The Sorcerer's Apprentice poem's story is alluded to in several episodes of the fairy-tale drama "Once Upon a Time", especially in "The Apprentice". A variation of the Dukas piece also plays in certain scenes. The apprentice himself is a recurring character, while the sorcerer is shown to be Merlin. The "Fantasia" version appears in the video game series "Kingdom Hearts", with the sorcerer Yen Sid serving as an adviser to the heroes, teaching Mickey, Sora, and Riku the Keyblade skills needed to guard the universe from his former friend Xehanort's plan. A world based on the "Fantasia" version also appears throughout the series,
The Sorcerer modern audience why a baronet cannot marry a pew-opener, while in the Victorian era it was self-evident. Also, the humour in the piece relies in many instances on parodies of operatic conventions that may be unfamiliar to some audiences. In 1913, E. J. Dent wrote in reference to "The Sorcerer": "It seems as if a course of Mozart in English might be the best preliminary step towards educating our on-coming public to a really intelligent appreciation of Sullivan". Gilbert scholar Andrew Crowther argues that while both "The Sorcerer" and "H.M.S. Pinafore" satirise the idea of love levelling all ranks, the