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
Doesn't deserve to be dismissed as harshly as it has been
Always curious about The Black Cauldron, I finally got around to it after seeing a DVD at the rental store. Despite a lot of grating elements, I ended up liking it overall.
The movie starts off on the wrong foot. The voices come across as recorded at low fidelity, and when combined with the sometimes hard-to-understand British accents, can be somewhat off-putting. Issues with voice and script become even more pronounced with characters such as Gurgi and his Gollum-esquire speech patterns. Indeed, the second time I watched the DVD I threw the English subtitles on, and not just for Gurgi.
Other problems with voicing include an exceedingly dull lead actor for Taran (he simply can't emote), and an overly chirpy female lead for Eilonwy.
Most other elements of the film proved passable if predictable in the Disney mold of plot, hero design, sidekicks, etc. Where it branches out for the better is in avoiding any and all musical interludes and along the way offering some scenarios and graphic effects that are more mature than most other Disney animated feature films (though later in the '90s the likes of The Lion King, Hunchback, and Tarzan would also tangle with mature themes).
Animation is also spectacularly mixed in quality, an odd distinction among Disney films but a distinction nonetheless. Usually solid, there are high points such as external shots of a dark castle or a visceral chase sequence. There are also low points such as unnatural shifts in hair color that overemphasize different environments, or obvious spots where animation was rushed (a rock slide sequence).
Yet for all these lows and highs, as an animation fan I ended up siding with the high points. Many sequences are inviting to re-watch, even if the entirety of the movie may not be. For all the talk of failure that continues to surround this movie, one can see in the film itself elements of a more mature Disney that could have been extremely promising with a more seasoned batch of animators and a world less hostile to PG animated fare.
The movie starts off on the wrong foot. The voices come across as recorded at low fidelity, and when combined with the sometimes hard-to-understand British accents, can be somewhat off-putting. Issues with voice and script become even more pronounced with characters such as Gurgi and his Gollum-esquire speech patterns. Indeed, the second time I watched the DVD I threw the English subtitles on, and not just for Gurgi.
Other problems with voicing include an exceedingly dull lead actor for Taran (he simply can't emote), and an overly chirpy female lead for Eilonwy.
Most other elements of the film proved passable if predictable in the Disney mold of plot, hero design, sidekicks, etc. Where it branches out for the better is in avoiding any and all musical interludes and along the way offering some scenarios and graphic effects that are more mature than most other Disney animated feature films (though later in the '90s the likes of The Lion King, Hunchback, and Tarzan would also tangle with mature themes).
Animation is also spectacularly mixed in quality, an odd distinction among Disney films but a distinction nonetheless. Usually solid, there are high points such as external shots of a dark castle or a visceral chase sequence. There are also low points such as unnatural shifts in hair color that overemphasize different environments, or obvious spots where animation was rushed (a rock slide sequence).
Yet for all these lows and highs, as an animation fan I ended up siding with the high points. Many sequences are inviting to re-watch, even if the entirety of the movie may not be. For all the talk of failure that continues to surround this movie, one can see in the film itself elements of a more mature Disney that could have been extremely promising with a more seasoned batch of animators and a world less hostile to PG animated fare.
helpful•247
- Articulated_Jaw
- Jun 27, 2006
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)