In the book Sword in the Stone and in the movie "Excalibur", King Arthur and Wart are the heroes of the book and Merlin is the old wise man who helps Arthur and Wart to overcome the obstacles or the bad guys. In the book, Queen Morgan Le Fay and Madam Mim are two bad guys and in the movie the evil character is Morgana. In both, Sword in the Stone and "Excalibur" the old wise man, the heroes, and the bad guys display similarities and differences of archetypical character.
             In the movie and in the book, Arthur and Wart are very responsible and courageous. Wart shows his courage by going into dark woods to get Cully because he feels responsible for letting the bird free and he realizes that he must get the bird back to its owner. Arthur, however, shows that he is responsible by coming to a realization at the end of the movie, by acknowledging that the land and the king are one. After that he began to fix everything that was damaged over the years. Wart also came to a realization at the end of the book, he realized all the lessons he had learned and accepted the fact that he is the king and that he must rule the country. Arthur and Wart are also very eager to learn, instead of making Merlin use his magic and do everything for them, both of them ask Merlin to teach them how to be a better king and how "to be wise, not to be rash." (Quote Arthur says in the movie.)
             Unlike in the movie, Wart is very foolish and is not mature enough because he is still a kid. In the movie, however, Arthur is older and he has already learned his lessons and therefore is faced with bigger decisions, than Wart is. Arthur does not rely on Merlin's magic as much as Wart does, Arthur just asks for Merlin's advice, but Wart on the other hand is still learning through Merlin's magic.
             In the book and in the movie, Merlin plays the old wise man, he is clever and wise, and he has a lot of experience. Moreover, in the mo...