''Merlin and the Dragons'' is a 1991 animated film adapted from a story by

Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is '' The Devil's Arithmetic'', a Holocaust novella. H ...

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 King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a Legend, legendary king of Great Britain, Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest tradition ...

legend, with

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

the magician, based on material from

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...

and

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...

. Yolen is a prolific author of Arthurian-themed texts, and this production continues her series of retellings of the Merlin story. The half-hour film is narrated and voiced by

Kevin Kline Kevin Delaney Kline (born October 24, 1947) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award and three Tony Awards. In addition, he has received nominations for two British Academy Film Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five ...

and was originally broadcast as an episode of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

program ''Long Ago and Far Away'', which first aired on November 9, 1991. The film has been released on VHS, DVD, and CD by

Lightyear Entertainment Lightyear Entertainment, headquartered in Studio City, California, is a distributor of independent motion pictures in theaters, on DVD, Blu-ray, Video On Demand, as well as a distributor of music and music videos on CD, DVD, and digital distribut ...

as part of the "

Stories to Remember ''Stories to Remember'' was a compilation of 6 animated stories made in the early 1990s. The Stories * Noah's Ark (1989) ''Voiced by James Earl Jones.'' * Beauty & The Beast (1990) ''Voiced by Mia Farrow.'' * Pegasus, The Flying Horse (1990) ...

" series; the CD includes the narration only and adds illustrations by Iain McCraig.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. 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 King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

is woken from

sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

s questioning his right to rule, and consults

, who narrates a story of his own of a young boy capable of

precognition Precognition (from the Latin 'before', and 'acquiring knowledge') is the purported psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware of, events in the future. There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition is a ...

. The boy, called Emrys, is feared in his

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and therefore called a

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...

. Eventually,

King Vortigern Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...

forces his village to build him a

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, which repeatedly collapses; whereupon his

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

s advise the sacrifice of Emrys' life to support it. When Emrys is brought before Vortigern, he reveals a pool of water eroding the foundations of the fortress. When the pool is exposed, two

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

s emerge from the stones therein, and the red is slain by the white. Time passes, and Emrys perceives an

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

coming to kill Vortigern. Soon after, Vortigern is defeated, and the story ends with Merlin revealing that he is Emrys and that Arthur's father is

Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon (Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur. A few m ...

, whereupon Merlin and Arthur return to his mother.

References

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. 1991 animated films 1991 films Arthurian animated films Works based on Merlin Films based on works by Jane Yolen {{1990s-animation-film-stub