Black Cauldron Review

[Hero Supreme]

A new review (http://servewithchips.blogspot.com/2006/03/disappearing-ink-6-black-cauldron.html) is up for The Black Cauldron. Does this movie deserve its bad rep? Would it do better in today's successful Fantasy film environment?

[Wondergirl]

Butchered from the books. Give the boy a magic sword and then... don't really let him do anything with it except give it away. In modern Disney films, they let their protagonists actually fight. IIRC, this was the first animated Disney film to be rated PG, and they seemed to be shying away from violence.

[Hero Supreme]

i have never read the books, what are some of the big differences?

[Prism]

The Black Cauldron does not deserve its bad reputation. True it was dark but no more then Secret of Nymh,Watership Down,The Last Unicorn,Rock and Rule,Animal Farm,Wizards,Dragon's Lair or any other predeccessors. Part of it's failure was due to poor promoting/merchandizing and also because it veered slightly from traditional Disney fare. Not too much however considering Disney was behind Pinocchio,Fantasia,Snow White,Legend of Sleepy Hollow or especially considering Disney's early Silly Symphonies which could and did get intense. And yes, even though I've never read it, The Black Cauldron was based off a fantasy series called Chronicles of Prydain and Disney took some liberties with the source material, which is common for Disney to do after all. All in all The Black Cauldron was pretty enjoyable, sure it earned its PG rating but it still kept the traditional heart of Disney.

[Snailbait]

i have never read the books, what are some of the big differences?
The series consists of five books. I believe they are, chronologically, The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King. Disney pretty much tried to force the first two books into one plot, and the results were "eh". The books are great...if you are a 5th grader, that is. They changed the characters a bit. Basically they just screwed up a fairly good story. I would say they definitely took some liberties with the source material. The movie was alright, though.

[Dr. Dave]

As I recall, Disney made a big deal about making the film for more "mature" audiences, but in the end they wimped out and resorted to their tried and true formulas.

Still, the film had some great moments. The Horned King was a great villian (the voice was magnificent!) and some of the animation was wonderful.

I always thought the film had too many characters. You have the Lad on a Quest, the Girl, the Sage, and Comedy Relief, and it just didn't work together.

Altogether, close but no cigar!

[tb4000]

I'd actually have to say this would make a better live action film than the animated one that's already out.

[Hordesman]

http://www.jimhillmedia.com/article.php?id=1843

[Hero Supreme]

http://www.jimhillmedia.com/article.php?id=1843

interesting read. that holographic projector sounds cool. its sad if this really could have been THAT good.

[AdamYJ]

I don't think it's too bad. Then again, I'm biased because it was probably the first Disney animated feature I ever saw.

[Kagetsu]

I saw this only once a long time ago, so I don't remember many details. I remember I didn't like it. Never really got a feel for the characters, didn't much like the furry creature that sacrificed itself in the cauldron then felt cheated as if the story had no depth when it came back to life.:shrug: But what's a kid know.