Themes: Wizards and Magicians, Daring Rescues, Obsessive Quests
Main Cast: Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, Freddie Jones, Nigel Hawthorne, Arthur Malet
Release Year: 1985
Country: US
Run Time: 82 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Walt Disney Pictures produced this ambitious, animated tale of sorcery and swordfighting. Taran (voice of Grant Bardsley), is an assistant to Dallben (voice of Freddie Jones), a pigkeeper in the mythical land of Prydain. Taran longs to be a knight, and he's given his chance to live out his dream when he is sent out in search of a magical black cauldron which can either be a powerful instrument of good or a bottomless fount of evil, depending entirely upon who should find it. However, Taran is not the only one in search of this talisman -- the Horned King (voice of John Hurt) wants the cauldron to shore up his sinister powers and raise an army of the dead, and with the help of the all-seeing pig Hen-Wren, the wicked one may make his hideous plans a reality. The Black Cauldron had the distinction of being the first animated feature from Disney to receive a PG rating from the MPAA, due to some frightening scenes of black magic. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The Black Cauldron is an unusual film from Disney that was supposed to mark a new era for its animation division. Instead, it failed at the box office and Disney would not recover until The Little Mermaid in 1989. A departure from the company's usual tendency to cheer up mythical stories, The Black Cauldron is an appropriately dark adventure-fantasy that benefits from the absence of any superfluous songs. Produced with a cruder animation style during the studio's rocky times in the late '70s and early '80s (starting with The Aristocats), it still looks excellent, filmed in 70mm and employing some computer animation enhancement. The story was based on two books from Lloyd Alexander's children's novel series The Chronicles of Prydain. Providing a predictable tale, it bears similarities to the Star Wars saga as well as a Raiders of the Lost Ark-style ending. Perhaps due to the PG rating, surreal settings, and evil characters, The Black Cauldron was a huge commercial flop upon its theatrical release, but it remains notable as an uncommonly risky Disney animated feature. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
John Byner - Gurgi/Doli; John Hurt - Horned King; Lindsay Rich - Fairfolk; Brandon Call - Fairfolk; Gregory Levinson - Fairfolk; Adele Malis-Morey - Orwen; Billie Hayes - Orgoch; Phil Fondacaro - Creeper; Wayne Allwine - Henchman; James Almanzar - Henchman; Eda Reiss Merin - Orddu; Pete Renaday - Henchman; John Huston - Narrator; Phil Nibbelink - Henchman; Steve Hale - Henchman; Jack Laing - Henchman
Credit
Viki Anderson - Animator, Ruben A. Aquino - Animator, Dale Baer - Animator, Sandra Borgmeyer - Animator, Hendel Butoy - Animator, Jesse Cosio - Animator, Andreas Deja - Animator, Charlie Downs - Animator, Tom Ferriter - Animator, Mike Gabriel - Animator, Mark Henn - Animator, Ron Huband - Animator, Shawn Keller - Animator, Doug Krohn - Animator, Phil Nibbelink - Animator, David Pacheco - Animator, Ruben Procopio - Animator, George Scribner - Animator, Alt Stanchfield - Animator, Barry Temple - Animator, Cyndee Witney - Animator, Phillip Young - Animator, Steven E. Gordon - Animator, David Block - Animator, Ted Berman - Director, Richard Rich - Director, Armetta Jackson - Editor, Jim Koford - Editor, James Melton - Editor, Elmer Bernstein - Composer (Music Score), Bob Hathaway - Musical Direction/Supervision, Richard Rich - Songwriter, Joe Hale - Producer, Ron Miller - Producer, Ted Berman - Screenwriter, Roy Edward Disney - Screenwriter, Vance Gerry - Screenwriter, Joe Hale - Screenwriter, Rich Hale - Screenwriter, David Jonas - Screenwriter, Roy Morita - Screenwriter, Richard Rich - Screenwriter, Rosemary Anne Sisson - Screenwriter, Art Stevens - Screenwriter, Al Wilson - Screenwriter, Pete Young - Screenwriter, Don Hahn - Background Artist, Lisa Keene - Background Artist, Donald A. Towns - Background Artist, John Emerson - Background Artist, Lloyd Alexander - Book Author
The film centers around the evil Horned King who attempts to secure the Black Cauldron in order to rule the world. The Horned King is opposed by the heroes Taran, Princess Eilonwy, Fflewddur Fflam, and a creature named Gurgi.
On the small farm of Caer Dallben, Taran (Grant Bardsley) is an Assistant Pigkeeper to the enchanter Dallben (Freddie Jones), with dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracular pig named Hen Wen is kidnapped by an evil lord known as the Horned King (John Hurt). The villain hopes Hen Wen will show him the way to The Black Cauldron, which has the power to create a legion of invincible undead warriors, (known as "The Cauldron Born"). With the aid of Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan), an exaggerating middle-aged bard named Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne), and a pestering but ultimately loyal creature called Gurgi (John Byner), Taran tries to save the world of Prydain from the Horned King. As the new friends face witches, elves, magic swords, and the Cauldron itself, Taran starts to learn what being a hero really means and that some things are more important than glory.
The Black Cauldron was the first use of the APT process in a film, which replaced Xerography at Disney. The most expensive animated feature made as of its release in 1985. It cost $25 million to produce[1], but grossed only $21 million at the North American box office[2].
The first Disney animated feature to employ computer-generated imagery, it was also the first animated film from Disney to get a PG rating from the MPAA,[1] and only after material was removed to prevent the film from receiving either a PG-13 or R rating.
The bulk of the cut scenes involved the undead "Cauldron Born", who are used as the Horned King's army in the final act of the film. While most of the scenes were seamlessly removed from the film, one cut involving a Cauldron Born killing a person by slicing his neck and torso created a jump in the film's soundtrack. Additionally, a scene involving Taran taking the magic sword and slaying his foes while he escapes the Horned King's castle for the first time was removed, as well as another scene with Princess Eilonwy partially nude as fabric was ripped off of her dress as she is hanging by her hands. Another scene cut featured a man being dissolved by mist.[3][4]
As of September 2009, a version of the film with the removed scenes restored has never been released. A version of the film with more cuts has appeared on the Disney Channel and Toon Disney.
The film was first released on July 24, 1985. The Black Cauldron remained out of circulation (both theatrically and on home video) for well over a decade. It was finally released on VHS on August 4, 1998 under the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection.
The film was re-released on VHS and DVD on October 3, 2000 under the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection. Though the R1 DVD is unrestored and non-anamorphic; the R2 release in France is restored, remastered, and anamorphic. The US DVD release includes the film's theatrical trailer, as well as a still frame gallery, the Donald Duck cartoon, "Trick or Treat," and a, "Quest for the Black Cauldron," set-top game.
Ultimate Disney has announced that a new Special Edition DVD release will be set to come out in June 2010 in the US and UK containing deleted scenes and other features.[5]
Reception
The film was a failure at the box-office [6], with some critics blaming the film's lack of appeal on the dark nature of the book. However, Roger Ebert's review of the film was generally positive.[7] Despite the film's lackluster reception, it has developed a cult following among viewers, and it has earned a score of 65% "fresh" at Rotten Tomatoes.
