Review of The Black Cauldron (1985) by Nick H — 23 Sep 2007

The other Disney movie deserving of credit from the early 1980's. Okay, it was a failure- it missed the D&D zeitgeist and was deemed too cute, despite being the first Disney animated movie to get a PG cert. The story was clearly chopped to ribbons during production, resulting in an oddly unfocused quest movie. But all that aside, there's still a lot to enjoy. John Hurt tears it up as the Horned King, the most terrifying villan Disney had called forth in years. The movies lack of pretense and the homespun, unpolished feel of the movie is reminiscent of The Sword in the Stone. It has John Huston narrating the backstory in that rich, gravelly voice. It was also the first widescreen animated feature Disnet did since before the 60's. It's a valiant effort and died upon the horns of a Studio that lacked direction or morale.

Sure the book is better, but this flawed gem is still worth the time, especially with smaller folk on the couch.