The Black Cauldron Reviews
Daniel Mumby
Super Reviewer
October 5, 2012
In this respect The Black Cauldron is pretty much unique. It flopped on its original release, being beaten by The Care Bears Movie on opening weekend (ouch). Since then it has gained a small but devoted following, which hold it either to be an underrated Disney effort or a minor classic in its own right. The film is still riddled with problems, like many of the cult films I've reviewed in the past, but in the end there is enough interesting stuff in there to make the experience worthwhile.
It's fair to assume that a large amount of The Black Cauldron's cult appeal stems from its visual departure from the Disney norm. For people of my generation, who grew up during the Renaissance, you wouldn't look at this film and automatically assume that it came from the same people who made The Little Mermaid. Even when we take the paler aesthetic of the 1970s into account, The Black Cauldron still feels on first impression, like it has crept into the Disney canon under the radar.
The animation is reflective of the film as a whole, containing several pockets of brightness and invention which are struggling to get out of a greyer, more ordinary environment. The film was one of the first to utilise CG animation alongside conventional hand-drawn work, with most of the cauldron's movements being mapped with a computer. The hand-drawn style itself is somewhere between Ralph Bakshi and The Sword in the Stone, using pinks, purples and especially greens to create a ghoulish, unsettling feel.
What's ironic about The Black Cauldron's reputation is that it is probably the most closely-rooted in fairy tales that Disney has been since the Golden Age. The film is based on the first two books in Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain, which drew strongly on Welsh folk tales and the fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien. Even though its adaptation is characteristically loose, all the familiar hallmarks are there - creepy woods, dark magic, spooky castles, princesses, young warriors and plenty of good music to both offset and accompany the action.
The film is also notable for its relatively stellar cast. While other Disney films of the period were lucky if they could secure one big name star, The Black Cauldron has a very solid and rounded supporting cast. Nigel Hawthorne, just before his defining role in Yes, Minister, is a very good fit for Fflewddur Fflam (try spelling that on a pub quiz). He brings an entertaining combination of cowardice and eloquence, playing off his lie-detecting harp very well. And then there's John Hurt, who is no stranger to fantasy, having played Aragorn in Bakshi's Lord of the Rings and later being the host of Jim Henson's Storyteller series.
Hurt's performance as the Horned King brings us on to the next big plus: the film has a genuinely scary villain. In my review of Oliver & Company, I complained that Sykes was never really convincing as a villain: his methods were illogical and his end seemed totally improvised. The Horned King is a lot scarier, in both his ends and his means; while Sykes was ultimately holding a cat to ransom, he wants to enslave the world with an army of deathless warriors. Hurt doesn't often play villains very often, but he is quite adept at it, using his gravelly voice to compliment the King's intimidating physique. His death scene is one of the most graphic in Disney history: he doesn't just fall off a cliff or get stabbed, he gets his skin ripped clean off his bones and his body disintegrated by pure, concentrated evil.
Somewhere in The Black Cauldon, there is a genuinely dark, creepy and interesting story. Coming in the year that gave us Re-Animator and George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, it is effectively a zombie film for children. The film departs from Romero's template in several ways: it doesn't introduce the zombies right away, there's a conscious attempt to moralise the heroes' actions, and the zombies are not overtly symbolic of anything. But nonetheless it is striking how close to horror the film treads, and how straight it plays its subject matter.
Unfortunately, the intrigue caused by this realisation also illuminates the film's many shortcomings. For all the moments in which it takes a brave step forward into grown-up horror territory, there are at least as many moments in which it retreats into the safety of convention, or stands around wondering what it really is. The film can't quite decide exactly how dark it wants to be, or even what it wants to be about.
A lot of the blame for this can be laid on Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was appointed as Disney Chairman during post-production. Upon seeing the rough cut, Katzenberg demanded that the film be severely cut, feeling that its more graphic scenes would deter Disney's target audience. When he encountered resistance, Katzenberg pushed the release date back six months and personally removed 12 minutes of footage, shortening the 'Cauldron Born' scenes and omitting several deaths. Not only are the changes obvious from the jumps in Elmer Bernstein's soundtrack, but they also make no sense considering that the Horned King's death remains in all its glory. If Princess Mononoke can have decapitation scenes and still get a PG, it's hard to see how removing these scenes would have helped the film's chances.
Even without Katzenberg's changes, however, the storytelling in The Black Cauldron is all over the place. We get vague inclinations of the Horned King's plan in the opening section but then the film wanders off into light-hearted slapstick and awkward character drama. From here on in, the horror elements feel like a more interesting film, running parallel with ours and occasionally trying to break in. We stay with our leads for so long that the 'Cauldron Born' aren't introduced until the end, and they don't hang around long enough to demonstrate how monstrous they are.
The film also suffers from having too many characters. While Fflewddur Fflam is enjoyable in his own right, the main protagonists are barely developed and largely unlikeable. Taran spends most of his time either moping or showing off, and Princess Eilonwy is pretty bland. Gurgi, Doni and Eilonwy's bauble all fight for the role of official sidekick, but the film never finds a good enough use for any of them, and so they come and go according to plot convenience.
While the visuals of The Black Cauldron are creepy in places, they are also quite derivative. Like the Wolfgang Reitherman efforts of the 1970s, there are numerous examples of Disney ripping off its own back catalogue. The shots of Henwyn the pig in water are clearly inspired by Dumbo getting drunk, while many of the landscape shots are borrowed directly from Snow White. But to be fair, accusations about the bauble being a rip-off of Navi are misplaced, since the first Legend of Zelda game was still a year away.
