Rating: 
Summary: They need to make a live action version!
Review: Okay, so the Disney version of The Black Cauldron isn't exactly like the book. Disney left out LOTS of characters and rather stupidly cut parts out of the personalities of certain characters (read: Eilonwy and Fflewddur). However, if you have never read the book, you will definitely enjoy the movie. The story is basically about a young boy who goes on a quest to find an oracular pig and a magical cauldron that must be destroyed, or else the country of Prydain will be in mortal danger. On the way, our hero meets several companions who help him on his journey. The animation was good in this film, but no animated movie can fully capture the essence of Lloyd Alexander's book series. I think that Disney seriously needs to make a live-action movie of TBC and maybe another for The High King. If anyone reading this agrees with me, I'd love to hear from you! Eventually I want to form a petition to send to Disney, but I need your help!
Rating: 
Summary: Well, They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To!
Review: It's no secret that Disney has been . . . . . . . well, slacking off lately. (Quite frankly, they suck.) Boy, do I miss the good old days with just 2-D animation, and no computer enhancement to be seen. I'm only thirteen, so I don't want to act like I know and have seen it all. But because of my age I feel privilaged to really know how *GOOD* these older movies are (most kids I know don't). Anyway, on with THE BLACK CAULDRON.This is a very strange film for me; when I was little, I didn't like the movie at all. It didn't necessarily scare me (though I definitely found the movie creepy), I just didn't like it. Then just yesterday I saw it on TV in the morning, so I figured "What the heck?" and watched. And for some reason, I really liked it! I just loved the old-fashioned fairy tale plot and characters. Sure, Taran and the Princess don't break any new ground, but they don't try to, and that's some of the charm to the story. And I can't write a review for this movie without mentioning The Horned King. . . . . . aaaahhhhh, what a grand villain! His prescence reminds one of the villains of old, like Malefecent from SLEEPING BEAUTY. And don't forget the classic score by Elmer Bernstein. At the time, this was the most expensive animated movie ever made (at $25 million . . . . . that's $15 million more than the original STAR WARS cost, people!), and it shows. THE BLACK CAULDRON mixes all kinds of animation, from traditional Disney-style to new-age techniques. But none of the new stuff do any more than enhance the story. If this movie was made nowadays, it would be chalk-full of pointless show-stoppers. It's a beautiful looking film, pure and simple. Oh, and I forgot to mention the spectacular voice cast: Freddie Jones, John Hurt, John Huston, Susan Sheridan, Grant Bardsley, and more inhabit the movie throughout. Their prescence further enhances the classic traditional feel of the story. For all those who enjoyed so much SLEEPING BEAUTY, or for all those of this generation who are wondering why all the grown-ups keep praising Disney, see this film. Though it is far from Disney's best, you'll undoubtedly see what they are talking about. (P.S. I've never read the books, so I don't know how you'd feel about the movie if you have.)
Rating:
Summary: Bad Writing Slays the Horned King
Review: Lloyd Alexlander's Prydain series consists of four books, the second of which, the Black Cauldron, continues the story long after the characters of Taran, the princess, the minstrel, and Ghurgi know one another. The first book, The Book of Three, introduces all these characters as they unite to find Hen Wen and keep her from the Horned King. The Disney producers seems to have slammed these first two books together with little regard for Alexander's work except its popularity. Though in the books, these characters are complex, funny, and interesting, I found myself yawning five minutes into this film, because the screenplay strips away character in an attempt to graft in gags and evil castles. In the Book of Three, Taran's sword is taken away by the Princess, a sorcesses, because he hasn't the right to use it. Here, Taran is forced to become a swashbuckler instantly, without any development whatsoever. That was the point of the four books, to develop Taran into the character he becomes. I remember when this film came out, it tanked, hammering one more nail in the Disney coffin until the new regime came in and revived the animated feature. It's hard to believe that the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast come only a few years after this clunking, over-serious, archaic feature. That said, the artwork - the backgrounds mainly - is detail and often superb. It's too bad that who ever transfered this over to DVD didn't care to clean up the negative. When this film shines, it can really shine. Also, don't watch TBC along with the Peter Jackson Fellowship of the Ring; too many shots are similar for comfort. The DVD does come with a Disney cartoon, "Trick of Treat for Halloween" which outshines the feature in every respect. Oops.
