Merlin has existed for centuries as the quintessential fictional magical figure. Recognizable by name even before the writing of Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory, the figure of Merlin pervades art throughout time, appearing in numerous books, paintings and films. While the general consensus persists that Merlin behaves as a wise and mysterious advisor, a second version of the character has emerged through animated children's films, most notably Walt Disney's The Sword in the Stone. This film's portrayal of Merlin as a whimsical and strange hermit who at times borders on madness has influenced many other adaptations of the character, including the one depicted in DreamWorks' Shrek the Third. While an eccentric and strange Merlin opposes his traditional characterization, the medium demands the need for Merlin to be presented in this way. Since the target audience for animation is generally children, the realistic and dark aspects of the character are abandoned in favor of entertainment and charm. This opposing characterization both adds and takes away from the canonical Merlin, violating the legendary perception of him and adding more depth and arguably more mystery to the character. J. Hillis Miller's “Narrative” argues that society craves the same repeated story, so distorting traditional aspects of the cultural figure not only adds a form of entertainment but also forces the new Merlin to act alongside the old. Due to animated films altering the character of Merlin, a dual characterization has arisen that adds to and takes away from the original Merlin described in the Arthurian legends and alters the character's overall canonical personality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Merlin in the Morte D'Arthur offers an example of the traditional "Merlin" figure. Sir Thomas Malory's wizard character is mysterious, wise and drives the plot. Upon his first introduction, it seems that Malory assumes that his reader already understands who Merlin is as he offers no character exposition and immediately inserts him into the action. Merlin then occasionally appears in the story, giving advice to King Arthur and exhibiting some magical power. Even when not directly in the story itself, other characters refer to Merlin with reverence and reminders of his power. Although Malory never explores the extent of Merlin's personality or power, he is stated to have powers of disguise and prophecy along with vast knowledge of both magical and real elements. Merlin himself never reveals aspects of his character beyond being a wise counselor who obeys his king, and little of Merlin's story is written in Malory's work. Unlike other versions of Merlin, Malory's character acts solely as the mysterious, sagacious and one-dimensional, static and one-dimensional sorcerer necessary for the plot to continue. While Malory's Merlin offers the traditional perception of the character, Walt Disney's The Sword in the Fire Stone introduced a different version of Merlin. Unlike the unexpected visitor role that Merlin plays in Morte D'Arthur, Disney's Merlin plays a much larger role in Arthur's life, essentially guiding him through the entire film. Although this Merlin also acts as an advisor to Arthur, he is simultaneously a friend and holds more power over Arthur and his decisions. He also possesses great wisdom, however, unlike the rigid and disturbing Merlin Malory presented, Disney's Merlin is silly, clumsy and absent-minded. While he possesses the power of prophecy, this ability, along with manyothers, it is not fully proven. This Merlin offers few mysteries, instead playing the role of an oddball old man. Despite the extreme discrepancies between Malory and Disney's characterizations of Merlin, the Disney version of the character has become quite popular, enough to be included in the Arthurian.parody.DreamWorks' Shrek the Third, a children's film that parodies the Arthurian legends, takes both the versions of Merlin previously discussed, falsifies the original and promotes the ridiculousness of the character introduced in The Sword in the Stone. DreamWorks' Merlin plays a small role in the plot itself, existing what appears to be just an opportunity to spoof another Arthurian aspect of the legends. Although the aforementioned Merlin played the role of Arthur's mentor, this aspect of Merlin is unnecessary in the film as the titular character Shrek fulfills this role. Instead, the film parodies this aspect of Merlin by portraying him as a madman, mentioning that he was once a teacher before his "nervous breakdown" (Shrek the Third). This Merlin eats rocks, is quite dramatic and wears clichés? Merlin's clothing: wizard's hat and robe, however, this is also faked. DreamWorks' version of Merlin is not the great and powerful sorcerer depicted in previous lore, but rather possesses more mediocre "special effects" type magic and doubts himself and his abilities. Even when he performs more advanced magic, it only partially works to add comedic elements to the film. DreamWorks' crazy characterization of Merlin represents how much the idea of ​​who Merlin is has changed over time, especially thanks to children's films. The extraordinary change in Merlin's characterization is mainly due to the need to adapt the character to the films' target audience. Generally designed for children, these films rely on stereotypical clichés to enable young audiences to understand the plot and characters. If the character of Merlin were the powerful and mysterious figure he is in Morte D'Arthur, he wouldn't fit into a children's film where generally the "good guys" are more light-hearted and open-minded. Since children's films appeal to certain types of characters, Merlin's personality must be changed to appeal to the target audience. Likewise, the animated style of the films requires a specific type of character that differs from the traditional characterization of Merlin. Since animation removes realism from the story, the realistic aspects of the characters must also be removed. Therefore, the original version of Merlin is abandoned in favor of a more fantastical adaptation to fit the medium; the loss of the realism associated with the dark and mysterious figure allows for the addition of more comedic and imaginative aspects of the character. Furthermore, if Merlin were similar to his Morte D'Arthur counterpart, there would be no shock factor for those who know the canon version of the character thus eliminating some of the comedy attached to him. This would also detract from the entertainment, making the target audience bored and unamused by seeing an adult as one would normally see in everyday life. Since this man is an elderly wizard, an authority figure in society, he must have a sense of absurdity in order to appeal to children and at the same time appeal to adults who know what the character normally is and add to the comedy/parody of the film ( S). Therefore, silly Merlin adaptations appeal to all audiences, both young and old, which also allows the characterization to become popular. By having such a ridiculous version of the character become so common in pop culture, this adaptation of Merlin violates the concept of Merlin. original canonical version of the, 1963.