The Black Cauldron is a flawed but interesting effort from Disney which is thoroughly deserving of its cult status. There is a darker, braver film somewhere in here which has been either covered up by Disney convention or cut out wrongfully by Katzenberg. But when the darkness does break through, it comes to life as both a return to the deep well of fairy tales and an intriguing tonal departure. It is, in the end, as enjoyably flawed as Labyrinth, and that, in and of itself, is no bad thing.
The words 'Disney' and 'cult classic' are very rarely seen together. Disney has had its fair share of commercial failures over the years, but for the most part these have been in some way down to the product itself, rather than an inability to market it. Likewise Disney's reputation as the bastion of all that is bright, charming and safe is a million miles from the lexicon of cult classics. These are, by and large, films that you can't evoke without using words like 'dark', 'strange', 'edgy' or 'weird' - in short, they are often films that you wouldn't show to children.
In this respect The Black Cauldron is pretty much unique. It flopped on its original release, being beaten by The Care Bears Movie on opening weekend (ouch). Since then it has gained a small but devoted following, which hold it either to be an underrated Disney effort or a minor classic in its own right. The film is still riddled with problems, like many of the cult films I've reviewed in the past, but in the end there is enough interesting stuff in there to make the experience worthwhile.
It's fair to assume that a large amount of The Black Cauldron's cult appeal stems from its visual departure from the Disney norm. For people of my generation, who grew up during the Renaissance, you wouldn't look at this film and automatically assume that it came from the same people who made The Little Mermaid. Even when we take the paler aesthetic of the 1970s into account, The Black Cauldron still feels on first impression, like it has crept into the Disney canon under the radar.
The animation is reflective of the film as a whole, containing several pockets of brightness and invention which are struggling to get out of a greyer, more ordinary environment. The film was one of the first to utilise CG animation alongside conventional hand-drawn work, with most of the cauldron's movements being mapped with a computer. The hand-drawn style itself is somewhere between Ralph Bakshi and The Sword in the Stone, using pinks, purples and especially greens to create a ghoulish, unsettling feel.
What's ironic about The Black Cauldron's reputation is that it is probably the most closely-rooted in fairy tales that Disney has been since the Golden Age. The film is based on the first two books in Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain, which drew strongly on Welsh folk tales and the fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien. Even though its adaptation is characteristically loose, all the familiar hallmarks are there - creepy woods, dark magic, spooky castles, princesses, young warriors and plenty of good music to both offset and accompany the action.
The film is also notable for its relatively stellar cast. While other Disney films of the period were lucky if they could secure one big name star, The Black Cauldron has a very solid and rounded supporting cast. Nigel Hawthorne, just before his defining role in Yes, Minister, is a very good fit for Fflewddur Fflam (try spelling that on a pub quiz). He brings an entertaining combination of cowardice and eloquence, playing off his lie-detecting harp very well. And then there's John Hurt, who is no stranger to fantasy, having played Aragorn in Bakshi's Lord of the Rings and later being the host of Jim Henson's Storyteller series.
Hurt's performance as the Horned King brings us on to the next big plus: the film has a genuinely scary villain. In my review of Oliver & Company, I complained that Sykes was never really convincing as a villain: his methods were illogical and his end seemed totally improvised. The Horned King is a lot scarier, in both his ends and his means; while Sykes was ultimately holding a cat to ransom, he wants to enslave the world with an army of deathless warriors. Hurt doesn't often play villains very often, but he is quite adept at it, using his gravelly voice to compliment the King's intimidating physique. His death scene is one of the most graphic in Disney history: he doesn't just fall off a cliff or get stabbed, he gets his skin ripped clean off his bones and his body disintegrated by pure, concentrated evil.
Somewhere in The Black Cauldon, there is a genuinely dark, creepy and interesting story. Coming in the year that gave us Re-Animator and George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, it is effectively a zombie film for children. The film departs from Romero's template in several ways: it doesn't introduce the zombies right away, there's a conscious attempt to moralise the heroes' actions, and the zombies are not overtly symbolic of anything. But nonetheless it is striking how close to horror the film treads, and how straight it plays its subject matter.
Unfortunately, the intrigue caused by this realisation also illuminates the film's many shortcomings. For all the moments in which it takes a brave step forward into grown-up horror territory, there are at least as many moments in which it retreats into the safety of convention, or stands around wondering what it really is. The film can't quite decide exactly how dark it wants to be, or even what it wants to be about.
A lot of the blame for this can be laid on Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was appointed as Disney Chairman during post-production. Upon seeing the rough cut, Katzenberg demanded that the film be severely cut, feeling that its more graphic scenes would deter Disney's target audience. When he encountered resistance, Katzenberg pushed the release date back six months and personally removed 12 minutes of footage, shortening the 'Cauldron Born' scenes and omitting several deaths. Not only are the changes obvious from the jumps in Elmer Bernstein's soundtrack, but they also make no sense considering that the Horned King's death remains in all its glory. If Princess Mononoke can have decapitation scenes and still get a PG, it's hard to see how removing these scenes would have helped the film's chances.
Even without Katzenberg's changes, however, the storytelling in The Black Cauldron is all over the place. We get vague inclinations of the Horned King's plan in the opening section but then the film wanders off into light-hearted slapstick and awkward character drama. From here on in, the horror elements feel like a more interesting film, running parallel with ours and occasionally trying to break in. We stay with our leads for so long that the 'Cauldron Born' aren't introduced until the end, and they don't hang around long enough to demonstrate how monstrous they are.
