Arthur Pendragon

Arthur, (also known as The Wart), is a main protagonist from Disney's 1963 hit The Sword in the Stone. In the film, Arthur is an orphan boy who becomes King of England. He was voiced by 3 voice actors (Rickie Sorensen, Richard Reitherman, and Robert Reitherman) which leads to noticeable changes in Arthur's voice throughout the film.

Personality
Arthur is a 12-year-old orphan who lives as the foster son of the knight Sir Ector. He has blond hair, and considered to be very scrawny and clumsy. Arthur dreams of becoming a knight, but since he is an orphan, he can only hope to become a squire to his arrogant foster brother Sir Kay. At the time, he is working as a page. Sir Ector appears to care for the boy to an extent, but he still tends to favor Kay and thus raises Arthur much more strictly. Kay, however, openly shows disdain for Arthur, and even at the end, appears somewhat reluctant to accept Arthur as King. Almost everyone refers to him as the Wart rather than his birthname of Arthur. In fact, his real name is rarely mentioned throughout the film, once by the Wart himself, and later when he is revealed as the rightful King of England.

As his name suggests, the Wart is based on the legendary King Arthur of English mythology.

The Sword in the Stone
The Wart accompanies his brother Kay on a hunting trip. After accidentally distracting Kay, the Wart goes to retrieve Kay's lost arrow and ends up in the home of Merlin the wizard. While enjoying tea with Merlin, Merlin speaks to the Wart about the value of an education and appoints himself as the Wart's tutor. The Wart, then returns to Sir Ector's castle and is sent to the kitchen as part of his page duties. When Pelinore, a friend of Sir Ector's, comes with news of a tournament, with the English crown as a prize. Sir Ector decides that Kay can be knighted in time to participate. Ector appoints the Wart as Kay's future squire for the tournament, which is held in London.

The next day, the Wart accompanies Merlin on his first lesson. Merlin turns them both into fish, and at first everything goes smoothly. The Wart is soon chased by a large pike, and manages to outsmart the pike at first. Thankfully, the Wart is saved by Merlin's owl Archimedes. The adventure teaches the Wart the value of brain over brawn. When the Wart is transformed back, he rushes to the kitchen, where Ector gives him 6 demerits; 3 for being late, and 3 after telling the true story of his lesson.

Later, the Wart is being forced to clean an entire kitchen as a result of his punishment. Merlin enchants the dishes to wash themselves, and sneaks the Wart out for another lesson. This time, about gravity and male-female relationships, the Wart is transformed into a squirrel and meets up with a female squirrel, who wants him as a mate. As the Wart attempts to escape the amorous squirrel, he is put in danger of being eaten by a wolf. The Wart is saved thanks to the female squirrel, but he is then transformed back into a boy. Though he tries to explain, the female squirrel is disappointed.

Back at the castle, Sir Ector begins reprimanding Merlin for using what Ector believes to be black magic on the kitchen. The Wart tries to defend Merlin, but Sir Ector punishes him by making an unseen boy Hobs Kay's squire. Merlin sees the Wart's disappointment and apologizes, but notes that the Wart could still make something of himself through an education.

Merlin then takes time to explain different concepts about how the world works, but the Wart becomes so confused that Archimedes takes over the Wart's education. After finding out that the Wart is illiterate, Archimedes teaches the Wart to read and write. During a break, Merlin takes time to demonstrate a model airplane. Though the demonstration doesn't work, the Wart is impressed anyway and relates his dream of flying to Merlin. While the Wart is talking, Merlin transforms him into a sparrow. The Wart then goes out flying with Archimedes. The flight goes well at first, as the Wart proves to be a natural at flying. But during the flight, the Wart is chased by a hawk, and in escaping ends up falling though the chimney of Madam Mim, Merlin's enemy. Though Madam Mim attempts to show the Wart that her magic, which is self serving, is better than Merlin's. The Wart disagrees, and so Madam Mim transforms into a cat and attempts to eat the Wart. Merlin's student is saved by the intervention of Merlin, and the Wart later observes the Wizard's Duel between the 2 wizards. As a result, the Wart learns the value of knowledge and wisdom, as Merlin won by outsmarting Mim.

At Christmastime, the Wart is reinstated as Kay's squire out of necessity as Hobs had come down with mumps. Though the Wart is pleased as he feels it is his only opportunity to advance, Merlin is angered that the Wart still prefers war games over education, and the wizard teleports himself to 20th century Bermuda.

On New Year's Day, the Wart accompanies Sir Ector and a newly knighted Kay to the tournament. Everything is going smoothly when the Wart realizes that he forgot Kay's sword at the inn. In an attempt to find a replacement, the Wart pulls a magic sword from a stone that was in an old churchyard. When the Wart brings the sword, it is immediately recognized as the legendary Sword in the Stone, which is supposed to only be pulled by the rightful king of England. All the knights at the tournament force the Wart to repeat the process, but before he can do so, they attempt to pull it out, under the reasoning that anyone can pull it a 2nd time.

Pellinore and a knight called Sir Bart stop the other knights and allow the Wart to pull the sword. He does so succesfully, and everyone bows to him as the new King of England, while Sir Ector begs the Wart's forgiveness. They ask the Wart's name, and Sir Ector almost calls the boy the Wart, before correcting himself and calling the boy Arthur for the first time.

Time passes, and the Wart, now crowned King Arthur, is unprepared for the responsibility of ruling a country. He attempts to run away, but every exit is blocked by cheering crowds. Merlin then unexpectedly returns from Bermuda and is pleased to see that the Wart is now King Arthur and relates how famous the boy will become in the future.

Trivia

 * Arthur's situation is related to Dumbo's. They are both treated like worthless losers throughout most of the film, but the special thing about them resolves their problems in the end.
 * Arthur is similar to Taran from The Black Cauldron.