Trama

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.

Centuries ago, in the land of Prydain, a young man named Taran is given the task of protecting Hen Wen, a magical oracular pig, who knows the location of the mystical black cauldron. This is not an easy task, for The Evil Horned King will stop at nothing to get the cauldron.—Kelly

This is the story of a young man named Taran, who is an assistant pig keeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. Hen Wen, a magical oracular pig, is kidnapped by an evil lord known as the Horned King. The villain hopes Hen will show him the way to The Black Cauldron, which has the power to create a giant army of unstoppable soldiers. With the aid of a stubborn princess, named Princess Eilonwy an exaggerating bard, and a pestering creature called Gurgi, Taran will try to save the world of Prydain from the Horned King. Taran and his new friends embarks on a quest to find the dark magic Black Cauldron the item of ultimate power before a diabolical tyrant The Horned King can.—Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

Taran is an assistant pigkeeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracular pig named Hen Wen, is kidnapped by an evil lord known as the Horned King. The villain hopes Hen will show him the way to The Black Cauldron, which has the power to create a giant army of unstoppable soldiers. With the aid of a stubborn princess, an exaggerating bard, and a pestering creature called Gurgi, Taran will try to save the world of Prydain from the Horned King. As the new friends face witches, elves, magic swords, and the Cauldron itself, Taran starts to learn what being a hero really means and that some things are more important than glory.—Max Vaughn

In the land of Prydain, there was once a king so cruel and so evil that even the Gods feared him. Since no prison could hold him, he was thrown alive into a crucible of molten iron. There his demonic spirit was captured in the form of a great, black cauldron. For uncounted centuries, the black cauldron lay hidden, waiting, while evil men searched for it, knowing whoever possessed it would have the power to resurrect an army of deathless warriors and rule the world.

Taran (Grant Bardsley), a teenage "assistant pig-keeper" on the farm of Caer Dallben (Freddie Jones), home of Dallben the Enchanter, dreams of becoming a famous warrior. Dallben warns Taran of the dangers of war and cautions him against it. Taran is not content with the life of a pig farmer and staunchly believes that he was born to be a warrior.

Dallben learns that the evil Horned King (John Hurt) is searching for a mystical relic known as the Black Cauldron, which can create an invincible army of Undead warriors known as the Cauldron-Born. Dallben explains that Hen Wen is a magical pig who can create visions using water, which Taran was previously unaware of. Using Hen Wen's powers, Dallben discovers that the Horned King is after the Black Cauldron and that he seeks to capture Hen Wen and use her to find it.

Dallben fears that the Horned King might use his pig, Hen Wen, who has oracular powers, to locate the cauldron. He directs Taran to take Hen Wen to safety. Taran and Hen Wen travel through the jungle, where Taran gets lost in his own imagination of being a warrior. Unnoticed by Taran, Hen Wen wanders off.

Taran searches for Hen Wen in the jungle and instead meets the pestering badger-like creature, Gurgi (John Byner), who wants to be his friend. Taran hears a squeal and finds that Hen Wen is being chased by the Gwythaints, dragon-like creatures that serve the Horned King. Taran attempts to rescue her, but the Gwythaints carry her off. Taran is not able to follow due to the jungle's dense foliage. From the top of a hill, he sees that the Gwythaints have carried Hen Wen to the Horned King's castle, in the distance. Determined to save Hen Wen, Taran heads for the castle, but the cowardly Gurgi elects to remain behind. Gurgi is sure that he will never see Taran again.

Taran sneaks into the castle and finds his way to a banquet hall filled with the King's partying henchmen, apparently celebrating the capture of the pig. The festivity ends abruptly when the Horned King appears and Creeper (Phil Fondacaro), a creature that serves the King, order Hen Wen to be brought out. Creeper orders the pig to reveal the location of the Black Cauldron, but she refuses. Taran stumbles onto the scene and the King, realizing Taran is the owner of the pig, orders him to make Hen Wen reveal the location of the Black Cauldron. Taran refuses, but when the King orders for Hen Wen to be beheaded (as without the knowledge of the cauldron, the pig is irrelevant for the Horned King), he relents. Taran ends up spooked by the Horned King's appearance and by accident he ends up throwing the bowl of water into the Horned King's face.