The film also suffers from having too many characters. While Fflewddur Fflam is enjoyable in his own right, the main protagonists are barely developed and largely unlikeable. Taran spends most of his time either moping or showing off, and Princess Eilonwy is pretty bland. Gurgi, Doni and Eilonwy's bauble all fight for the role of official sidekick, but the film never finds a good enough use for any of them, and so they come and go according to plot convenience.
While the visuals of The Black Cauldron are creepy in places, they are also quite derivative. Like the Wolfgang Reitherman efforts of the 1970s, there are numerous examples of Disney ripping off its own back catalogue. The shots of Henwyn the pig in water are clearly inspired by Dumbo getting drunk, while many of the landscape shots are borrowed directly from Snow White. But to be fair, accusations about the bauble being a rip-off of Navi are misplaced, since the first Legend of Zelda game was still a year away.
The Black Cauldron is a flawed but interesting effort from Disney which is thoroughly deserving of its cult status. There is a darker, braver film somewhere in here which has been either covered up by Disney convention or cut out wrongfully by Katzenberg. But when the darkness does break through, it comes to life as both a return to the deep well of fairy tales and an intriguing tonal departure. It is, in the end, as enjoyably flawed as Labyrinth, and that, in and of itself, is no bad thing.
The words 'Disney' and 'cult classic' are very rarely seen together. Disney has had its fair share of commercial failures over the years, but for the most part these have been in some way down to the product itself, rather than an inability to market it. Likewise Disney's reputation as the bastion of all that is bright, charming and safe is a million miles from the lexicon of cult classics. These are, by and large, films that you can't evoke without using words like 'dark', 'strange', 'edgy' or 'weird' - in short, they are often films that you wouldn't show to children.
In this respect The Black Cauldron is pretty much unique. It flopped on its original release, being beaten by The Care Bears Movie on opening weekend (ouch). Since then it has gained a small but devoted following, which hold it either to be an underrated Disney effort or a minor classic in its own right. The film is still riddled with problems, like many of the cult films I've reviewed in the past, but in the end there is enough interesting stuff in there to make the experience worthwhile.
It's fair to assume that a large amount of The Black Cauldron's cult appeal stems from its visual departure from the Disney norm. For people of my generation, who grew up during the Renaissance, you wouldn't look at this film and automatically assume that it came from the same people who made The Little Mermaid. Even when we take the paler aesthetic of the 1970s into account, The Black Cauldron still feels on first impression, like it has crept into the Disney canon under the radar.
The animation is reflective of the film as a whole, containing several pockets of brightness and invention which are struggling to get out of a greyer, more ordinary environment. The film was one of the first to utilise CG animation alongside conventional hand-drawn work, with most of the cauldron's movements being mapped with a computer. The hand-drawn style itself is somewhere between Ralph Bakshi and The Sword in the Stone, using pinks, purples and especially greens to create a ghoulish, unsettling feel.
What's ironic about The Black Cauldron's reputation is that it is probably the most closely-rooted in fairy tales that Disney has been since the Golden Age. The film is based on the first two books in Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain, which drew strongly on Welsh folk tales and the fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien. Even though its adaptation is characteristically loose, all the familiar hallmarks are there - creepy woods, dark magic, spooky castles, princesses, young warriors and plenty of good music to both offset and accompany the action.
The film is also notable for its relatively stellar cast. While other Disney films of the period were lucky if they could secure one big name star, The Black Cauldron has a very solid and rounded supporting cast. Nigel Hawthorne, just before his defining role in Yes, Minister, is a very good fit for Fflewddur Fflam (try spelling that on a pub quiz). He brings an entertaining combination of cowardice and eloquence, playing off his lie-detecting harp very well. And then there's John Hurt, who is no stranger to fantasy, having played Aragorn in Bakshi's Lord of the Rings and later being the host of Jim Henson's Storyteller series.
Hurt's performance as the Horned King brings us on to the next big plus: the film has a genuinely scary villain. In my review of Oliver & Company, I complained that Sykes was never really convincing as a villain: his methods were illogical and his end seemed totally improvised. The Horned King is a lot scarier, in both his ends and his means; while Sykes was ultimately holding a cat to ransom, he wants to enslave the world with an army of deathless warriors. Hurt doesn't often play villains very often, but he is quite adept at it, using his gravelly voice to compliment the King's intimidating physique. His death scene is one of the most graphic in Disney history: he doesn't just fall off a cliff or get stabbed, he gets his skin ripped clean off his bones and his body disintegrated by pure, concentrated evil.
Somewhere in The Black Cauldon, there is a genuinely dark, creepy and interesting story. Coming in the year that gave us Re-Animator and George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, it is effectively a zombie film for children. The film departs from Romero's template in several ways: it doesn't introduce the zombies right away, there's a conscious attempt to moralise the heroes' actions, and the zombies are not overtly symbolic of anything. But nonetheless it is striking how close to horror the film treads, and how straight it plays its subject matter.
Unfortunately, the intrigue caused by this realisation also illuminates the film's many shortcomings. For all the moments in which it takes a brave step forward into grown-up horror territory, there are at least as many moments in which it retreats into the safety of convention, or stands around wondering what it really is. The film can't quite decide exactly how dark it wants to be, or even what it wants to be about.
