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,
Sorcerer (film) naive gesture of self-indulgence," and trivialized his effort to a mere attempt at remaking "his hero[,] Clouzot". David Badder, in "Monthly Film Bulletin", was of the opinion that even if the film had been truncated, it would not improve its quality. He described "Sorcerer" as "remarkably lacklustre", and did not appreciate the unstable tone of the movie which he called "impenetrably obscure". Additionally, he considered Scheider's role to be severely underdeveloped and "consist[ing] of meaningful stares off camera and mournful grimaces." On the other hand, "Sorcerer" garnered some acclaim from several major critics, including the "Chicago Sun-Times's" Roger Ebert, "The