Star Rating: ***
"The Black Cauldron" doesn’t really feel like a Disney movie. Its animation, and with a darker story than most Disney features, gives it the feel of Ralph Bakshi’s animated "The Lord of the Rings" film. "The Black Cauldron" is a work of high fantasy, loosely based off of "The Chronicles of Prydain" series by Lloyd Alexander. It is not exactly a typical Disney fairytale, but it is certainly fantasy.
It’s also very flawed. There are numerous holes in the plot with regards to missing data. Something might happen and you find yourself saying, “Wait, that didn’t make sense…”
"The Black Cauldron", directed by Richard Rich and Ted Berman, is set in the kingdom of Prydain, and centers on the existence of a legendary black cauldron with unlimited magical ability. We have a nice prologue giving us the information we need narrated by John Huston, who also provided the voice for Gandalf in the animated versions of "The Hobbit" and "The Return of the King". The cauldron is sought out by the evil Horned King (voiced by John Hurt), who would use its powers to create an army of dead soldiers. These "deathless warriors" are unstoppable because they are a. dead, and b. alive due to a magic spell. Sending forth his invincible army, the Horned King would conquer and take over Prydain.
It couldn’t be clearer that this creature, (I’m not quite sure what he is), is intended to be a horrible enemy just by the way he is drawn. He is a skeleton beneath a thick robe with two large antler-like horns coming out of his head. The sight of this creature is rather frightening. Perhaps a little too frightening considering this movie is supposedly intended for children.
The Horned King is one of the most magnetic of the Disney villains, and admittedly one of my personal favorites. In 20 years, if the rest of the film is forgotten, I hope that "The Black Cauldron" is remembered solely for the Horned King. He’s a creepy looking goon, and actor John Hurt provides an aptly creepy voice. The Horned King ranks up there with Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), who gave me the worst nightmares of my life when I saw her eyes yellow malevolent eyes gleaming from the fireplace in the Princess Aurora’s bedchamber. There's even a frightening scene in "The Black Cauldron" involving the Horned King's eyes. In fact, the Horned King and Maleficent look somewhat alike in how they dress, where they live, and certainly in their malevolent intentions. It's a wonder that the two close friends or even lovers in some video game or picture book.
Hen Wen is an oracular pig who can create visions, and can show the location of the black cauldron. Therefore, if caught by the Horned King, everyone would kind of be in trouble. Hen Wen was kept hidden from the Horned King by the sorcerer Dalben. When Hen Wen senses that the Horned King is looking for her, Dalben sends her away with the pig keeper Taran. Taran is the protagonist of the story, who longs to be a warrior rather than just an assistant pig keeper. When Hen Wen is put in his charge, Taran is overcome with excitement to rush off and be a hero. He promises he won’t let Dalben down. As Taran fantasizes about being a renowned hero, Hen Wen wonders off, and is captured by the Horned King’s agents almost immediately. Oops.
Taran attempts to recover Hen Wen, and gets thrown into the Horned King’s dungeon. While imprisoned meets Eilonwy, who claims she’s a princess but is called a scullery maid by the Horned King in a later scene, so I’m not sure what she really is. This is another example of the flawed storytelling. Taran and Eilonwy go exploring the dungeons, and meet the minstrel Fflewddur Flam, who is also a prisoner of the Horned King. Together they escape from the Horned King’s castle, as they are pursued by huntsmen and ferocious dogs. Along the way, they meet a little Muppet like creature called Gurgi, who’s just kind of a troublemaker on the look out for food. He joins the team, and they all go gallivanting off to find the black cauldron.
"The Black Cauldron" is an enjoyable film, if not a particularly well made one. The Horned King stole the movie, but the cuteness of the pig, and the fantastical and adventurous aspects of the story also make it an interesting experience. It’s a good story, it just felt rushed. If the plot were laid out more carefully it probably would have been better.
The characters are fun, too. They aren’t as developed as they might be though. Knowing who Eilonwy is, and whether she is a princess or a scullery maid would have been nice. Knowing a bit more about Taran’s background also might have been nice, because we never know how he wound up an assistant pig keeper at Dalben’s house.
The final battle is also worth mentioning, though not in detail so as to avoid spoilers. This again is mostly attributed to the presence of the Horned King, and how frightening he can look. After the fight all is resolved, but the resolution also feels rushed and doesn’t really make much sense because there is so much data missing.
I’m sure the books made a lot more sense. "The Black Cauldron" is based on two of Alexander’s "Chronicles of Prydain" series: "The Book of Three" and "The Black Cauldron". When I heard this, it made sense why the plot didn’t seem well balanced. When two stories, especially in the high fantasy genre, are blended together at high speed in order to be condensed into an 80 minute movie, the result is usually less than smooth. Another example of this is the motion picture "The Last Airbender", based on the popular TV series which is incidentally also a work of high fantasy.
"The Black Cauldron" isn’t a great Disney film, but it has such a memorable villain, and enough other things going for it, that it would be a shame if it was forgotten as time goes by. It’s not perfect, but it is entertaining. At least the movie has that in its favor.
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