Review: The Black Cauldron (1985)

This is a Resurfaced review written in 2002 or earlier. For more information, please visit this link: Resurfaced Reviews.

The Black Cauldron

Rating

Director

Ted Berman, Richard Rich

Screenplay

David Jonas, Vance Gerry, Ted Berman, Richard Rich, Al Wilson, Roy Morita, Peter Young, Art Stevens, Joe Hale (Novel: Lloyd Alexander)

Length

1h 20m

Starring

Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, Freddie Jones, Nigel Hawthorne, Arthur Malet, John Byner

MPAA Rating

Basic Plot

The fate of the world lies in the hands of a young boy and a pig.

Review

Disney goes macabre in its 25th full-length animated masterpiece.

For the first time ever in the United States since it was pulled from theaters in 1985, Disney’s “The Black Cauldron” finally resurfaces to delight a new age of children.

In its initial release in the theaters, it did very poorly and has not been seen in re-release or on video since (except in the England).

“Cauldron” is also the only full-length Disney animated feature to ever receive a PG rating. There are some intense and scary scenes that may not be appropriate for some children.

However intense some of those scenes are, “Cauldron” is still packaged as a children’s film with child characters and lots of comedy. A little creature named Gurgi (John Byner) is probably the cutest of the characters. It looks like a cross between a dog and some kind of bizarre forest animal and its voice, speaking in broken English, mimics nothing in nature.

The tale begins as a pig keeper, Dallben (Freddie Jones), and his apprentice, Taran (Grant Bardsley), are protectors of a mystical pig, Hen Wen, that can foresee the present and the immediate futures. The Hen’s powers reveal that a horned king knows of his whereabouts and Dallben charges Taran with taking Hen to a far away cabin for its own safety.

Only they never make it. Along the way, Taran, playing with a stick as a sword, runs across Gurgi, but misplaces the Hen. After his initial encounter with the annoying, but lovable, Gurgi, he searches frantically for Hen, only to watch as he’s chased by two flying dragons and lifted away to a haunting castle in the distance.

Despite the urgings of Gurgi, Taran goes off towards the castle in search of the psychic Hen.

When he arrives, he sees a mysterious figure, the Horned King (John Hurt), prepare to behead Hen if he doesn’t show him where the black cauldron is.

The black cauldron is a mystical urn that contains the soul of a long-dead hero and whoever possesses it can control the world at his own will. It is Taran’s duty to stop the Horned King before he can get his hands on such an awesome treasure.

Along the way, Taran meets a wayward princess, Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan), who is trapped in the same dungeon as he. There he also meets Fflewddur Fflam, a bard whose own instrument betrays him whenever he tells a lie.

They adventure out in search of the cauldron and meet various creatures a long the way. There are tiny creatures that appear and disappear at will, three witches of differing ilk and a horde of undead.

“The Black Cauldron” is one of the darkest animated features I’ve ever seen, but it does it so well that it becomes easy to forget several plot contrivances (since when did the pot need TWO people?) and some rather rudimentary characters that resemble those in previous Disney features.

The music of “The Black Cauldron” by Elmer Bernstein is very original (though some chords resemble those from his earlier work on “Ghostbusters”). Add to that fact that this is the only Disney feature that contains no songs (“Fantasia” contains no lyricized songs, but is reminiscent of many musicals).

The music and the lush visuals are what make the film what it is.

“The Black Cauldron” is an intriguing medieval film to be shared by a family or any group of fantasy role-players.