A lot of the blame for this can be laid on Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was appointed as Disney Chairman during post-production. Upon seeing the rough cut, Katzenberg demanded that the film be severely cut, feeling that its more graphic scenes would deter Disney's target audience. When he encountered resistance, Katzenberg pushed the release date back six months and personally removed 12 minutes of footage, shortening the 'Cauldron Born' scenes and omitting several deaths. Not only are the changes obvious from the jumps in Elmer Bernstein's soundtrack, but they also make no sense considering that the Horned King's death remains in all its glory. If Princess Mononoke can have decapitation scenes and still get a PG, it's hard to see how removing these scenes would have helped the film's chances.
Even without Katzenberg's changes, however, the storytelling in The Black Cauldron is all over the place. We get vague inclinations of the Horned King's plan in the opening section but then the film wanders off into light-hearted slapstick and awkward character drama. From here on in, the horror elements feel like a more interesting film, running parallel with ours and occasionally trying to break in. We stay with our leads for so long that the 'Cauldron Born' aren't introduced until the end, and they don't hang around long enough to demonstrate how monstrous they are.
The film also suffers from having too many characters. While Fflewddur Fflam is enjoyable in his own right, the main protagonists are barely developed and largely unlikeable. Taran spends most of his time either moping or showing off, and Princess Eilonwy is pretty bland. Gurgi, Doni and Eilonwy's bauble all fight for the role of official sidekick, but the film never finds a good enough use for any of them, and so they come and go according to plot convenience.
While the visuals of The Black Cauldron are creepy in places, they are also quite derivative. Like the Wolfgang Reitherman efforts of the 1970s, there are numerous examples of Disney ripping off its own back catalogue. The shots of Henwyn the pig in water are clearly inspired by Dumbo getting drunk, while many of the landscape shots are borrowed directly from Snow White. But to be fair, accusations about the bauble being a rip-off of Navi are misplaced, since the first Legend of Zelda game was still a year away.
The Black Cauldron is a flawed but interesting effort from Disney which is thoroughly deserving of its cult status. There is a darker, braver film somewhere in here which has been either covered up by Disney convention or cut out wrongfully by Katzenberg. But when the darkness does break through, it comes to life as both a return to the deep well of fairy tales and an intriguing tonal departure. It is, in the end, as enjoyably flawed as Labyrinth, and that, in and of itself, is no bad thing.
The words 'Disney' and 'cult classic' are very rarely seen together. Disney has had its fair share of commercial failures over the years, but for the most part these have been in some way down to the product itself, rather than an inability to market it. Likewise Disney's reputation as the bastion of all that is bright, charming and safe is a million miles from the lexicon of cult classics. These are, by and large, films that you can't evoke without using words like 'dark', 'strange', 'edgy' or 'weird' - in short, they are often films that you wouldn't show to children.
In this respect The Black Cauldron is pretty much unique. It flopped on its original release, being beaten by The Care Bears Movie on opening weekend (ouch). Since then it has gained a small but devoted following, which hold it either to be an underrated Disney effort or a minor classic in its own right. The film is still riddled with problems, like many of the cult films I've reviewed in the past, but in the end there is enough interesting stuff in there to make the experience worthwhile.
It's fair to assume that a large amount of The Black Cauldron's cult appeal stems from its visual departure from the Disney norm. For people of my generation, who grew up during the Renaissance, you wouldn't look at this film and automatically assume that it came from the same people who made The Little Mermaid. Even when we take the paler aesthetic of the 1970s into account, The Black Cauldron still feels on first impression, like it has crept into the Disney canon under the radar.
The animation is reflective of the film as a whole, containing several pockets of brightness and invention which are struggling to get out of a greyer, more ordinary environment. The film was one of the first to utilise CG animation alongside conventional hand-drawn work, with most of the cauldron's movements being mapped with a computer. The hand-drawn style itself is somewhere between Ralph Bakshi and The Sword in the Stone, using pinks, purples and especially greens to create a ghoulish, unsettling feel.
What's ironic about The Black Cauldron's reputation is that it is probably the most closely-rooted in fairy tales that Disney has been since the Golden Age. The film is based on the first two books in Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain, which drew strongly on Welsh folk tales and the fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien. Even though its adaptation is characteristically loose, all the familiar hallmarks are there - creepy woods, dark magic, spooky castles, princesses, young warriors and plenty of good music to both offset and accompany the action.
The film is also notable for its relatively stellar cast. While other Disney films of the period were lucky if they could secure one big name star, The Black Cauldron has a very solid and rounded supporting cast. Nigel Hawthorne, just before his defining role in Yes, Minister, is a very good fit for Fflewddur Fflam (try spelling that on a pub quiz). He brings an entertaining combination of cowardice and eloquence, playing off his lie-detecting harp very well. And then there's John Hurt, who is no stranger to fantasy, having played Aragorn in Bakshi's Lord of the Rings and later being the host of Jim Henson's Storyteller series.
Hurt's performance as the Horned King brings us on to the next big plus: the film has a genuinely scary villain. In my review of Oliver & Company, I complained that Sykes was never really convincing as a villain: his methods were illogical and his end seemed totally improvised. The Horned King is a lot scarier, in both his ends and his means; while Sykes was ultimately holding a cat to ransom, he wants to enslave the world with an army of deathless warriors. Hurt doesn't often play villains very often, but he is quite adept at it, using his gravelly voice to compliment the King's intimidating physique. His death scene is one of the most graphic in Disney history: he doesn't just fall off a cliff or get stabbed, he gets his skin ripped clean off his bones and his body disintegrated by pure, concentrated evil.
Somewhere in The Black Cauldon, there is a genuinely dark, creepy and interesting story. Coming in the year that gave us Re-Animator and George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, it is effectively a zombie film for children. The film departs from Romero's template in several ways: it doesn't introduce the zombies right away, there's a conscious attempt to moralise the heroes' actions, and the zombies are not overtly symbolic of anything. But nonetheless it is striking how close to horror the film treads, and how straight it plays its subject matter.
