THE BLACK CAULDRON A Film Review by Jon Turner Posted June 23, 1999
Rating: **** out of *****
I remember seeing the trailer of THE BLACK CAULDRON on the PINOCCHIO video. It really scared me, and I didn't want to go see it. However, after I heard about how wonderful it was, I wanted to see it. I didn't get a chance to do so, until now.
The film, Disney's 25th animated feature, opens with a menacing shot of a great black cauldron unshrouded by mist as a narrator begins to tell the tale: A long time ago in the land of Prydain, there was a King so evil, that his spirit was captured in the cauldron. It has been hidden for centuries, and whoever possesses it will have the power to conjure up an army of deathless warriors, and with them rule the world… and destroy it.
Then, we meet a farmer-wizard, Dallben, and his young apprentice, Taran. Taran dreams of being a warrior instead of being a `pig-keeper' (They have a pig named Hen-Wen). One day, as he gives Hen Wen a nice warm bath, the pig goes crazy, and Dallben then realizes, after watching Hen Wen's thoughts through a bucket of water, that Taran must hide Hen Wen in the forest. An evil ruler known as the Horned King is searching for the Black Cauldron, and only Hen Wen has the power to show its location.
Taran leads Hen Wen into the forest, but of course, he loses her, and tries to go find her. Along the way, he meets up with a mischievous little creature named Gurgi, who desires `munchings and crunchings', much to his dismay (besides, he stole an apple that Taran was trying to use to bring back Hen Wen). When he hears Hen Wen's squeal from far away, though, he races to her rescue–only to see her get kidnapped by dragonlike gwythants. Taran chases after the gwythants and finds himself staring at the Horned King's castle from far away.
Taran climbs the castle walls, and brings himself into the castle, where he attempts to rescue Hen Wen. He manages to do so, but he is himself captured and thrown into the dungeon. There, he meets Princess Eilonwy (and her magic bauble, another thing which the Horned King was hoping to use to find the cauldron), and the two escape through the deep castle walls. Along the way, Taran finds a sword in a burial chamber, and they rescue a comic bard named Fflewdurr Flamm, who has a harp whose strings break whenever he tells a lie. The three manage to escape the Horned King's castle, but not before Taran realizes that his sword is magic.
As they rest in the forest, Gurgi reappears, claiming to have found Hen Wen's trail. He leads Taran, Eilonwy and Fflewdurr, by way of `pig tracks', to a whirlpool. Suddenly, they all get sucked under, and they meet the fairy-like Fairfolk. Taran is reunited with Hen Wen, and informed that the Black Cauldron is hidden in the land of Morva. He then devises a crazy idea that if they can destroy the cauldron, it would prevent the Horned King from destroying their world.
With the help of a grumpy fairy named Doli, the four travelers manage to find themselves at a mysterious cottage. It turns out to be no ordinary cottage; three comically strange witches inhabit the place. When Taran tells them that they are searching for the Black Cauldron, they agree to let him have it–in exchange for his sword. Taran agrees, much to Eilonwy's horror, but at least they get the Black Cauldron. But… the cauldron can't be destroyed, only its evil powers can be stopped. The only way to do so is for a living being to climb into it of his own free will… never to return alive.
Things take a turn for the worse when the Horned King's henchmen capture Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewdurr, along with the Black Cauldron, and lead them back to the castle. Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewdurr watch in horror as the Horned King unleashes the supernatural powers of the cauldron to ressurect his army of deathless warriors (this is the most horrifying scene in the film, because here, a dead army comes alive…).
Just when all seems lost, though, Gurgi reappears, and rescues Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewdurr. Taran is about to jump into the Black Cauldron, but Gurgi stops him, not wanting him to throw his life away. Gurgi then jumps into the Black Cauldron, and the deathless warriors decay. Taran tries to find a way to rescue Gurgi, but he is forced to do battle against the Horned King. He kicks the Horned King away, who is then magically sucked into the Black Cauldron, where its powers immediately destroy him completely. Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewdurr manage to escape from the Horned King's castle just as it self-destructs.
The witches then reappear and attempt to take the now useless Black Cauldron away, but Fflewdurr stops them, saying that they `never give anything away, they bargain'. In response to this, the witches offer Taran his sword back, but Taran instead has a new trade: the cauldron for Gurgi. The trade is made; Gurgi's seemingly lifeless body reappears before the heartbroken group.
As Taran cradles him in his arms, though, Gurgi stirs-he is not dead after all! The happy group then returns home, where Hen Wen (brought home by the Fairfolk once the dangers are past), Dallben, and even Doli, await their triumphant return.
As spectacular as it sounds, THE BLACK CAULDRON really suffered a lot in its past times. Before Ron Miller was fired from his position as chairman of Walt Disney Productions, he had bought a novel by Lloyd Alexander called THE BLACK CAULDRON, a sword and sorcery tale for the studio. Bringing this book to the screen was the studio's fondest dream. Miller, who entitled himself as the executive producer, promised that they would do so after they had proved themselves on other projects.
