Arthur! And the Square Knights of the Round Table

'King Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table' was an above-average children's cartoon series. The animation was bouncy and colourful, and the dialogue was fairly funny. The theme song is cheerful and upbeat without being funny. Nothing great here, but certainly well above the usual Saturday-morning dross.

For some reason, IMDb's listing says that this series is based on 'novels' by Chrétien de Troyes. Up to a point, Lord Copper. Chrétien de Troyes was a mediaeval historian who wrote about the Arthurian legend. This series is very nominally based on King Arthur and the legend of Camelot, but its historical content is nil. In fact, we get all the usual misconceptions about Arthur: ie, his knights wore armour, rode horses, and so forth. The real Arthur, if he existed at all, dwelt in sixth-century Cornwall: hardly mediaeval, and no horses nor armour were on offer at the real Camelot.

But this cartoon series is meant to be funny, not a history lesson. It largely succeeds in its humour. The King Arthur depicted here is a jovial little runt, a good-natured version of the king in 'The Wizard of Id'. He frequently addresses his wife Guinevere as 'little queen', even though (as drawn here) she's nearly twice his height. Interestingly, Queen Guinevere in this children's cartoon series is drawn with cleavage ... an artistic device that would never have been accepted if this series had been produced in America!

The resident villains are the Black Knight and the seductive witch Morgan Le Fay, always plotting to take over Camelot. For some reason, the scripters of this series had a penchant for gags involving big brawny men in dainty female disguises. There are several episodes in which the Black Knight or some other macho villain ends up unconvincingly disguised as a damsel. The genuinely female characters in this series - both goodie and baddie - are drawn to look quite attractive without ever being sexualised like the characters in Japanese anime. The villains are very non-threatening; there's never any doubt that Camelot will safely remain in Arthur's capable hands. The violence is far less than usual; more cartoonish and less distressing than is typical for this sort of fare. The voice talent for this series, male and female, are above average yet not in any way distinctive.

'King Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table' is no milestone in comedy nor in animation, but it's much better (and funnier) than most other children's cartoons, and the sprightly animation is distinctive. And I can still hum that theme song after all these decades. I'll vote this series 7 out of 10.

I will never forget this series & have searched long and hard to see it again. Without doubt this was one of (If not) the best cartoon of its era. Dialogue is witty & fresh. The inhabitants of the kingdom always entertain with their adventures. The voices are etched into my memory. Sadly it seems to be a forgotten gem of TV in Australia. It is long over due for a rerun or two in my opinion. I wasn't aware that it had traveled out of Australia and am glad to see others have also enjoyed it. Can't wait to see it on DVD when it hits Australia ( have seen it for sale in the UK). I hope that i missed episodes in the past so i can savor the delight of seeing them for the first time. In short if you can watch this Sssssuper Ssssseries Sssssires.

I was very fond of Arthur and the Square Knights of the Roundtable in childhood. For a while though with school, music commitments and broadening my movie-watching horizons Arthur and the Square Knights of the Roundtable was a childhood favourite that I forgot about. Until recently recalling childhood favourites and also having a friend who remembered the series fondly too and whose memories were admittedly stronger than mine. Re-visiting, I loved Arthur and the Square Knights of the Roundtable as much as I did as a kid. The character designs are a little rushed through and sketchy, however the colours and backgrounds are detailed and fluid, the colours are vibrant also and care did go into it. The music is brilliant, the theme song is a classic and the rest of the music is really catchy and never annoying, actually if there was anything that I did remember very vividly it was the theme song. As a kid, I did find the series very funny and lots of fun to watch, but from an older perspective not only was it still that but I was surprised and impressed by how surreal and ahead of its time it was(for the 60s), in a time now where the humour, gags and dialogue is distasteful or too safe that was a really nice and welcome approach. The stories are never dull, often breakneck in pace even, and always engrossing. For a history lesson, look elsewhere but for sheer entertainment value- which was what Arthur and the Square Knights of the Roundtable was always meant to be more like- you have a real winner here. The characters are wonderfully wacky, with deliciously offbeat villains, and the voice acting is done with great enthusiasm and verve, it was clear that the voice actors knew what the series was meant to do and they went for it bearing it in mind. Overall, an absolute riot, if you can find it it is well worth tracking down. 9/10 Bethany Cox

It's funny how far a little creativity can go... There is no way that the Austrailian (Really? Blew my mind when I found this out) authors of these zany pieces could have thought that kids in Africa living rooms would be tuning in to watch when it hit the screens of the Lagos State broadcaster TWO DECADES later, yet I and probably several thousand now-middle-aged Nigerians grew up watching endless repeats of a dozen or so episodes of A&TSKOTRT. I'm still wracking my head trying to remember the names of the haunting tune that was used for continuity (of course the Theme Song itself is indelible "...if you're locked up in a tower/he's at rescues on the hour/ he's Aurthur! Aurthur!) but there were one or two sax pieces which I can only vaguely grasp and it's KILLING ME to recall now. Anyway, I never tired of it then, and I'd bet my kids and I would still love it now...

to the other person who commented on Arthur and His Square Knights of the Round Table - yeah I was a huge fan of this cartoon when it was played in Australia in the late 60s and early 70s. For me it was right up there with the Warner Brothers stuff. But yes - it is obscure, but well worth tracking down. The characters are hilarious, the story lines mad and very much in keeping with the style of breakout lunatic comedy that was taking over British comedy at the time. It was sort of the cartoon equivalent of Marty Feldman and pre-python. The really interesting thing for me was the Australian connection. I knew the cartoon was British, but I never knew that great Australian actors like John Mellion and Kev Golsby did the voices. Inspired by the lunacy of programs like Arthur and His Square Knights, I went on to a career in radio creative and worked with both Mellion and Golsby on countless occasions. I wish i had known their link to this cartoon at the time. For anyone who likes their cartoons kinda loonie and slightly surreal but still with hilarious well formed characters, track down King Arthur and His Square Knights of the Round Table - it's worth it just for the jingle over the credits!! I'm trying to track down the lyrics - I can almost still remember them.