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Over the years, Disney’s “The Black Cauldron” has evolved into a film of nearly mythical status, often referred to as “the movie that Disney tried to bury.” Upon its release, “The Black Cauldron” was a colossal flop, and Disney subsequently kept it out of the public’s mind by withholding it from home video release. This strategy might have succeeded if not for the internet, which has the power to revive interest in things people would prefer to forget.
“The Black Cauldron” is a dark fantasy animated film that follows Taran, a young assistant pig-keeper, who dreams of becoming a great warrior. When the evil Horned King seeks the mystical Black Cauldron to raise an unstoppable army of undead warriors, Taran embarks on a perilous quest to prevent this catastrophe. Joined by a motley group of companions, including the feisty Princess Eilonwy, the comical bard Fflewddur Fflam, and the peculiar creature Gurgi, Taran must summon his courage and resourcefulness to thwart the Horned King’s nefarious plans and protect their world from impending doom.
What sets “The Black Cauldron” apart from other Disney animated movies is its more adult-oriented approach. Unlike typical Disney films, it isn’t a musical where characters burst into song and dance in every other scene. Instead, it’s a straightforward fantasy movie, remaining much darker than any other Disney animated film to date. The color palette is often murky, featuring an army of the undead, a villainous Horned King with a black skull for a face and even scenes with blood.
“The Black Cauldron”, released in 1985, reflects the era’s preference for darker, more mature, action-themed fantasy movies. At the time, more adult-oriented animated films like “Watership Down” and “Heavy Metal” were in theaters, alongside live-action fantasies such as “The NeverEnding Story”, “Labyrinth”, “The Dark Crystal”, and “Legend”. On TV, “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” was a global hit, a far cry from the Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the ’70s. While “The Black Cauldron” aligns perfectly with these contemporaries, it remains an outlier in Disney’s catalogue.
In terms of story, “The Black Cauldron” bears a strong resemblance to a certain trilogy of movies starring two Hobbits. Taran and his companions embark on a quest to retrieve the titular Black Cauldron so they can destroy it and prevent the Horned King from using it to take over the world. With a runtime of just 80 minutes, the story isn’t as detailed or deep as “The Lord of the Rings”, but the outlines of these two films are quite similar. To top it off, the voice and speech pattern of Gurgi bears a striking resemblance to Andy Serkis’ Gollum. It’s possible that one of Disney’s most notorious flops inspired one of the greatest and most successful movie series of all time.
“The Black Cauldron” is as far as I can tell the first and only Disney movie to actually dedicate an entire scene to breasts. The movie features a plus-size witch with pretty large breasts and the animators did their best to have these funbags jiggle as naturally as possible. But the scene also features a guy being turned into a frog who then ends up between the breasts of this witch. Never have a ever seen a scene in a Disney movie that was so focused on breasts. To kids, who don’t see breasts as something sexual, this is a just a fun scene, but as an adult I wasn’t expecting a scene like this in a Disney movie.
“The Black Cauldron” is a fine movie and certainly a departure from the usual Disney output. However, I wasn’t too impressed with the artwork, as the movie never pushes the boundaries of hand-drawn animation. This was Disney’s unique selling point at the time, but this film just looks okay. The story of a young boy becoming a hero has been done to death and only works when the lead character is well-developed, which is not really the case here. Taran just goes along with everything and, in the end, can’t even be called the hero of the story. As a villain, the Horned King is certainly one of Disney’s most evil-looking characters, but he’s never developed or given any sort of personality. He’s a far cry from Disney villains like Gaston, Ursula, and Scar.
A movie like “The Black Cauldron” will certainly have its fans, and for those who don’t enjoy the typical Disney output, it might even be their favorite. However, to me, it was just a decent movie that seems mostly targeted at 12-year-olds with its slightly darker than usual imagery. Despite this, its backstory—being the movie Disney wants you to forget—makes it a required viewing.