When Micheal Eisner and his executives arrived at the Disney animation studio, the animators were struggling to complete THE BLACK CAULDRON. By this time, things had gone really rocky for the animation department. Many of the studio's old men had retired or died. Therefore, the animators suffered a hard time making this film. Originally budgeted at $25 million, the costs raised to $40 million because of constant changes on everything–and when it was finally released on June 24, 1985, THE BLACK CAULDRON was greeted by praising reviews from some critics, but somehow the film flopped. The film was rated PG and the film, although `Disneyfied' from Lloyd Alexander's CHRONICLES OF PRYDAIN (which is what this film is based on), was much more scarier and darker than Disney's other previous efforts, such as THE RESCUERS and THE FOX AND THE HOUND, which is probably why so many people considered it too scary and stayed away from it. In addition, other critics rejected it for having `no heart' and `unmemorable', compared to other Disney animated features. But whatever the real reason, THE BLACK CAULDRON was a financial disaster, grossing only $21 million. The failure of the film grounded the studio's animation department, and exiled the animation team to annex buildings in nearby Glendale, and it seemed like animated features would no longer become a part of the studio's reputation. The next two Disney animated features, THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE and OLIVER AND COMPANY, although a little more lighthearted than THE BLACK CAULDRON, didn't do much better (although OLIVER AND COMPANY grossed much more than THE BLACK CAULDRON and THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE). Only with THE LITTLE MERMAID did the studio regain its reputation for successful animated features.
As for THE BLACK CAULDRON, it was rereleased in some cities for a temporary time under the title TARAN AND THE MAGIC CAULDRON. Finally, the studio locked the film in the film vault and denied that it ever even was released. Because of all this, you might ask yourself, was THE BLACK CAULDRON really such a bad movie? The people who had seen the film didn't think so. In fact, many people had calls to Buena Vista Home Video requesting for the film, but of course, they denied it. For a while, it seemed like THE BLACK CAULDRON would NEVER be released to video… until September 1997, Disney released THE BLACK CAULDRON to video in the United Kingdom. Few people imported the video from England and converted to NTSC (including me) and for those who hadn't seen the film yet (I am included here), they got quite a treat. But people who had bootleg copies of THE BLACK CAULDRON noticed that in the scene where The Horned King raises his army of deathless warriors, about 12 seconds of ghoulish looking skeletons were slightly trimmed so that the film would get a U rating (in the UK, the U rating means Universal: Suitable for all ages, kinda like their own version of G). Somewhere online, a team of diehard THE BLACK CAULDRON fans signed a petition that said, `Bring Back The Black Cauldron!', and because of that, Disney finally decided to release the video to the United States. Before that time, rumors online had been made that the video would be trimmed, like the UK video, so that it would get a G rating, and that they would add in songs. Those rumors were put to rest when the Walt Disney Company announced that THE BLACK CAULDRON *would* be released in its PG rated version. Even still, when it was finally released to the US, some reaction was mixed. Some felt that it was indeed cut, but some felt that it wasn't. But these where only minor criticisms which seemed laughable, since a film that was absent for thirteen years was finally available.
As for myself, when I saw the movie for the first time (on converted NTSC video), I didn't expect much at all. In fact, I had heard so many mediocre things about it, that I didn't think the film would ever be such a good film. Much to my surprise, when I saw the first few minutes of the film, I was asking myself, "This is the same film everyone saw? The one that flopped at the box office? The one that critics and filmgoers alike called "a bad movie"? This doesn't seem like all of the above. Instead, it's a classic in its own right.
The film has a wonderful cast of characters. There's Taran (Grant Bardsley), an Assistant Pig Keeper who would rather be a warrior than a pig-keeper, the story's hero. The critics have said that Taran is not likeable at all, but the opposite is true. He is brave, loyal, and eventually learns a lesson about friendship later on. There's a likeable character here! Not that he's the only likeable character in the film. There's Gurgi (John Biner), a lovable little, uh, thing who remains loyal to Taran, even though they don't quite hit it off at first. But another likeable character is the bad guy comic henchman, a dwarf named Creeper (Phil Fondacairo), who is loyal to the film's imaginative and sinister villain, The Horned King (voiced gruesomely by John Hurt), yet he also fears his neck. The other characters, including the sidekicks, a spunky, but sweet princess named Eilonwy and the comic bard Fflewdurr Flamm, and three comically wicked witches who hide a dark secret, although pleasant and likeable, aren't quite as well rounded as they should be.
The story itself is an adventurous one, a quest involving the mystical pig, Hen Wen, the black cauldron itself, and an army of deathless ones with everything: a hooking opening to a spectacular finale. Elmer Bernstein's music also tells the story perfectly, in a dark, yet calming manner. The animation itself is surprisingly good considering that this film was created in the darkest time of the studios. Even though there are some occasional effects that are not quite good, like the ground opening when the Black Cauldron rises out of the earth, the animation overall is top notch.
Overall? This film is an entertaining endeavor. Fans unfamiliar to the Lloyd Alexander CHRONICLES OF PRYDAIN will get a kick out of this one, except young kids. There are some extremely scary scenes which are more darker than Disney's other films (although some consider the stampede sequence from THE LION KING and Frollo observing Esmeralda in the fires of hell in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME are just as scary), which is the main reason why this film is rated PG. Fans familiar to the Lloyd Alexander series will recognize the differences between the novel and the movie. Even though it doesn't have all of the ingredients of a true Disney film, this film is a classic in its own right, and deserves a far better chance than what it has been given.
That better chance has finally come. Whatever reason about why THE BLACK CAULDRON was such a big failure seems to have disappeared, and the film has finally achieved its place among Disney's most proudest achievements. I can't help but think though, whatever would have happened if THE BLACK CAULDRON *was* a box office success?
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