The Black Cauldron
Year: 1985
Directed by: Ted Burman & Richard Rich
Starring: Grant Bardsley, John Byner, Nigel Hawthorne, John Hurt & Susan Sheridan
Runtime: 80 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 31/05/21
Directed by: Ted Burman & Richard Rich
Starring: Grant Bardsley, John Byner, Nigel Hawthorne, John Hurt & Susan Sheridan
Runtime: 80 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 31/05/21
So far in my exploration of the Disney Animated Classics things have been generally on the up for the company. Whilst they certainly went through hardships during and shortly after World War II, for the most part Disney has been critically and financially successful, with many of their films improving on the last with nuances in the animation, story, or sound design. But The Black Cauldron is arguably the studios first major misfire; one that received a mixed critical reception and bombed at the box office, putting the future of the studio in jeopardy. So, what went wrong with The Black Cauldron, and is it a film that has improved with age?
Taran (Grant Bardsley), a young assistant pig keeper dreams of becoming the bravest and strongest knight in the land of Prydain. But when the pig he cares for, Hen Wen, has visions of the evil tyrant, The Horned King (John Hurt), returning to power, he must escape the farm on which he lives to take Hen Wen to safety. The Horned King seeks Hen Wen for her knowledge of the location of the mystical Black Cauldron; and despite Taran’s best efforts The Horned King finds this information out. Together with Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan), the bard Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne), and a dog like creature named Gurgi (John Byner), Taran must stop The Horned King from finding the Black Cauldron and using it to raise an army of the dead.
Taran (Grant Bardsley), a young assistant pig keeper dreams of becoming the bravest and strongest knight in the land of Prydain. But when the pig he cares for, Hen Wen, has visions of the evil tyrant, The Horned King (John Hurt), returning to power, he must escape the farm on which he lives to take Hen Wen to safety. The Horned King seeks Hen Wen for her knowledge of the location of the mystical Black Cauldron; and despite Taran’s best efforts The Horned King finds this information out. Together with Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan), the bard Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne), and a dog like creature named Gurgi (John Byner), Taran must stop The Horned King from finding the Black Cauldron and using it to raise an army of the dead.
So, the first thing to address is that The Black Cauldron is very much rooted in the fantasy genre, considerably more than any of Disney’s back catalogue. Any previous Disney fantasy tales have been rooted in mythology or fairy tales, whereas The Black Cauldron is based on fantasy book series The Chronicles of Prydain. In fact, it bears more than a few similarities to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth series.
The Black Cauldron is also quite dark and kind of disturbing at times. Despite this the film was still classified under a U rating by the BBFC, but in comparison to any Disney film prior the scenes of death and destruction are unparalleled, even with a few jump scares peppered throughout.
This jarring shift in tone from what audiences usually expect from Disney films is likely what played into it not faring so well at the box office, and it certainly feels justified today as it even took me by surprise at just how drastically different in tone The Black Cauldron is from any other Disney film. Whilst Disney animators had certainly been dabbling in darker material for some time, most notably with 1977’s The Rescuers and even 1981's The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron goes so far into this territory that it no longer feels like a Disney production.
Then there’s the story. The film is only eighty minutes long, which in comparison to most Disney films up to this point is relatively long, but it crams in far too much. The plot moves at the pace of a sprinting cheetah by quickly shuffling you from scene to scene and only giving you the briefest idea of what’s actually happening at any one time. It’s difficult to keep track of the story because of how quickly it’s told, and yet you reach the end of the film and feel like not a lot happened. It’s not a bad story as such, it’s just the way it’s told that makes it underwhelming.
The characters don’t have an awful lot of development, with main character Taran being a prime example, as all of his character development happens in the last few minutes of the film, and in a single line of dialogue.
The Black Cauldron is also quite dark and kind of disturbing at times. Despite this the film was still classified under a U rating by the BBFC, but in comparison to any Disney film prior the scenes of death and destruction are unparalleled, even with a few jump scares peppered throughout.