Rating: 
Summary: Disney's 25th Animated Masterpiece!
Review: Disney's The Black Cauldron is often remembered, or better yet, not remembered as one of their greatest achievements. The film is darker and somewhat gloomier then the previous Disney films and the ones that proceeded it. Disney thought that this film would be a Disney renaissance, being 12 years in the making and being extremely expensive to make, it turned out to be a box office failure, not recovering the money that was lost in its produccion.
The Black Cauldron is based on the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, I've never read these books, but I have heard that they are nothing like the film and way better too. I guess that means that the books are outstanding, since the film itself is great. The movie is the story of the young pig-keeper, Taran, with a great mission over his shoulders. His master Dallben has asked him to keep Hen Wen, a pig with magical powers, hidden from the hands of the evil Horned King, who needs Hen Wen to find the Black Cauldron, and with it, rule the world. But Taran isn't alone in this life threatening task, in his journey he'll meet the beautiful Princess Eilonwy, held captive by the Horned King, a talented musician named Fflewddur Fflam and the adorable wild dog, Gurgi, who becomes a true friend and hero when giving up his own life to save his "master", Taran. From the Dark Forest to Morva, and from there to the Horned King's castle, Taran and his friends will live an unforgettable journey in which they'll lear the value of friendship and loyalty. The Black Cauldron was released as part of the Gold Classic Collection, and this DVD, just like all the other "Golds" has very little to offer. A little trailer, a small game a little cartoon and a bit of behind the scenes galery is much less than what this film has to offer. Let's hope Disney wakes up and puts the film in the treatment it deserves. The video quality is okay, but could be improved. I guess technically, the DVD is fine.
Rating: 
Summary: A horrible movie (I give is -5 stars)
Review: I was excited to see this movie after having read the books. Not only is this movie one of the worst cartoons I have ever seen, but it is a sacralige that it is associated in any way with Lloyd Alexander's wonderful books. The story does not relate to anything in the books and I found the movie quite offensive and lewd at times. This movie goes at the top of my 'Never ever ever see list'.
Rating:
Summary: The Black Cauldron Gold Collection DVD
Review: This is a fantastic action adventure story, that gave a much needed break to Disney's wonderful musical. Not one song is in this film, and that gives it a major benifit becuase it kept the film very serious and dark. A lot of the past reviewers have said that the animation is not very good. Aside from one scene, I strongly disagree with this. The animation is not extraordinary, but it does succeed in making the atmospheric mood a very dark one. Besides, animation is not what carries this film, it's it's characters. Starting foremost, with the Horned King, a villian that goes beyond any bad guy before him using the Cauldron's magic to resurrect his army of skeletons. This provides one of the movie's most intense and dramatic sequences. The comedic relief in this film belong to Creeper, the king's goblin creature and Gurgi, a cowardly creature who redeems himself later in the film. Both do well in making us laugh, but not going too far to avoid taking the film's dark feel. Taran is the main character, but aside from knowing that he wants to be a hero, not much is known of him. This film is greatly underappreciated, mostly becuase it was a severe economical failure. What Disney lost in $, they gained in creative expansion, beginning to be able to tackle many different subject matters for different audiences. The Gold Collection DVD, includes "Trick or Treat", a classic Donald vs his nephews cartoon.
Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Effort 3 and a half.
Review: Epic medevil stories are hard to put on film, and are more challenging to put in an animated film. In the Black Cauldron Disney gave it's best. There are a few things though that make the film un-Disney. The characters are not as lovable and iconic on the exception of Gurgi in this movie. The animation is too different and it detatches itself from the other Disney films. The villain is too strong and powerful for a child audience and a little too mediocre for an older crowd. If you look at is as just another movie it really is not that bad, but when comparing it to past Disney effort that is where you run into problems.
Rating:
Summary: THE BLACK CAULDRON
Review: I love this film. And it has no songs which is great. It is a very short film, dark, and with a very simple plot, but with wonderful voices of the characters. Each character is absolutely lovely. And the fairies are the most beautiful and sweetest I have ever seen in film.
