Review of The Black Cauldron (1985) by Shane V — 01 Aug 2010

Many years ago in the medieval world of Prydain, an evil king's spirit was locked away within the form of a great black cauldron. Now the wicked Horned King yearns for it's power to resurrect an army of undead warriors & Taran, an assistant pig-keeper, is charged by his master with protecting a pig with amazing knowledge & power from the Horned King's grasp.

As usual with animated films I have to start with the animation. It's not necessarily brilliant by today's standards, but it does mesh beautiful hand-drawn landscapes with colorful animated foregrounds and our colorful characters. It plays to the mystical harmonious elements just as it does to the dark, frightening ones. Unfortunately what it has in visual depth, it lacks in plot depth. It suffers from something I discussed in my earlier reviews of "Stranger Than Fiction" and "Wristcutters." And that is the fact that certain story pieces become more interesting than the story itself. An example being the magic sword that Taran uses, or the glowing orb following Eilonwy. It feels as though the film is strapped for time & simply doesn't see fit to explain certain elements of itself or its outwardly interesting characters, making it difficult to create a decent emotional attachment. Combined with the very stitched-together story, it really brings the film down a few pegs. Thankfully it takes a chance with its plot that few have before it: including an element of real darkness that separates it from the generic kiddy titles that makes it just a little fresher. The voice-acting isn't the best I've ever heard, but John Hurt should be praised for his very spirited performance as the Horned King.

All in all it's not among the best animated films you'll find as far as plot and characters, but it's balance of light and darkness mixed with great animation and a fine cast make it worthy enough to watch and enjoy. So I'll give "The Black Cauldron" 6 magic swords out of 10.

"Oh, my soldiers. How long I have thirsted to be a god among mortal men." -The Horned King.