The Black Cauldron (1985)
Starring: Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, Nigel Hawthorne, John Byner, John Hurt, Freddie Jones, Arthur Malet, Eda Reiss Merin, Adele Malis-Morey, Billie Hayes, Phil Fondacaro, Peter Renaday, James Almanzar, Wayne Allwine, Steve Hale, Phil Nibbelink, Jack Laing, John Huston, Brandon Call, Gregory Levinson, Lindsay Rich
Songs: A score composed and conducted by Elmer Bernstein, performed by the Utah Symphony Orchestra
The Black Cauldron is the twenty-fifth Disney animated feature, based on The Chronicles of Prydain books by Lloyd Alexander. The stories come from Welsh mythology, and this film is inspired by the first two books. It tells the story of a young boy named Taran, a pig keeper who has to keep the evil Horned King from getting a magical cauldron that will allow him to rule the world. Taran is aided by a young princess named Eilonwy, a bard named Fflewddur Fflam, and a little creature named Gurgi.
This movie is notable for quite a few reasons -- it was the first Disney animated movie released with a PG rating. It was the first Disney animated film to make use of CGI. It also introduced the Walt Disney Pictures Sleeping Beauty Castle logo (a variation of which is in the sidebar of this very blog). There was also some controversy around the film as it was still being produced. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the Disney studio chairman, decided that the movie needed to be cut for time and for content, so he intended to do it himself and eventually talked studio CEO Michael Eisner into agreeing with him. The film's release was delayed nearly a year and it was cut by twelve minutes.
This movie looks really nice, with gorgeous backgrounds and a unique color palette. Story wise, it's much more fantasy oriented than any of the earlier films, and it is darker in tone as well. It even sounds different, seeing as there are no songs but instead a lovely, moody score by Elmer Bernstein, who had just been nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Trading Places and is still widely celebrated for his work on Ghostbusters. Watching the Disney movies in order like this has made this one stand out more than it might have otherwise. I honestly think it's a rather good movie... but it was so different from what people were used to, it got mixed reviews and did rather poorly at the box office.
This isn't a movie I ever saw as a child (I think I was probably around sixteen when I did see it for the first time), but I liked it when I first saw it and I like it now. It's not a favorite, but I think it might have risen in my estimation today.
What I Liked: The special effects animation -- the smoke and the fire look really realistic and cool. The overall darker feel of the film without being over the top sad.
What I Disliked: There could have been a few more light moments thrown in to ease the tension in certain places. I feel like there were some jokes, but there could have been a few more... if they were in the right spots. This is actually a minor quibble though.
Should You Watch This Movie: While I see where it wouldn't be for everyone, I definitely think you should give it a shot.
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