Rating:
Summary: Too bad it looks like a bootleg
Review: Unfortunately, the people at Disney didn't seem to notice that this DVD looks like a bootleg. Film flickers and white spots are abundant. Worse yet, the trailer opens with purple lines running across the screen akin to what you used to see when a VHS tape had been dubbed one too many times. I'm aware that Cauldron isn't the company's most prized possession, but still...(as for the actual film: it's entertaining, though there is no music and the climax is weak. Overall, it can't compete with their princess stories, but lots of other people have talked about that already (see below)).
Rating:
Summary: Turing Test Cinema
Review: I've never read the books on which the film is based, but the action and dialogue have the nervous, half-apologetic opacity of a screenplay too hastily cut-and-pasted out of a more complex work. Like the Rankin-Bass Return of the King, crucial motivations and important relationships are poorly established or not explained at all, long journeys are reduced to a two-second transition shot, and the exposition manages to be both half-hearted and desperate. Unlike The Return of the King, the bad comic relief is rampant. Several characters seem to have been rewritten entirely as tiresome jokes (can the minstrel really have been that useless and goofy? Could the witches have been such feeble caricatures?) In a movie in which nearly everything is handled poorly, the villain fares perhaps worst of all, because he has such tremendous potential. A death's-headed sorcerer who uses the eponymous cauldron to raise an army of the undead, he ought to be monstrous and terrifying. And while he looks nasty enough, and delivers a lot of speeches about "the cauldron-born" that in theory should send chills down the spines of small children, he seems to inspire little fear in the inhabitants of the movie. They all talk about his dread majesty, of course, but scene after scene shows him striding into a room full of boisterous henchmen who, far from being in awe of their evil master, barely seem to notice him at all, and do not even stop eating when he speaks. His second-in-command or Generic Comic Sidekick is terrified of him, but only because he is constantly bashing him over the head. Even the hero, an untested young boy, barely balks in his presence. The man has no menace about him. He might as well settle down and start reading romance novels, because he's exactly as scary as the Elephant Man. He probably needs an army of the undead just to maintain order in the Castle of Evil. Also abominable is the film's treatment of Gurgi, the fluffy nothing who begins as odious comic relief and stays odious comic relief until precisely the moment he is needed for a heroic self-sacrifice. It turns out that for obscure EVIL reasons of its own, the Cauldron (which has to be destroyed so that the dead can stop walking and the Horned King can get back to whatever it is he does when not covering all the lands in darkness) needs someone's life given willingly. Gurgi, a useless bit of window dressing not unlike that annoying hummingbird in Pocahontas (only with the added inconvenience of speech) has been rejected by the heroes of the movie as cumbersome and silly and for contributing absolutely nothing to the plot. So he's feeling a little sad and lonely, and so just when you think that one of the heroes is going to sacrifice himself to the Cauldron for the salvation of the world, the little Ewok comes panting out in front of everybody, announces, "Gurgi has no friends. Gurgi will die," or some such thing, and cannonballs into the Cauldron, just like that-- thus granting cinema perhaps the least thoughtful suicide in its history. Well, all right. But if you thought just because The Black Cauldron was rated PG that it would let its odious comic relief stay dead, think again. No sooner has the undead army been swirled back into the earth than Gurgi is found, coughing and wheezing but very much alive. What, did the Cauldron have pity on him or something? Pretty sentimental for an EVIL artifact, especially considering that nobody else really liked Gurgi to begin with. The entire sequence-- the seeming arbitrariness of Gurgi's sacrifice and his subsequent (and equally arbitrary) resurrection, would have sunk a much better movie. Here, it's just one more in a long string of bad decisions. The overall failure of the movie, however, is a consistent and difficult to explain failure of tone. Technically, all the elements are there for a competent Disney movie-- except that the adventure isn't exciting, the humor isn't funny, the heroes are colorless and seem to act almost at random, and the villain is peculiarly unimpressive. In fact, the entire movie appears to have been written, directed, and edited by an early experiment in artificial intelligence. The computer was given a few books and the Disney formula and instructed to make a hit movie. The result is a novelty, but not a success. The Black Cauldron is soulless.
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