#GrantBardsley

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The Black Cauldron (1985)

I’m a great admirer of Walt Disney's animated films. I initially set out to collect them all but after seeing The Black Cauldron, I've decided to become more selective. The characters are not compelling. The story does not feel very original. It’s not exciting. It might look great but the Disney name is all it has going for it otherwise.

Based on the first two books of The Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander, the evil Horned King (voiced by John hurt) is waging a war against the mythical land of Prydain. The tyrant hopes to obtain the Black Cauldron, which will allow him to resurrect his fallen soldiers and rule unopposed. Meanwhile, Taran (Grant Bardsley) dreams of becoming a great warrior but is nothing more than a pig keeper. When he learns his pig can tell the future and has located the Black Cauldron, he is joined by a young princess (Susan Sheridan), a strange furry creature named Gurgi (John Byner), and Fflewddur Fflam the bard (Nigel Hawthorne) on an adventure to prevent the Horned King for creating his army of undead “Cauldron Born”.

On paper, this movie must've sounded great. I bet the books are captivating. It’s got everything you would want to see in a sword-and-sorcery adventure. A young hero out to prove himself, a princess (not in need of rescuing), strange creatures, an evil that must be stopped, an invincible army, a land of wonder and magic, witches, magical artifacts. So what’s the issue? They are threefold: first, the tone, second, the characters, and third, the action.

Even before doing some research, you can guess the source material is much darker than this film. We’re always told of a big war raging in the land of Prydain, but we never see any battlefields or other indications of the danger the Horned King's army represents. "The Black Cauldron" feels shackled by a studio that desperately wanted to make a children's film but shouldn't have been.

There are too many characters in this story, which means none of them are developed enough to become interesting. Taran fulfills the bare minimum of a hero. He wants to be an adventurer and aims to do the right thing but is not an active character. Even when he comes into the possession of a magic sword, it’s the sword that does all of the work. Towards the end, he finally takes charge and begins driving the plot but it's too late. The other characters follow suit. Either they don’t contribute much to the story and action, they're flat, or both. Princess Eilonwy for example. She introduces herself as a capable adventurer but is always content just follows the rest of the group as they stumble into one plot point after another. She fares better than the middle-aged bad Ffewddur Fflam, however. The musician does absolutely nothing except tag along and provides some humorous moments - though his hilarity is up for debate.

Even some of the more recognizable characters, like the Horned King and Gurgi aren’t memorable because of their personalities or actions. Their designs are what make them stand out. The Horned King looks awesome but he's nothing more than an all-encompassing evil. Not a deal-breaker... unless everyone is dull.  Gurgi, whom Andy Serkis must've been channeling when he played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, has a bit more personality, but that brings me to my final criticism. It’s that none of the characters are given anything to do. Nearly all of the action taken by the heroes: the Princess, the Bard, Gurgi, could have all been given to a single character, maybe two, at most three. Not the 5 that we’re given.

I hoped the visuals would be able to carry The Black Cauldron. They do stand out but do not make Disney's 25th animated feature worth seeing. It’s not terrible. Actually, it's quite watchable but the disappointment factor means you miss nothing by skipping it. It's only for the completionists and is nowhere near the status of classics like Snow White, Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast or The Little Mermaid. (On DVD, March 14, 2015)