A young boy and a group of misfit friends embark on a quest to find a dark magic item of ultimate power before a diabolical tyrant can.A young boy and a group of misfit friends embark on a quest to find a dark magic item of ultimate power before a diabolical tyrant can.A young boy and a group of misfit friends embark on a quest to find a dark magic item of ultimate power before a diabolical tyrant can.
Grant Bardsley
- Taran
- (voice)
Freddie Jones
- Dallben
- (voice)
Susan Sheridan
- Eilonwy
- (voice)
Nigel Hawthorne
- Fflewddur
- (voice)
Arthur Malet
- King Eidilleg
- (voice)
John Byner
- Gurgi
- (voice)
- …
Lindsay Rich
- Fairfolk
- (voice)
Brandon Call
- Fairfolk
- (voice)
Gregory Levinson
- Fairfolk
- (voice)
Eda Reiss Merin
- Orddu
- (voice)
Adele Malis-Morey
- Orwen
- (voice)
Billie Hayes
- Orgoch
- (voice)
Phil Fondacaro
- Creeper
- (voice)
- …
Peter Renaday
- Henchman
- (voice)
James Almanzar
- Henchman
- (voice)
Wayne Allwine
- Henchman
- (voice)
Steve Hale
- Henchman
- (voice)
Phil Nibbelink
- Henchman
- (voice)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first Disney animated film that's not a musical, does not contain any songs neither performed by characters, nor in the background.
- GoofsTaran unchains the gate barring their escape from the castle. In subsequent shots, the lock and chains reappear and then, finally disappear.
- Crazy creditsThere are no opening or cast and crew credits.
- Alternate versionsThe version of the film released to theaters omits numerous fully animated scenes that include shots of graphic violence as Taran fights his way out of the castle and shots of Eilonwy sporting ripped garments as she's hanging for her life with Taran and Fflewddur. The most well-known deleted scene, due to a clumsy jump that it left in the film's soundtrack and a cel of the infamous scene appearing online, is that of a man being mauled by one of the Cauldron-born.
- ConnectionsEdited from Fantasia (1940)
Featured review
worth seeing, not for children at all. Really fun.
"The Black Cauldron" certainly doesn't fall into the genre of animated Disney family favorite, but instead feels much like the more grim and complicated fantasy films that were made in the eighties. Does it stack up to such films as "Return To Oz" and "The Dark Crystal"? Well, although not as complex as the aformentioned, this film is not without its charm.
The story of Taran, the pig-keeper's journey from gawky boy to gawky boy-hero apparently works better as told through the course of five books, and indeed it is the plot that feels put together, with a lot cut out of it for it's slim 1:20 running time. Also suffering because of the short time is any character development, or a reason why the charcter of Dallben (an old minstrel) are in the film at all. However, this film still has a lot going for it.
The film has a wonderful pacing to it with some fantastic action scenes. It is adventurous and fun. An engaing film for any fantasy fan. What really makes the film though is it's terrifying and dastardly villain, The Horned King. He is basically a Skeletor knock off with absolutely no sense of humor. He looks like he stepped right out of an Iron Maden album cover, and that is a monumental good thing. The true threat felt by the presence of this decidedly un-Disney character keeps the tension of the film high.
It is this contrast, between the unconventionally ghoulish villans (definatly enspirered by Bakshi's animated adaptation of "Lord of the Rings") and the stock Disney characters makes the audience care more-so for the cutesy characters than usual. This is especially true for the cutsey character of Gurgi, who is much more tollerable than almost all other Disney sidekicks and especially more tollerable than a certain J*r J*r B*nks that we have all been over exposed to lately.
So I would recommend "The Black Cauldron", it's a fun and well animated adventure film. Compleatly scary and strange for Disney to make, but still very very good for other reasons nonetheless.
The story of Taran, the pig-keeper's journey from gawky boy to gawky boy-hero apparently works better as told through the course of five books, and indeed it is the plot that feels put together, with a lot cut out of it for it's slim 1:20 running time. Also suffering because of the short time is any character development, or a reason why the charcter of Dallben (an old minstrel) are in the film at all. However, this film still has a lot going for it.
The film has a wonderful pacing to it with some fantastic action scenes. It is adventurous and fun. An engaing film for any fantasy fan. What really makes the film though is it's terrifying and dastardly villain, The Horned King. He is basically a Skeletor knock off with absolutely no sense of humor. He looks like he stepped right out of an Iron Maden album cover, and that is a monumental good thing. The true threat felt by the presence of this decidedly un-Disney character keeps the tension of the film high.
It is this contrast, between the unconventionally ghoulish villans (definatly enspirered by Bakshi's animated adaptation of "Lord of the Rings") and the stock Disney characters makes the audience care more-so for the cutesy characters than usual. This is especially true for the cutsey character of Gurgi, who is much more tollerable than almost all other Disney sidekicks and especially more tollerable than a certain J*r J*r B*nks that we have all been over exposed to lately.
So I would recommend "The Black Cauldron", it's a fun and well animated adventure film. Compleatly scary and strange for Disney to make, but still very very good for other reasons nonetheless.
helpful•5914
- PlanNine
- Dec 14, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- El caldero negro
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $44,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $21,288,692
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,180,110
- Jul 28, 1985
- Gross worldwide
- $21,289,084
- Runtime1 hour 20 minutes
- Color
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![Nigel Hawthorne, Grant Bardsley, John Byner, Phil Fondacaro, and Susan Sheridan in The Black Cauldron (1985)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDdiZjQ1NDctZWQ2Mi00ZTJhLWIxYmYtYzdjYTcxMjYwMjRhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjc5NjEzNA@@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,1,90,133_.jpg)