Unfortunately, the intrigue caused by this realisation also illuminates the film's many shortcomings. For all the moments in which it takes a brave step forward into grown-up horror territory, there are at least as many moments in which it retreats into the safety of convention, or stands around wondering what it really is. The film can't quite decide exactly how dark it wants to be, or even what it wants to be about.
A lot of the blame for this can be laid on Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was appointed as Disney Chairman during post-production. Upon seeing the rough cut, Katzenberg demanded that the film be severely cut, feeling that its more graphic scenes would deter Disney's target audience. When he encountered resistance, Katzenberg pushed the release date back six months and personally removed 12 minutes of footage, shortening the 'Cauldron Born' scenes and omitting several deaths. Not only are the changes obvious from the jumps in Elmer Bernstein's soundtrack, but they also make no sense considering that the Horned King's death remains in all its glory. If Princess Mononoke can have decapitation scenes and still get a PG, it's hard to see how removing these scenes would have helped the film's chances.
Even without Katzenberg's changes, however, the storytelling in The Black Cauldron is all over the place. We get vague inclinations of the Horned King's plan in the opening section but then the film wanders off into light-hearted slapstick and awkward character drama. From here on in, the horror elements feel like a more interesting film, running parallel with ours and occasionally trying to break in. We stay with our leads for so long that the 'Cauldron Born' aren't introduced until the end, and they don't hang around long enough to demonstrate how monstrous they are.
The film also suffers from having too many characters. While Fflewddur Fflam is enjoyable in his own right, the main protagonists are barely developed and largely unlikeable. Taran spends most of his time either moping or showing off, and Princess Eilonwy is pretty bland. Gurgi, Doni and Eilonwy's bauble all fight for the role of official sidekick, but the film never finds a good enough use for any of them, and so they come and go according to plot convenience.
While the visuals of The Black Cauldron are creepy in places, they are also quite derivative. Like the Wolfgang Reitherman efforts of the 1970s, there are numerous examples of Disney ripping off its own back catalogue. The shots of Henwyn the pig in water are clearly inspired by Dumbo getting drunk, while many of the landscape shots are borrowed directly from Snow White. But to be fair, accusations about the bauble being a rip-off of Navi are misplaced, since the first Legend of Zelda game was still a year away.
The Black Cauldron is a flawed but interesting effort from Disney which is thoroughly deserving of its cult status. There is a darker, braver film somewhere in here which has been either covered up by Disney convention or cut out wrongfully by Katzenberg. But when the darkness does break through, it comes to life as both a return to the deep well of fairy tales and an intriguing tonal departure. It is, in the end, as enjoyably flawed as Labyrinth, and that, in and of itself, is no bad thing.
michael e.
Super Reviewer
December 20, 2011
As far as Disney animated films, this film follows that same kind of sketchy animation style that kept happening around the time of this films release, with such films as the jungle Book, Robin Hood and even a little of the rescuers and Winnie the Pooh, so the animation isn't all too impressive. But this film does have some interesting things about it in terms of design and scale, the main thing being the incredible gothic architecture and design of the Horned Kings palace. This palace is just as incredible looking as say, Maleficent's castle in Sleeping Beauty in terms of the gothic angles and the dark lighting in the rooms, and it just looks incredibly creepy. The main design that really steals the show for me is the design of the Horned King. Though he does have basically an emperor look to him he does have some defining features in his design that makes him stand out among other disney villains. his horns looking like tree branches is interesting and his creepy hands and face just add to the disturbingness of this character.
Now the voice acting is one of those things again like I've said, that has to be handled with care in these kind of films. It can either come off as serious or it can come off as goofy, this film has trouble juggling both. The films voice acting is decent but it doesn't reach the level say, Beauty and the beast reaches or even the level of dialogue that Sleeping Beauty reaches. The dialogue in the film both goes from being incredibly goofy to incredibly serious more often than it should, which does come off as a major problem. But the sheer power brought to some of the characters is fantastic, the main one being John Hurt as the Horned King. He is just so into this role and he just sells this movie just with this performance. The sheer power and slowness in his voice gives this demanding presence to his voice which says a lot for someone who sounds like he is whispering through a can.
Now one of the things I have a problem with in this film, and though it is a nitpick is the music. While I enjoy Elmer Bernsteins music, like Doug Walker said in his Disneycember review, "All I hear is Ghostbusters," and I really do agree with that, the music just sounds way too similar to songs from ghostbusters. it just sounds really distracting from the film. Its good music don't get me wrong but when you hear music that makes you want to watch another movie it gets somewhat irritating.
Overall this may not be one of Disney's best, but I do feel it doesn't get the real praise it deserves. Its better than some other Disney films like Oliver and Company and the Rescuers, and I think for that it deserves a little more credibility. If you're in for a dark and creepy looking animated fantasy adventure I'd say check this film out.
This animated Disney film takes place in a mythical medeival land called Prydain, which is ruled over by a tyrant under the name of the Horned King (John Hurt.) The kings plan is to gain control of a mythical and indestructible creation of the gods called the Black Cauldron. While this is happening a young boy named Taran (Grant Bardsley) dreams to be a knight and wanders off with his pet pig Hen-Wren, only for both of them to be captured by the ruthless king. Taran learns that this pig has the power to see into the future and the King plans to use this power to gain the advantage in finding the cauldron. Taran escapes with the help of a jester and a princess and the three of them have to get to the cauldron before the King can.
