The Black Cauldron (1985)

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

Directors:

Ted Berman, Richard Rich

Writers:

Lloyd Alexander (novel), David Jonas (story)

Stars:

Grant Bardsley, Freddie Jones, Susan Sheridan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)
James Almanzar	...	Henchman (voice)

Storyline

Centuries ago, in the land of Prydain, a young man named Taran is given the task of protecting Hen Wen, a magical oracular pig, who knows the location of the mystical black cauldron. This is not an easy task, for The Evil Horned King will stop at nothing to get the cauldron.

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Plot Keywords:

cauldron | lie detector | teenage boy | celt | dwarf | 

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Taglines:

Magic twelve years in the making. Magic that will live forever.

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some scary images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 July 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Taran and the Magic Cauldron

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$44,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,180,110, 28 July 1985

Gross USA:

$21,288,692

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Silver Screen Partners II

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Internet rumors, Disney actually planned to release this film on VHS as early as 1990, but the release was cancelled, to make room for the video debut of The Little Mermaid (1989). No legitimate evidence exists to back up these allegations.

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Goofs

As the Horned King prepares to activate the Cauldron, he first pulls away the tarp over the cart of dead warriors. The next shot shows the Horned King already holding up one of the corpses over his head.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Legend has it, in the mystic land of Prydain, there was once a king so cruel and so evil, that even the Gods feared him. Since no prison could hold him, he was thrown alive into a crucible of molten iron. There his demonic spirit was captured in the form of a great, Black Cauldron. For uncounted centuries, the Black Cauldron lay hidden, waiting, while evil men searched for it, knowing whoever possessed it would have the power to resurrect an army of deathless warriors... and with ...

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening or cast and crew credits.

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Connections

Referenced in The Ben Shapiro Show: Hillary's Big Blame Game (2017)

User Reviews

worth seeing, not for children at all. Really fun.

"The Black Cauldron" certainly doesn't fall into the genre of animated Disney family favorite, but instead feels much like the more grim and complicated fantasy films that were made in the eighties. Does it stack up to such films as "Return To Oz" and "The Dark Crystal"? Well, although not as complex as the aformentioned, this film is not without its charm.

The story of Taran, the pig-keeper's journey from gawky boy to gawky boy-hero apparently works better as told through the course of five books, and indeed it is the plot that feels put together, with a lot cut out of it for it's slim 1:20 running time. Also suffering because of the short time is any character development, or a reason why the charcter of Dallben (an old minstrel) are in the film at all. However, this film still has a lot going for it.

The film has a wonderful pacing to it with some fantastic action scenes. It is adventurous and fun. An engaing film for any fantasy fan. What really makes the film though is it's terrifying and dastardly villain, The Horned King. He is basically a Skeletor knock off with absolutely no sense of humor. He looks like he stepped right out of an Iron Maden album cover, and that is a monumental good thing. The true threat felt by the presence of this decidedly un-Disney character keeps the tension of the film high.

It is this contrast, between the unconventionally ghoulish villans (definatly enspirered by Bakshi's animated adaptation of "Lord of the Rings") and the stock Disney characters makes the audience care more-so for the cutesy characters than usual. This is especially true for the cutsey character of Gurgi, who is much more tollerable than almost all other Disney sidekicks and especially more tollerable than a certain J*r J*r B*nks that we have all been over exposed to lately.

So I would recommend "The Black Cauldron", it's a fun and well animated adventure film. Compleatly scary and strange for Disney to make, but still very very good for other reasons nonetheless.