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:

Hidden by darkness. Guarded by witches. Discovered by a boy. Stolen by a king. Whoever owns it will rule the world. Or destroy it.

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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 Portuguese

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

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Goofs

When Taran is opening the gate to the drain before the castle is destroyed, the gate can be seen through his hands and the chains.

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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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Alternate Versions

The version of the film released to theaters omits numerous fully animated scenes that include shots of graphic violence as Taran fights his way out of the castle and shots of Eilonwy sporting ripped garments as she's hanging for her life with Taran and Fflewddur. The most well-known deleted scene, due to a clumsy jump that it left in the film's soundtrack and a cel of the infamous scene appearing online, is that of a man being mauled by one of the Cauldron-born.

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Connections

Referenced in Army of Darkness (1992)

User Reviews

Doesn't deserve to be dismissed as harshly as it has been

Always curious about The Black Cauldron, I finally got around to it after seeing a DVD at the rental store. Despite a lot of grating elements, I ended up liking it overall.

The movie starts off on the wrong foot. The voices come across as recorded at low fidelity, and when combined with the sometimes hard-to-understand British accents, can be somewhat off-putting. Issues with voice and script become even more pronounced with characters such as Gurgi and his Gollum-esquire speech patterns. Indeed, the second time I watched the DVD I threw the English subtitles on, and not just for Gurgi.

Other problems with voicing include an exceedingly dull lead actor for Taran (he simply can't emote), and an overly chirpy female lead for Eilonwy.

Most other elements of the film proved passable if predictable in the Disney mold of plot, hero design, sidekicks, etc. Where it branches out for the better is in avoiding any and all musical interludes and along the way offering some scenarios and graphic effects that are more mature than most other Disney animated feature films (though later in the '90s the likes of The Lion King, Hunchback, and Tarzan would also tangle with mature themes).

Animation is also spectacularly mixed in quality, an odd distinction among Disney films but a distinction nonetheless. Usually solid, there are high points such as external shots of a dark castle or a visceral chase sequence. There are also low points such as unnatural shifts in hair color that overemphasize different environments, or obvious spots where animation was rushed (a rock slide sequence).

Yet for all these lows and highs, as an animation fan I ended up siding with the high points. Many sequences are inviting to re-watch, even if the entirety of the movie may not be. For all the talk of failure that continues to surround this movie, one can see in the film itself elements of a more mature Disney that could have been extremely promising with a more seasoned batch of animators and a world less hostile to PG animated fare.