This jarring shift in tone from what audiences usually expect from Disney films is likely what played into it not faring so well at the box office, and it certainly feels justified today as it even took me by surprise at just how drastically different in tone The Black Cauldron is from any other Disney film. Whilst Disney animators had certainly been dabbling in darker material for some time, most notably with 1977’s The Rescuers and even 1981's The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron goes so far into this territory that it no longer feels like a Disney production.
Then there’s the story. The film is only eighty minutes long, which in comparison to most Disney films up to this point is relatively long, but it crams in far too much. The plot moves at the pace of a sprinting cheetah by quickly shuffling you from scene to scene and only giving you the briefest idea of what’s actually happening at any one time. It’s difficult to keep track of the story because of how quickly it’s told, and yet you reach the end of the film and feel like not a lot happened. It’s not a bad story as such, it’s just the way it’s told that makes it underwhelming.
The characters don’t have an awful lot of development, with main character Taran being a prime example, as all of his character development happens in the last few minutes of the film, and in a single line of dialogue.
On the topic of dialogue, whilst the voice performances are perfectly good, in fact are arguably better than most Disney films up to this point, but what’s actually said is awfully disjointed and simple. It’s a shame that this is the case, and it’s most definitely because the film moves so fast, meaning lines likely needed to be kept short and snappy but weren’t given the necessary depth to make the dialogue interesting to listen to. But as I just said, the voice performances are excellent with the likes of John Hurt and Nigel Hawthorne lending their talents, and it really does show in some of the more dramatic moments where these truly excellent actors can flex their talents.
The film continues the use of Xerography and it’s really starting to show its age at this point. Whilst The Black Cauldron keeps things interesting with some unique and interesting character designs, the way everything moves looks so similar to the previous Disney films that it really starts to restrict how the story can be visually communicated to the viewer. That being said it doesn’t look like much of a Disney film. It may be due to the film being considerably darker in tone and using mostly tertiary colours like browns and purples, but it does often feel like a lower budget film from a smaller animation studio, despite this being the most expensive Disney animation by a considerable margin when it was initially released.
The Black Cauldron has developed a small, dedicated cult fanbase over the years, but personally I found it was a film I struggled to find myself invested in. The drastic tonal shift was something I wasn’t expecting, and the way it chooses to tell its story made me frustrated as to why it wasn’t given a longer runtime to account for the more complex story. This combined with the ever-growing clarity that the Xerography style of animation had very much run its course by the late 70’s and is still being used in the mid 80’s only makes me grow tiresome of how the film looks too.
I would recommend checking out The Black Cauldron if you’ve never seen it before as it’s an interesting oddity in Disney history that is unlikely to ever be repeated. But I can’t see myself ever returning to it in the same way I do with many of the Disney Animated Classics.
The film continues the use of Xerography and it’s really starting to show its age at this point. Whilst The Black Cauldron keeps things interesting with some unique and interesting character designs, the way everything moves looks so similar to the previous Disney films that it really starts to restrict how the story can be visually communicated to the viewer. That being said it doesn’t look like much of a Disney film. It may be due to the film being considerably darker in tone and using mostly tertiary colours like browns and purples, but it does often feel like a lower budget film from a smaller animation studio, despite this being the most expensive Disney animation by a considerable margin when it was initially released.
The Black Cauldron has developed a small, dedicated cult fanbase over the years, but personally I found it was a film I struggled to find myself invested in. The drastic tonal shift was something I wasn’t expecting, and the way it chooses to tell its story made me frustrated as to why it wasn’t given a longer runtime to account for the more complex story. This combined with the ever-growing clarity that the Xerography style of animation had very much run its course by the late 70’s and is still being used in the mid 80’s only makes me grow tiresome of how the film looks too.
I would recommend checking out The Black Cauldron if you’ve never seen it before as it’s an interesting oddity in Disney history that is unlikely to ever be repeated. But I can’t see myself ever returning to it in the same way I do with many of the Disney Animated Classics.