As far as Disney animated films, this film follows that same kind of sketchy animation style that kept happening around the time of this films release, with such films as the jungle Book, Robin Hood and even a little of the rescuers and Winnie the Pooh, so the animation isn't all too impressive. But this film does have some interesting things about it in terms of design and scale, the main thing being the incredible gothic architecture and design of the Horned Kings palace. This palace is just as incredible looking as say, Maleficent's castle in Sleeping Beauty in terms of the gothic angles and the dark lighting in the rooms, and it just looks incredibly creepy. The main design that really steals the show for me is the design of the Horned King. Though he does have basically an emperor look to him he does have some defining features in his design that makes him stand out among other disney villains. his horns looking like tree branches is interesting and his creepy hands and face just add to the disturbingness of this character.
Now the voice acting is one of those things again like I've said, that has to be handled with care in these kind of films. It can either come off as serious or it can come off as goofy, this film has trouble juggling both. The films voice acting is decent but it doesn't reach the level say, Beauty and the beast reaches or even the level of dialogue that Sleeping Beauty reaches. The dialogue in the film both goes from being incredibly goofy to incredibly serious more often than it should, which does come off as a major problem. But the sheer power brought to some of the characters is fantastic, the main one being John Hurt as the Horned King. He is just so into this role and he just sells this movie just with this performance. The sheer power and slowness in his voice gives this demanding presence to his voice which says a lot for someone who sounds like he is whispering through a can.
Now one of the things I have a problem with in this film, and though it is a nitpick is the music. While I enjoy Elmer Bernsteins music, like Doug Walker said in his Disneycember review, "All I hear is Ghostbusters," and I really do agree with that, the music just sounds way too similar to songs from ghostbusters. it just sounds really distracting from the film. Its good music don't get me wrong but when you hear music that makes you want to watch another movie it gets somewhat irritating.
Overall this may not be one of Disney's best, but I do feel it doesn't get the real praise it deserves. Its better than some other Disney films like Oliver and Company and the Rescuers, and I think for that it deserves a little more credibility. If you're in for a dark and creepy looking animated fantasy adventure I'd say check this film out.
Matthew Samuel M
Super Reviewer
June 2, 2012
With no corny musical numbers and with the most terrifying villain in animated film history, The Black Cauldron transcends its genre and becomes a thrilling, medieval adventure film. The visuals are stunning, the characters are realistic in their interactions, and the story is wonderfully dark. Of course the film is known for bombing miserably at the box office, but let us not forget that the technique used in the film, ATP, was groundbreaking and earned its creator an Oscar.
Conner R
Super Reviewer
April 22, 2011
Stylistically, The Black Cauldron has little in common with the typical Disney movie. In many ways it works in a good way; it's nice to watch something without a musical element. However, it kind've lacks a lasting effect. A lot of this is cheesy, which could've been fixed with singing and dancing, but this is dead serious so it's hard to embrace a mystical pig. John Hurt's villain does stand out as a force to be reckoned with his Skeletor getup and trickery.
AJ V
Super Reviewer
September 6, 2010
My favourite Disney movie of the 80s, this fantasy adventure is awesome, and kids will love it.
3niR
Super Reviewer
October 18, 2010
This almost killed me! I have never felt this boring watching an adventurous scene.
Phil H
Super Reviewer
September 2, 2007
Starts of great, really promising but it kinda loses its punch half way through. It just goes alittle flat, the characters and look are amazing, the animation is good and the voices work well. The music is alittle uninspiring and the story is very old but it is unrated, the look saves it really.
KJ P
Super Reviewer
January 14, 2010
I cannot stand this movie! I don't know what it is, but it scares me!
Mr Awesome
Super Reviewer
April 23, 2009
It took 7 years and the combined efforts of 2 directors and 17 collected writers to come up with the disney turd known as The Black Cauldron, the story of a boy and a magic pig who must find the magic cauldron before the horned king can. Along the way they make friends with several colorful characters, including the annoying Gurgi, who manages to ruin the film much in the same way Jar Jar Binks ruined the first Star Wars prequel. But the voice acting is pretty bad all around, the boy hero never gets too excited over anything. The animation is equally bleh, characters don't run away from danger so much as they stumble away drunkenly. At one point, a fairy friend is added to the group, but nothing is ever done with him, until finally he gets fed up and announces he's leaving. I almost did too, but I stuck it out til the end. The ending, at least, is a little climactic, due mainly to an army of undead skeleton monsters rising up out of the cauldron, but this is all spoiled by an unwanted and unrequested resurrection scene. This represents the bottom of the barrel for Disney productions.
Luke B
Super Reviewer
March 21, 2009
Certainly one of the oddities from Disney's darker 80's period. The Black Cauldron is disappointingly bland in it's narrative. Boy must bring back a fortune telling pig, there's evil and there's sidekicks. They get captured, escape, and then get captured again. The villain is particularly disturbing and has one of the more traumatic Disney villain deaths, probably just after the Tarzan hanging. It should be praised for it's adult style but unlike Basil the Great Mouse Detective, it loses it's Disney charm. Not enough humour, action or adventure. But if you want to see a comedic sidekick sacrifice themselves, then this is the film for you.
