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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.Written by
Kelly
Tim Burton's only other involvement with a full length Disney animated film, before he became a filmmaker in his own right. He did however produce 3 short films for Disney before The Black Cauldron's debut (Vincent, Frankeweenie, and Hansel & Gretel). See more »
Goofs
As Creeper prepares the Horned King's drink, the goblet changes colors between shots. See more »
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. See more »
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. See more »
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...
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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...