The Black Cauldron (1985)

Despite growing up in the eighties, I seemed to completely miss Disney's 'The Black Cauldron' at the cinema and, during my numerous trips to Orlando's Disney World, I never really saw much (if any!) evidence that it even existed! I mention this because I watched it with an adult who DID see it when she was little, therefore she loved it, partly because she saw it through nostalgic eyes, whereas I merely observed it through an adult's cynical viewpoint.It's set in that well-known Disney cartoon world of magic and princesses and, in this case, apparently the story is based on an old Welsh tale (hence the vague accents which some characters attempt). A young boy is the custodian of a magic pig (yes, seriously - a swine even more powerful than Wilbur and Charlotte put together!), but this pig is wanted by an evil wizard who wants to use the pig to rule the world (and unleash an army of the undead, but I guess those two things are linked). So, when 'Babe' is kidnapped by the evil King's dragons and taken to his castle, it's up to our hero (and a couple of random others he picks up along the way) to rescue him.So, if you're thinking something along the lines of 'that's a lot of detail dedicated to the pig' then you're probably not the only one. It is a hard rasher to fry (so to speak), but, if you can get over that, it's actually a pretty good little fairytale. Yes, this means that it does suffer from all the typical fairy-tale tropes, i.e. the hero automatically bumps into a princess in need of a helping hand, a 'comic' sidekick and knowledgeable elderly helper.The characters are pretty generic, but their voice actors are decent enough to get by the - occasionally - by-the-numbers script and bring it to life enough to overlook any minor lapses. Nigel Hawthorne and John Hurt are some gravitas to the cast.I had nothing against any of the characters and was happy to enjoy them all... apart from Gurgi. There's a reason I placed the word 'comic' in quotes in my previous paragraph when referring to the 'comic' relief. Gurgi is, er, a thing - a cross between a dog, an Ewok and a Wookie and he is possibly the most annoying animated character ever committed to paint. When watching him I couldn't get Andy Serkis' CGI interpretation of Gollum in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy out of my head. Only Gollum was much darker and you could genuinely feel sorry for him, while at the same time being afraid enough of him because you knew he could turn on you at any moment. Gurgi is just annoying. Really annoying. I could say that the story's downfall is it's pacing - it is a bit hit and miss/stop and start, not quite knowing what it wants to be. However, for me, it's main flaw was simply this annoying little fur-ball. Yes, he's worse than Snarf from 'Thundercats!'It's hard to say whether I'd recommend 'The Black Cauldron' for kids. Yes, of course it's a classic Disney cartoon, however it is rather dark and there are some moments in there that may actually creep out really young children in a way that other similar films like Snow White and Cinderella don't.However, if you're looking for purely great animation and a decent enough little fairy-tale then this is definitely worth a watch. Oh, and I should probably mention that this is one of the few Disney cartoons that doesn't feature any music or songs throughout.

I was (and still am) a big fan of the books this movie is based on. Maybe that's part of the reason why I was kind of unimpressed by it.It had some good moments - the skeletal warriors were done up in a pretty cool manner, and the scene where Hen Wen is captured is rather well-done. I thought the voice acting was pretty good, for Dallben and Taran in particular. I think one major drawback of the film is that it tries to take a story that feels like a medieval legend and turn it into a typical fairytale. The animation of Doli and the Fair Folk is a prime example of this - they're turned into cute little fairies, almost like non- blue Smurfs with wings, complete with adorable child fairies - rather than the more classic kind of fair folk as being more like elves, dwarfs, or more naturalistic beings like dryads and the like. Gurgi got similar treatment. It kept Eilonwy's fiery temperament, but only at the beginning - by the end, she was just another damsel in distress relying on Taran (who, in the books, is kind of an idiot and always being told so) to pull them out of trouble. The scene in the Marshes of Morva was particularly disappointing, turning three very interesting and creepy characters into cartoonish, silly witches who somehow know of the heroes plans even though the heroes never spoke to them about it. The replacement of Arawn with the Horned King, who's done up like some kind of demonic living skeleton, is also disappointing - I guess just having a really evil guy was not good enough? They also left out major characters and plot points.Other drawbacks include sometimes-shoddy animation, and many overly drawn-out "adventure" scenes - chases around the evil castle, the wondrous but somehow boring discovery of magical fairy magicalness, the cauldron takes like 15 min or something to actually be destroyed, even them fleeing in a boat feels painfully slow.All in all, this movie has a few nice points and isn't super terrible, but it's also not particularly interesting.

I found this to be an excellent film!The voice acting was brilliant.The music was brilliant.The main characters (good and evil) were brilliant.The action was brilliant.Capable of making you feel emotion - happy, sad, baleful, hilarity, you name it.And I do love the fact that this is one of Disney's darkest.It's my favorite Disney film ever.And if you're gonna tell me "Read the Books!" don't bother. I tried the Books and they were horrible.

In the land of Prydain, Taran is the young assistant to Dallben. He doesn't understand why the pig Hen Wen is pampered. The evil Horned King is searching for the Black Cauldron which can create an invincible army of undead warriors. Hen Wen turns out to be an oracular pig who can reveal the location of the Black Cauldron. Dallben sends Taran away to hide with Hen Wen but the Horned King captures the pig. Taran is joined by pesky creature Gurgi in his rescue mission. Only he is captured and thrown into the dungeons where he joins Princess Eilonwy. They escape with bumbling bard Fflewddur Fflam.This is an old fashion Disney fantasy adventure with a little bit of CGI. The characters aren't that charismatic. They are out of a standard script with a young man, a feisty princess, a bumbling old fool and an animal sidekick. The pig is the one that keeps me scratching my head. I appreciate something unusual but it strikes me as very wrong. The old bard isn't as funny as he needs to be. I like Gurgi but I don't necessarily love him. This is fine but it is inferior to other Disney animated movies.