FiLmCrAzY
Super Reviewer
November 29, 2007
he has a special pig that can sense danger as well as show where this caldron is the caldron is meant to bring back all the dark lords army and create havect on farmers and the other people and this boy stops this from happening
it is sooo worth a watch
i love this film its great you have a boy a pig and a dog thing and theres witched and ghouls and creeps but it reli good sweet and lovely
he has a special pig that can sense danger as well as show where this caldron is the caldron is meant to bring back all the dark lords army and create havect on farmers and the other people and this boy stops this from happening
it is sooo worth a watch
Lafe F
Super Reviewer
July 7, 2007
A young farm boy named Taran has a pig who fortells trouble for the world if the Horned King's Black Cauldron is not found and destroyed. Taran is assisted by a beautiful princess, an old minstrel, his magic pig, and a mischievious furry talking dog-like creature named Gurgi.
Various obstacles stand in their way, including three annoying witch sisters, the King and his guards, and the Horned King and his skeleton army.
The animation is astounding, drawn by Don Bluth (creator of Dragon's Lair video laserdisc). I love the scene where they meet a cave full of glowing rainbow pixies. The Cauldron pyrotechnics are astounding. The undead armies which rise from the cauldron are done in creepy slimey realism. Visually, it's a triumph.
The plot is a bit confusing and long. Little kids will get frightened and adults might get bored.
A truly magical Disney movie not-for-kids, because it has frightening skeleton baddies.
A young farm boy named Taran has a pig who fortells trouble for the world if the Horned King's Black Cauldron is not found and destroyed. Taran is assisted by a beautiful princess, an old minstrel, his magic pig, and a mischievious furry talking dog-like creature named Gurgi.
Various obstacles stand in their way, including three annoying witch sisters, the King and his guards, and the Horned King and his skeleton army.
The animation is astounding, drawn by Don Bluth (creator of Dragon's Lair video laserdisc). I love the scene where they meet a cave full of glowing rainbow pixies. The Cauldron pyrotechnics are astounding. The undead armies which rise from the cauldron are done in creepy slimey realism. Visually, it's a triumph.
The plot is a bit confusing and long. Little kids will get frightened and adults might get bored.
sanjurosamurai
Super Reviewer
January 23, 2007
the horned king is the scariest animated villian of all time, this movie was sweet
Frisby2007
Super Reviewer
February 28, 2011
It is an underrated Disney movie, but it's not hard to see why. I remember only watching a handful of scenes to this movie as a child, & thought I loved it. Re-watching it fully now, I really didn't like it as I hoped to.
Characters: They need work. We get plenty of sight from the main characters, but they lack any real characterization & depth. We don't get enough information on them, thus almost rendering them pointless. As for the main characters, I really couldn't stand Taran. I don't mind big dreamers, but Taran just pissed me off how he completely lost track of his assignment over his daydreaming fantasies, & loses the pig. Then we have Eilonwy, the princess of the story of whom we don't get any royal background to, & no usefulness in the story. Yes, she's a real princess, take that Pocahontas. Anyways, Eilonwy may be a princess, but we get no background on her & how she was imprisoned & banished from her kingdom, & she is completely useless in the whole movie.
Then there is Fflewddur Fflam, the weird character of the movie with the weirdest fucking name, & no sole purpose in the movie. Just like the other characters, he is useless, & has no story to him. And finally, we have Gurgi, an annoying little Chewbacca rip-off characters who only serves for one purpose in the movie, & that is to actually save the whole kingdom in the end.
The Horned King however, now that is one scary villain. He still terrifies me to this day. One of the scariest Disney villains ever made.
Animation/Coloring: It is lovely as it should be, & the dark coloring fits the movie perfectly. It was nice to see Disney go dark for once, & you can thank Tim Burton for the coloring in this movie. But it is too dark for kids, & the use of cgi really was killing the movie.
Plot/Story: One of the problems with this movie is the plot is set from point A to point B, & it can barely seem to stand still. Another problem is how disturbing it is. The sex involved with the gypsy, the large boobed witches, & the extremely dark theme is far too much for a kid.
The plot is set from point A to point B, & that doesn't work with many movies, & the story is completely rushed. We don't get enough time to see both sides of something when suddenly it jumps to the next part of the story. And there is also very little action in here, & the few scenes with action in them are completely ridiculous.
Music/Score: I guess it fits the movie just fine, but it would exaggerate a little. Can't say much on this one because I wasn't fond of it.
Dialogue: It was nothing special. Not much to say about it.
Final summation, it is an underrated Disney movie, & it's not hard to see why, & it's very dark & disturbing for kids. It could have been a guilty pleasure of mine, but it didn't work out. You're better off watching Pocahontas or Robin Hood. Disney should really consider re-adapting this movie.
It has the lovely animation a Disney movie should have, & Tim Burton's coloring in it makes it visually amazing, HOWEVER, the film is seriously lacking characters, & has a rushed plot.
It is an underrated Disney movie, but it's not hard to see why. I remember only watching a handful of scenes to this movie as a child, & thought I loved it. Re-watching it fully now, I really didn't like it as I hoped to.
Characters: They need work. We get plenty of sight from the main characters, but they lack any real characterization & depth. We don't get enough information on them, thus almost rendering them pointless. As for the main characters, I really couldn't stand Taran. I don't mind big dreamers, but Taran just pissed me off how he completely lost track of his assignment over his daydreaming fantasies, & loses the pig. Then we have Eilonwy, the princess of the story of whom we don't get any royal background to, & no usefulness in the story. Yes, she's a real princess, take that Pocahontas. Anyways, Eilonwy may be a princess, but we get no background on her & how she was imprisoned & banished from her kingdom, & she is completely useless in the whole movie.
