The Black Cauldron (1985)

Directors:

Ted Berman
Richard Rich

Writers:

Lloyd Alexander (novel)
David Jonas (story) ...

Release Date:

24 July 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Seven years in the making - In the celebrated Disney tradition comes our 25th animated motion picture.

Plot:

A young boy and a bunch of misfit friends embark on a quest to find a dark magic item of ultimate power before a diaboical tyrant can.

Plot Keywords:

Tense | Prison | Lying | Psychic Power | Boy

Cast

Grant Bardsley	...	Taran (voice)
Susan Sheridan	...	Eilonwy (voice)
Freddie Jones	...	Dallben (voice)
Nigel Hawthorne	...	Fflewddur Fflam (voice)
Arthur Malet	...	King Eidilleg (voice)
John Byner	...	Gurgi / Doli (voice)
Lindsay Rich	...	Fairfolk (voice)
Brandon Call	...	Fairfolk (voice)
Gregory Levinson	...	Fairfolk (voice)
Eda Reiss Merin	...	Orddu (voice)
Adele Malis-Morey	...	Orwen (voice)
Billie Hayes	...	Orgoch (voice)
Phil Fondacaro	...	Creeper / henchman (voice)
Peter Renaday	...	Henchman (voice) (as Pete Renaday)
James Almanzar	...	Henchman (voice)

Also Known As:

Taran and the Magic Cauldron

MPAA:

Rated PG for some scary images.

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | South Korea:All | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10 | France:U | Sweden:7 | UK:U | USA:PG | West Germany:6 (w) | Australia:G (DVD rating) | Peru:PT

Filming Locations:

Llechwedd Slate Caverns, Llechwedd Slate Mine, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales, UK

Company:

Silver Screen Partners II

Trivia:

Hayley Mills was originally considered for the role of Eilonwy.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the swamps of Morva, Fflewddur Fflam is talking to Doli, who is sitting on his hat. On the first full shot of Fflewddur, Doli is not visible, although Fflewddur is clearly looking up at him. The next shot is a close-up of the hat, with Doli on it, then back to a full shot without Doli.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Legend has it, in the mystic land of Prydain, there once was a king so evil and so cruel, even the gods feared him. Because no prison could hold him, he was thrown alive into a crucible of molten iron. There his evil spirit was imprisoned in the form of a black cauldron. For untold centuries, the cauldron lay hidden, as evil men searched for it, knowing that whoever possessed it could unleash an army of deathless warriors, and with them, rule the world.

Movie Connections:

References Fantasia (1940)

I wanted to like it. I really did...

For years before I saw this film, I had been a fan of Lloyd Alexander's books. To me, The Chronicles of Preydain rank alongside Tolkien's Middle Earth and Lewis' Narnia as one of the greatest fantasy worlds of all time. Based deeply in Welsh legend and Mythology (many elements come directly from The Mabinogion, almost the bible of Welsh mythology) Preydain is easily one of the deepest, and most developed worlds out there. So, needless to say, when I heard that Disney had a film in the pipeline, I got very excited. Then I saw it...

I can't say that I hated it. More that I was disappointed. This wasn't the Preydain I knew. It was more a fairy tale kingdom than celtic Wales. And what did they do with the characters? Gurgi a cute fuzzy monster? Elonwy turned into a typical damsel in distress? And where were Coll, or Gwydon? I'm sorry, but I didn't know these people. The characters were all different? And what about the rich sense of legend? The books had been based deeply on mythology, but the movie took the first two books, sprinkled bits and pieces of them into a script, and added a ton of fairy tale and fantasy cliches.

I've always wondered what it is with Disney writers that makes them feel it necessary to screw around with anything and everything (witness the amount of "creative license" taken with Pocahantas or Mulan.) I'm sorry, but you don't have to have cute characters or happy endings on everything. But Disney's writers think that you must. And in this case, it cheapened the ending of the film. One of the major plot points of The Black Cauldron is that the cauldron can only be destroyed by a living person sacrificing themselves by throwing themselves into it. This was kept in the film. Yet, when Disney did it, they still copped out to the happy ending by having the three Enchantresses, Ordu, Orwen, and Oregch bring him back to life... Jeeze!

It went on from there. The absence of the true villan of the Preydain chronicles, Arawn, the lord of the dead, the turning of the fair folk (who in celtic mythology were more akin to elves and dwarves) into stock, albeit grouchy, faries.... The list goes on... Disney ruined one of my favorite stories, and I can't ever forget that. Even my love for Disney masterpieces like Beauty and the Beast or 101 Dalmations is tarnished by what they did to some of my favorite books of my youth...