Unidentified Flying Oddball is Disney's 1979 film adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. It was directed by Russ Mayberry. Subsequently re-released in the United States under the titles The Spaceman and King Arthur and A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court, the film starred Dennis Dugan as an astronaut.
Plot[]
NASA spacecraft proves Einstein right when, travelling faster than light, it ends up near King Arthur's Camelot. On board are big-hearted Tom Trimble and Hermes, the look-alike robot he built. Tom immediately makes friends with pretty Alisande and enemies with the awful knight Sir Mordred. It seems Mordred is atempting to oust Arthur, while Alisande's father is not the goose she believes him to be but is also a victim of Mordred's schemes. It's as well the Americans have arrived.
Like Twain's original novel (as well as the 1949 movie adaptation starring Bing Crosby) Merlin is presented as an evil character intent on dethroning Arthur.
Cast[]
- Dennis Dugan - Tom Trimble/Hermes
- Jim Dale - Sir Mordred
- Ron Moody - Merlin
- Kenneth More - King Arthur
- John Le Mesurier - Sir Gawain
- Rodney Bewes - Clarence
- Sheila White - Alisande
- Robert Beatty - Senator Milburn
- Cyril Shaps - Dr. Zimmerman
- Kevin Brennan - Winston
- Ewen Solon - Watkins
- Pat Roach - Oaf
- Reg Lye - Prisoner
Uncredited[]
- Jean Anderson - Merlin's Receptionist (voice)
- Bruce Boa - Air Force Officer
- Al Lampert - NASA Technician
- Derek Suthern - NASA VIP
Trivia[]
- The Stardust ship prop resided at the Blackgang Chine theme park on the Isle of Wight in the UK. Visitors used to be able to explore the interior, but is now off-limits except to look at from the outside.
1995 adaptation[]
A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995), likewise based on the aforementioned novel, follows the same premise: a male (in this case, an adoloscent) from the 20th century travels back in time to King Arthur’s Camelot and impresses the inhabitants with technology from the distant future. Moody again plays Merlin in the film, on this occasion as a more sympathetic character.
Gallery[]
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Unidentified Flying Oddball. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. |