Then there is Fflewddur Fflam, the weird character of the movie with the weirdest fucking name, & no sole purpose in the movie. Just like the other characters, he is useless, & has no story to him. And finally, we have Gurgi, an annoying little Chewbacca rip-off characters who only serves for one purpose in the movie, & that is to actually save the whole kingdom in the end.
The Horned King however, now that is one scary villain. He still terrifies me to this day. One of the scariest Disney villains ever made.
Animation/Coloring: It is lovely as it should be, & the dark coloring fits the movie perfectly. It was nice to see Disney go dark for once, & you can thank Tim Burton for the coloring in this movie. But it is too dark for kids, & the use of cgi really was killing the movie.
Plot/Story: One of the problems with this movie is the plot is set from point A to point B, & it can barely seem to stand still. Another problem is how disturbing it is. The sex involved with the gypsy, the large boobed witches, & the extremely dark theme is far too much for a kid.
The plot is set from point A to point B, & that doesn't work with many movies, & the story is completely rushed. We don't get enough time to see both sides of something when suddenly it jumps to the next part of the story. And there is also very little action in here, & the few scenes with action in them are completely ridiculous.
Music/Score: I guess it fits the movie just fine, but it would exaggerate a little. Can't say much on this one because I wasn't fond of it.
Dialogue: It was nothing special. Not much to say about it.
Final summation, it is an underrated Disney movie, & it's not hard to see why, & it's very dark & disturbing for kids. It could have been a guilty pleasure of mine, but it didn't work out. You're better off watching Pocahontas or Robin Hood. Disney should really consider re-adapting this movie.
DOCTOR P.
Super Reviewer
August 1, 2011
The animation is an improvement over the last film. It has a dark look that complements the film's tone greatly.
The Characters are for the most part bland and uninteresting. While no character is really annoying, none really becomes of much interest and it just gives little reason to care. Most of the time one is left to wonder which character is worth rooting for since none provide much reason to give support to, the audience is just expected to root for the hero because he's the hero, yet he is not given any interesting thing to do.
The story has a lot of problems, while it is darker then the usual Disney fare it manages to find its way of being of little interest to both kids and adults. It's to dark for the very young and it's not dark enough for adults. On the whole by the end it feels rushed and one is left wondering what happened, though some scenes are worth watching for the visuals it just does not offer enough to overlook it's problems.
"The Black Cauldron" has some nice visuals but it just does not offer much to follow it up with. While nothing happens that is sure to anger one, it just sits and never does much leaving much to be desired. It might've been a better film had most of the scenes that were obviously cut out(there are certain moments that just feel like scenes were edited) were left, though one will never know until Disney decides to release the uncut version.
Up Next: Sherlock Holmes the Famed- oh there's a mouse dressed up as a detective.
6th in the "Do it like Walt" Era
The animation is an improvement over the last film. It has a dark look that complements the film's tone greatly.
The Characters are for the most part bland and uninteresting. While no character is really annoying, none really becomes of much interest and it just gives little reason to care. Most of the time one is left to wonder which character is worth rooting for since none provide much reason to give support to, the audience is just expected to root for the hero because he's the hero, yet he is not given any interesting thing to do.
The story has a lot of problems, while it is darker then the usual Disney fare it manages to find its way of being of little interest to both kids and adults. It's to dark for the very young and it's not dark enough for adults. On the whole by the end it feels rushed and one is left wondering what happened, though some scenes are worth watching for the visuals it just does not offer enough to overlook it's problems.
"The Black Cauldron" has some nice visuals but it just does not offer much to follow it up with. While nothing happens that is sure to anger one, it just sits and never does much leaving much to be desired. It might've been a better film had most of the scenes that were obviously cut out(there are certain moments that just feel like scenes were edited) were left, though one will never know until Disney decides to release the uncut version.
Up Next: Sherlock Holmes the Famed- oh there's a mouse dressed up as a detective.
staindslaved
Super Reviewer
February 27, 2012
Going for darker tones and more stylish animation this Disney film fails to create any memorable characters or real lasting impression. Five minutes into the film and there's a fortune telling psychic pig (that's right pig) laying the groundwork for the plot. A fantasy adventure film that never branches out of its comfort zone and is ultimately uncompelling and uninteresting. It has easily become the most obscure Disney film ever made, one that seems to be buried deep in the Disney vault, behind a crate and above a dim lite lamp. I remember reading that this was the only Disney animated film not represented in any copacetic at any Disney Theme Park. Their was a rib stand in the Magic Kingdom years ago but it ultimately closed.
Suneel J.
Super Reviewer
December 1, 2011
A mediocre medieval adventure compared to other Disney classics. The characters are largely forgettable and poorly developed. They are neither likable nor funny with the exception of Gurgi. The plot lacks originality and emotional depth to any respectable degree. The climax is pretty horrible and doesn't make Taran out to be any sort of hero. The insertion of Eilonwy was highly unnecessary and doesn't add anything to the experience. The villains are all stock and don't compare to more famous Disney creations. The visuals are splendid for 1985 as you might expect and the voice acting is acceptable. At the end of the day, you can count this on the list of Disney failures, but it still entertains for the children.
Bradley J.
Super Reviewer
November 30, 2009
Most of the characters were there just to be there, but the movie is still a creepy, entertaining, and amazing adventure that is welcome in a Disney library. Overall Rating:67
Nick C.
Super Reviewer
March 9, 2010
This used to by my favorie one from Disney, I love darker films and scary ones too, and this film had them both, even though it didn't really scare me. Still the story was great, the designs look either joyfull or haunting, it truely is one of the darker films that the company that started with a mouse has released.
