes to the point where it became almost unrecognizable to the original story.



In an interview, veteran animator and showrunner Lauren Faust (who worked as an animator on the film at the time) had a few things to say about her experience working on the film. Here is a portion of what she said:

“Warner Bros did not know what they were doing. They didn’t care about animation being an art form as well as entertainment, they wanted profits. If they wanted a bad Disney knock-off, they should have talked to Don Bluth on their part.“

“Camelot was planned as an animated feature in the veins of Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards, you know, something with a PG-13 rating. In the end they didn’t even know what to do with it. Nearly everyone I knew that worked on Camelot hated it, and they don’t even want to talk about it.“



The film follows Kayley (Played by: Jessalyn Gilsig) who is the daughter of one of King Arthur’s knights. She has wanted to be one of Arthur’s knights ever since she was a child and wants to honor her father’s memory as he died protecting the king.



One evening a griffon steals the sword Excalibur, but accidentally drops it in the forbidden forest. Keyley’s home is then attacked by Lord Ruber (Played by: Gary Oldman), a former knight who attempted to kill the king and was responsible for the death of Keyley’s father. He kidnaps Keyley’s mother to force her to help him enter the castle with his army of machine men.



Keyley is able to escape into the forest and comes across Garrett (Played by: Cary Elwes), a blind man who has heightened senses and helps fight off Ruber’s men. The two agree to work together to find Excalibur before Ruber does. They later come across Devon (Played by: Eric Idel) and Cornwall (Played by: Don Rickles), two conjoined twin dragons, who also join the two on their quest.



When they reach where the sword is supposed to be, they see a giant footprint and believe that an ogre took the sword. The group is then ambushed, and Garrett is hurt. Keyley helps heal him with a magic plant, and the two start to fall in love.



They eventually make their way to the ogre’s cave and where it is using the sword as a toothpick. The heroes are able to steal the sword while the ogre is sleeping. The sleeping giant crushes Ruber’s men. After that, they make their way to Camelot. Garrett says that he doesn’t belong there and departs. Moments later, Ruber’s men catch up with Keyley and captures her and Excalibur.



Ruber, under the guise of a caravan, storms the castle with the sword magically fused to his hand. Garrett returns to help Keyley fight the machine men, and the two confront Ruber before he is able to kill the king. During the fight, they trick Ruber into stabbing the magic stone Excalibur came from. His dark magic is undone and he vanishes into thin air.



After saving the kingdom King Arthur then declared both Kayley and Garrett as knights of the round table. Both Kayley and Garrett kiss and ride off with a “Just Knighted” sign on the rear of their horse.

While not a terrible film, it does lack what they are trying to emulate. The original vision of the film was thrown out the window, resulting in a rather confused script and dull execution. 



The film was released on May 15th, 1998, and was a box office bomb both critically and financially, making only $38.1 Million on a $40 Million budget. Despite this the film apparently did rather well on its home video release. Pixar’s Toy Story had been released three years earlier and was a sign that hand-drawn animation was starting to decline.



Oddly enough, the film’s original song “The Prayer” by Céline Dion was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1999 Academy Awards, but lost to “When You Believe” from DreamWork’s The Prince of Egypt.

Despite being forgotten by the general public, the film has gained a cult following over the years, mostly from those who grew up with it, either seeing it in theaters or watching it on VHS. While not on the same level as Disney, younger viewers could definitely get some entertainment from it.



What do you think? How close was Warner Bros. to copying the Disney formula? Should they have tried something different instead? Did you watch this movie as a kid? Let us know.