Taran helps Hen Wen escape by jumping off the castle tower roof but is captured and thrown into the dungeon. Another captive named Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan) frees him. Eilonwy was captured because the Horned King thought her magic bauble (which floats and lights up and even shows the way) could tell him where the Cauldron was.

In the catacombs, Taran and Eilonwy discover the ancient burial chamber of a king. This was the King who built the castle before the Horned King took it over. Taran arms himself with the king's sword, which contains magic that allows him to fight the Horned King's minions. They find a third prisoner, comical bard Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne), who is cursed, and every time he lies, one of the strings on his harp snaps.

Taran and Eilonwy attempt to set the bard free. Suddenly, Taran runs into a guard wielding an ax. The guard attempts to kill Taran, but before he can strike, Taran pulls out his sword, Dyrnwyn, and uses it to block the ax. The sword magically damages the ax, and the horrified guard runs away. Excited over the magic sword, Taran plays with it for a while, but then Eilonwy shows up, and they continue onward. They run into more guards, and Taran deflects them with the magic sword. The sword glows as it meets and attacks its adversary.

Meanwhile, Fflewddur has escaped the dungeon, but is being chased by a dog. Taran slows down the guards by slashing some wine barrels with the sword. Taran and Eilonwy finally make it to the entrance of the castle, only to find the drawbridge closed. Creeper and the other henchmen have them cornered, but then Taran uses the sword to cut the chain to the drawbridge, allowing it to fall down. Creeper and the guards stand back in fright, while Fflewddur bowls past them. Taran and Eilonwy make it past the closing gate, but Fflewddur barely makes it with his pants ripped, and together they escape into the forest.

Creeper nervously goes to the Horned King's throne room and informs his master of the pig-keeper's escape. He attempts to choke himself as punishment but is surprised to find out his master likes the news. If Taran has escaped, he will find his pig, and then he can capture them both again. The King orders him to send the Gwythaints to follow the boy.

The trio escape and rest in the forest. Taran and Eilonwy argue about who gets the credit for their escape. Taran says that it was his own courage, and Eilonwy argues that it was actually the magic of the sword that allowed them to escape unharmed. Eilonwy is hurt at the insulting comments made by Taran but eventually realizes that would need to work together to find Hen Wen and defeat the Horned King.

They are found by Gurgi, whom Taran calls a coward and a thief. Gurgi reveals that he knows where Hen Wen is, and the others follow him. They come to an enchanted whirlpool and are sucked down. Following Hen Wen's trail, the group stumbles into the underground kingdom of the Fair Folk, who have Hen Wen under their protection. The Fair Folk do not like humans, and the whirlpool, maintained by the bad-tempered court workman Doli, is supposed to keep them out.

When the kindly King Eidilleg (Arthur Malet) 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 (Eda Reiss Merin), greedy Orgoch (Billie Hayes), and benevolent Orwen (Adele Malis-Morey). There is strong implication that they are humans who stole from the witches in the past, which are to be eaten. Orwen takes a fancy to Fflewddur and will not allow him to be turned into a frog. The witches reveal that they never give anything away and that they trade.

Orddu agrees to trade the cauldron for Taran's sword, and he reluctantly agrees. The witches then 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 minions and Gurgi flees. The Horned King uses the cauldron to raise the dead. He picks up a dead warrior, puts it in the Cauldron, and begins his great spell. The cauldron brings to life all the dead warriors in the castle and transforms them into the "Cauldron Born". All the Horned King's henchmen run away in fear. 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 (as he believes that he has no friends while Taran has many friends), killing the Cauldron-born as well as himself. Outside, Creeper and the Horned King watch in shock as their Undead army falls and dies.

The cauldron begins consuming anything within its vicinity. Taran is confronted by the Horned King, who attempts to sacrifice him to the Cauldron. Before he can succeed, the Horned King is dragged into the Cauldron and violently ripped apart, which destroys the castle.

The three witches arrive to recover the now-inert Black Cauldron. But Fflewddur reminds them that they always keep a bargain by trade. Orddu doesn't want to give up the sword, but Orda and Orwen do. Orwen gives it to Taran.

Taran has realized Gurgi's true friendship and asks them to revive his friend in exchange for the cauldron, choosing to give up his sword. The witches honor the request and Gurgi is resurrected, much to everyone's joy. Taran and Eilonwy kiss and the four friends journey back home to Dallben. Dallben and Doli watch them in a vision created by Hen Wen, and Dallben finally praises Taran for his heroism.