Written by David Jonas And Al Wilson And Vance Gerry And Roy Morita And Ted Berman And Peter Young And Richard Rich And Art Stevens And Joe Hale
Directed by Ted Berman And Richard Rich
The Horned King: "My, what a brave, handsome group. A pig keeper, a scullery maid, and a broken-down minstrel. Perhaps it would interest you to see what fate has in store for you."
I guess I am one of the lucky ones who had a Disney movie come out the same year they were born. Now, is this a favourite Disney movie of mine? I can't say that it is but it's certainly one of Disney's more experimental of movies. In its own way.
First of all, it's a movie in the Middle Ages, located within the mystical land of Prydain and it's a chance for Disney to explore some Welsh mythology. It's main villain was the Horned King (John Hurt) and he had specific goals in mind.
Namely he wanted the titular Black Cauldron but also needed a pig named Hen Wen to locate the cauldron. Yes, the pig's got oracle style powers but getting a hold of the pig would be quite a task for the Horned King. Mainly because there's a plucky teen hero who was an obstacle for him.
The would be hero in question being pig keeper Taran (Grant Bardsley), who'd go above and beyond to keep Hen Wen out of the Horned King's grasp. He's also aided by Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan) and the too eager to help but often cowardly Gurgi (John Byner).
The movie's a classic heroes journey for everyone but mostly for Taran and Gurgi, with the latter getting a nice arc. The characters that Taran interacted also included his master, Dallben (Freddie Jones), lyre player, Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne) and fairy king, Eidilleg (Arthur Malet) to name a few. They're decent supporting characters.
As for the Horned King, he's not a villain that would make many favourite lists for Disney baddies but he's menacing enough. That's largely down to John Hurt's performance and there's a good henchman quality in the odious Creeper (Phil Fondacaro). I actually thought the three witches - Orddu (Eda Reiss Merin), Orwen (Adele Malis-Morey) and Orgach (Billie Hayes) had a bit more potential and I would've liked to have seen more of them.
- It took over a decade for this movie to get a physical release, due to how poorly it performed in theatres.
- Disney back in 2016 got the rights to The Chronicles of Prydain, so maybe a live action take willbe considered.
- Standout music: Taran, The Witches, The Horned King and Finale. It's not a very musical Disney movie.
- Chronology: Middle Ages, Prydain.
I'm not gonna pretend that The Black Cauldron would make my Top 20 Disney animated movies but I'm also not gonna pretend to dislike it. It's charming enough, only a tiny bit darker than some animated movies and had a decent enough story to go with it. It's worth giving a chance.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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