The Black Cauldron is a 1985 American animated fantasy adventure film loosely based on the first two books in The Chronicles of Prydain series of novels, and directed by Ted Berman and Richard Rich. Produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, it stars Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, Freddie Jones, Nigel Hawthorne, Arthur Malet, John Byner, Phil Fondacaro, and John Hurt, with John Huston serving as the narrator for the prologue.
Disney acquired the film rights to the books in 1973, with production beginning in 1980. It was originally scheduled to be released at Christmas 1984, but several scenes, particularly in the film's climax, were found to be disturbing to children during a test screening. The newly appointed Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg ordered the scenes to be cut, which caused its release to be delayed to 1985. It was the first Disney animated film to receive a PG rating, as well as the first Disney animated film to feature computer-generated imagery.
The Black Cauldron was released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution on July 24, 1985. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Being the most expensive animated film ever made at the time, it was a box-office bomb, grossing just $21 million against a budget of $44 million and putting the future of Disney's animation department in jeopardy. Because of its commercial failure, Disney did not release the film on home media until 1998. It has since gained a cult following.22 Animated Cult Classics Worth Checking Out - MovieWeb
Plot
In the land of Prydain, Taran, a teenage "assistant pig-keeper" on the farm of Caer Dallben, home of Dallben the Enchanter, dreams of becoming a famous warrior. Dallben learns from the oracular powers of his pig Hen Wen that the evil Horned King is searching for the Black Cauldron, a mystical relic that can create an invincible army of undead warriors known as the Cauldron-Born. Dallben fears the Horned King might use Hen Wen to locate the cauldron, and directs Taran to take the pig to safety, but she is captured by Gwythaints, the Horned King's wyvern-like creatures.
Taran follows them to the Horned King's castle and meets the pestering creature Gurgi, who wants to be his friend. Taran helps Hen Wen escape but is captured and thrown into the dungeon. Another captive named Princess Eilonwy frees him. In the catacombs, the two discover the ancient burial chamber of a king. Taran arms himself with the king's sword, which contains magic that allows him to fight the Horned King's henchmen. Along with a third prisoner, comical bard Fflewddur Fflam, they escape and are found by Gurgi. The Horned King sends the Gwythaints to capture Taran and his friends.
Following Hen Wen's trail, the group stumbles into the underground kingdom of the Fair Folk, who have Hen Wen under their protection. When the kindly King Eidilleg reveals the cauldron's location, Taran decides to destroy it. Eidilleg's obnoxious right-hand man Doli is assigned to lead the friends to the Marshes of Morva while the Fair Folk escort Hen Wen back to Dallben. At Morva, they learn the cauldron is held by three witches—leader Orddu, greedy Orgoch, and benevolent Orwen. Orddu agrees to trade the cauldron for Taran's sword and he reluctantly agrees. The witches reveal the cauldron is indestructible, and its power can only be broken when someone willingly climbs into it, which will kill them. Taran feels foolish for trading the sword for nothing but his companions show their belief in him. They are captured by the Horned King's henchmen and Gurgi flees. The Horned King uses the cauldron to raise the dead and his Cauldron-born army begins to pour out into the world.
Gurgi, deciding not to abandon his friends this time, rescues them. Taran decides to jump into the cauldron to save everyone, but Gurgi jumps in instead, killing the Cauldron-born and himself. The cauldron begins consuming anything within its vicinity. Taran is confronted by the Horned King, who attempts to sacrifice him to the cauldron, only for it to drag the Horned King in and violently rip him apart, which destroys the castle.
The three witches arrive to recover the now-inert Black Cauldron. Having realized Gurgi's true friendship, Taran (with an opportunity provided by Fflewddur) asks them to revive Gurgi in exchange for the cauldron, choosing to give up his sword: Fflewddur challenges the witches into honoring the request and Gurgi is resurrected, much to everyone's joy. Taran and Eilonwy kiss and the four friends journey back to Dallben. Dallben and Doli watch them in a vision created by Hen Wen, and Dallben finally praises Taran for his heroism.
Voice cast Grant Bardsley as Taran, a pig-keeper who wants to become a warrior. Susan Sheridan as Princess Eilonwy, a virtuous princess who accompanies Taran in his travel. Freddie Jones as Dallben, a wizard and Taran's father figure. Nigel Hawthorne as Fflewddur Fflam, a bumbling bard who plays the lyre, and accompanies Taran in his travel. Arthur Malet as King Eidilleg, the genteel king of the fairies. John Byner as Gurgi, a terrier-themed creature of the forest who accompanies Taran in his travel; and Doli, a grumpy fairy who guides Taran's group. Phil Fondacaro as Creeper, the Horned King's goblin assistant. Eda Reiss Merin as Orddu, one of the three Witches of Morva, acting as the leader of the group. Adele Malis-Morey as Orwen, one of the three Witches of Morva, who has a fixation on Fflewddur. Billie Hayes as Orgoch, one of the three Witches of Morva, with a crazy personality. Wayne Allwine, James Almanzar, Candy Candido, Fondacaro, Steve Hale, Jack Laing, Phil Nibbelink, and Peter Renaday as the Horned King's Huntsmen. John Hurt as The Horned King, a vicious king of skeletal appearance who longs to find the Black Cauldron for world conquest. John Huston as The Narrator.
