The Black Cauldron

Name: The Black Cauldron
Released: 1985-7-24
Cast: Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, John Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, John Byner

The Black Cauldron

PG
1h 20m
1985

53%

age 7+

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Fantasy, magic, and fun are all brewed together in Disney's legendary adventure The Black Cauldron. Whoever releases the mysterious Black Cauldron's power will be invincible! The fearsome Horned King will do anything to possess it, but he is challenged by the most unlikely adversary: a young assistant pig keeper named Taran, who dreams of doing heroic deeds. With a motley team of the brave Princess Eilonwy, a minstrel named Fflewddur Fflam and Hen Wen, a remarkable pig who can predict the future, Taran embarks on a quest to stop the Black Cauldron's evil once and for all. Will he have the courage to succeed?

Director:

Ted Berman, Richard Rich

Producer:

Joe Hale

Writer:

Al Wilson, Art Stevens, David Jonas, Joe Hale, Peter Young, Richard Rich, Roy Morita, Ted Berman, Vance Gerry

Cast:

Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, John Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, John Byner, Freddie Jones, Arthur Malet, Adele Malis-Morey, Phil Fondacaro, John Huston, Eda Reiss Merin, Billie Hayes, John Byner

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

TOMATOMETER®

53%

Critics Consensus: Ambitious but flawed, The Black Cauldron is technically brilliant as usual, but lacks the compelling characters of other Disney animated classics.

Reviews

Gone With The Twins

Mike Massie

Feels like only half of a story, as if audiences are thrust into the core chapters of an epic quest, with countless elements left undetailed, unexplained, and underdeveloped.

August 31, 2020

FULL REVIEW

Rachel's Reviews (YouTube)

Rachel Wagner

Definitely one of the worst Disney animated films and gets worse every time I watch it

Technically brilliant though short on narrative, "The Black Cauldron" is a painless, old-fashioned way to take out the kids, and a triumph for the animation department at the Disney studio, where it has been in development for almost a dozen years.

With all of the talent and effort put into this, the movie only amounts to a bunch of premature ideas that are clumped together, making little sense.

June 22, 2017

FULL REVIEW

Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

Mark Pfeiffer

It's not a good film, but for one with the reputation of being the studio's worst animated feature, it shows that interesting work is done in it.

June 22, 2017

FULL REVIEW

Common Sense Media

age 7+

Common Sense Says

Book-based fantasy is darker than much Disney fare.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this dark Disney animated feature (based on the Prydain books by Lloyd Alexander) will have much greater appeal for those who enjoy ghost stories and war epics than for fans of musical comedy. There are no songs, and even the comic relief involves violent images. The Horned King twice attempts to murder the hero, skeletons come to life and attack people, and witches use magic to hurl objects. For grade-school kids, the cute sidekicks and rapid pace will be appealing, but the many frightening images could fuel many a nightmare. Older kids and preteens interested in fantasy will enjoy the mystical plot.