Review of The Black Cauldron (1985) by John A — 03 Jun 2009

'The Black Cauldron' is widely regarded as the Black Sheep amongst Disney Classics, the runt of the litter that bombed at the box-office and rendered Disney's attempts at targeting a teenage audience completely futile. Nobody went to see it then, and few have heard of it today. Despite its shortcomings, however (and there are a fair few) 'The Black Cauldron' still finds its footing on old Disney formula as well as laying the foundations for more recent darker-toned animated features.

The film is based on the series of Chronicles of Prydain novels by American author Lloyd Alexander, which in turn borrows a lot from ancient Welsh mythology and folklore. Taran, a loyal pig-keeping assistant who dreams of becoming a heroic warrior sets out to destroy the legendary black cauldron, an object desired by the evil Horned King who wishes to raise an army of the dead. His primary objecive is to protect the future-envisioning pig Henwen, who has been hidden away from the King for several years for fear he may discover the whereabouts of the cauldron,.

Not one of the studio's pictures since 'The Black Cauldron's release is quite the same. The plot is dense and detailed, yet posesses a greater air of mystery about the proceedings; its ominous atmosphere is greatly emphasised by dreary colours and a foreboding setting. This is a darker tale, with more at stake for both the heroes and chief villain. No interludes where characters burst into synchronised song-and-dance numbers and very few laughs suggest Disney was keen to adopt a more mature angle to a famous story.

The first half of the narrative is surprisingly effective in achieving this goal. As Taran sets off on his adventure and becomes embroiled in sorcery and the wicked plans of the Horned King a rippling sense of fear and magic consumes us. The King also ranks with 'Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent as one of the greatest, most terrifying Disney villains ever created; John Hurt lends his menacing vocals to bring to life a skeletal creature who lurks in the shadows, with bright red slits for eyes and antlers towering over his frame.

Unfortunately it seems somebody higher up may have interefered with the storyboarding, because half an hour in and 'The Black Cauldron' is bombarded with an overwhelming number of cheap and cute cliches that simply don't belong. Sidekicks appear on both sides, essentially to be played for laughs; I found both Creeper and Gurghi little but extremely irritating. The deus-ex-machina appearance of Princess Eilonwy also sets up the conventional romance plot, with both her and Taran reduced to archetypes of the genre we start caring little about.

Once they have escaped from the Castle along with fellow prisoner Fflewddur Fflam, (a jester who I did find particularly amusing) the narrative also begins to lag. We meet some faires; plot point solved. Then some witches; a second plot point solved. The action becomes forced and workmanlike, and is no longer infused with the sense of passion we felt at the start. Granted, the conclusion is oddly touching considering the awkward setup, but the poor characterisation means we care a lot less than we should.

It seems 'The Black Cauldron' was against itself long before it was finally released. While I praise it's daring plot and stylisation it doesn't feel like those who wanted to make this picture achieved their goal with any great conviction. Studio pressure, perhaps. But if they stuck to their guns this would surely have been a great film. A fine one it is anyway, at least.