Production Development In 1964, Lloyd Alexander began publishing his five-volume series The Chronicles of Prydain, with the first installment titled The Book of Three. According to Joe Hale, Lenore Duckwall, the wife of production manager Don Duckwall, had read the books and suggested an adaptation to her husband. Don Duckwall then showed the books to Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman, who agreed to adapt the series into an animated film. Hale further noted, "The [Disney] Studio pictures at that time were not appealing to teenagers, who were the bulk of the audience in the theaters ... They wanted to make a PG-rated picture that would attract an older audience." Walt Disney Productions optioned Alexander's five-volume series in 1971. Pre-production work began in 1973 when the film rights to Alexander's books were finally obtained. According to Ollie Johnston, he and Frank Thomas supported the film adaptation, and that if it had been done properly, it might have been "as good as Snow White". Because of the numerous storylines, and with over thirty characters in the original series, several story artists and animators worked on the film's development throughout the 1970s.
When The Rescuers (1977) was completed, The Black Cauldron was tentatively scheduled to be released in 1980. Veteran artist Mel Shaw created preliminary conceptual pastel sketches, which future Disney president and CEO Ron Miller considered to be too advanced for the newly-hired animators. Therefore, by August 1978, the studio had pushed its release date back to Christmas 1984 due to their inability to animate realistic human characters; its original release date was later assumed by The Fox and the Hound (1981). During its development limbo, storyboard artist Vance Gerry drew panels of beat storyboards that outlined the plot, action, and locations. Having established the three principal characters, Gerry adapted the Horned King into a big-bellied Viking who had a red beard, fiery temper, and wore a steel helmet with two large horns. Meanwhile, Miller hired Rosemary Anne Sisson as they desired an experienced British screenwriter for the film.
Animator John Musker was the film's initial director, having been offered the position by production head Tom Wilhite. As director, Musker was assigned to expand several sequences in the first act, but they were eventually deemed too comedic. Musker explained, "...the older people I was working with didn't like any of my ideas." When production on The Fox and the Hound (1981) had wrapped, several feature animation directors Art Stevens, Richard Rich, Ted Berman, and Dave Michener became involved in The Black Cauldron. When Miller decided too many people were involved, he decided Stevens was not appropriate to supervise the project so he contacted Joe Hale, who was a longtime layout artist at Disney Studios, to serve as producer. Hale, who had finished animation special effects work on The Watcher in the Woods (1980), initially declined the offer due to his friendship with Art Stevens, and wanting to continue working on live-action projects. Miller replied regardless of his involvement or not, Stevens would be replaced. After a reconsideration, Hale accepted the offer.
With Hale as producer, actual production on The Black Cauldron officially began in 1980. He discarded visual character artwork submitted by Tim Burton, and along with Rich and Berman, they desired a Sleeping Beauty (1959)–styled visual approach. Both directors brought Milt Kahl out of retirement to create new character designs for Taran, Eilonwy, Fflewddur Fflam, and the other principal characters. Hale and the story team (including two story artists David Jonas and Al Wilson that he added) heavily revised the film, by which they capsulized the stories of the first two books. They also made some considerable changes, which led to Sisson's departure as she developed creative differences with Hale and the directors.
Musker and Ron Clements, also citing creative differences, were removed from the project and began development on The Great Mouse Detective (1986). Displeased with Gerry's concept for the Horned King, Hale turned the Horned King into a thin creature donning a hood and carrying a spectral presence with shadowed face and glowing red eyes. His role was then expanded into a composite villain of several characters from the books. Taran and Eilonwy eventually acquired elements of the past designs and costumes of earlier Disney characters, especially the latter, who was drawn to resemble Princess Aurora.
Casting According to Musker, Gary Burghoff of M*A*S*H fame had auditioned as Gurgi. He tried numerous vocal iterations since Ted Berman had no idea how the character should sound. After three hours, the directors grew frustrated and Burghoff, who had refused to leave, was thrown out of the studio. By 1982, John Byner, an impressionist, had been cast in the part. After Byner was shown the character concepts for Gurgi, he felt inspired to add a "child's inflection" when creating the voice.
In January 1981, Hayley Mills stated she was being considered for the voice of Eilonwy. That same year, Mills hosted an episode of NBC's Disney's Wonderful World, in which she met with Hale and the directors to discuss the part. The role eventually went to Susan Sheridan. According to Sheridan, she recorded the voice on three separate trips to the Disney studios. In a 1983 Disney Channel special titled Backstage at Disney, Hale stated that Jonathan Winters was voicing King Eidilleg. The role eventually went to Arthur Malet.
Test-screening and editing