Rating: 
Summary: Is this disney?
Review: Man! I wish this had done well in the theaters, maybe they would have done more like this. Dark, no music and not for kids! If they only focused less on sex and more on topics such as this. Part Lord of the Rings, part Star Wars. One of Disney's BEST!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing...but is this Disney?
Review: First off let me say that "The Black Cauldron" is filled with all the elements that make a great fantasy film: goblins, skeletons, an evil sorcerer, a princess, a cute little creature that no one knows anything about, and a single purpose that unites them all -- the quest and possession of an object of unspeakable evil. The animation and artistry were superb, particularly anything having to do with the Horned King's Castle! The animators really managed to capture the dark, wicked, Gothic element that most "evil" lands of fantasy have. Hats off to you guys! The plot jumps along a bit fast, but this isn't so much of a problem, particularly if you're like me and want to get straight into the quest. My only real concern is that this film -- being a Disney one and all -- tends to have several "mature" scenes and that Horned King is really scary...a little too scary, I guess, because the movie was slapped with a PG rating (unheard of for a Disney cartoon!) Still, lovers of epic fantasy films should grab this one.
Rating: 
Summary: The Black Cauldron? Hardly.
Review: I am a huge fan of Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series, and therefore find this Disney adaptation more than a little insulting despite the small dose of entertainment value I glean from it. After all, I saw this movie when I was a child and have fond memories of it - and that came BEFORE I took it upon myself to read the novels. Needless to say, my opinion was altered, for "The Black Cauldron" is not at all like the book from which it draws its name. Instead, it's kind of a combination of "The Book of Three," "The Black Cauldron," and, to a lesser extent, "The High King" (which translates into Prydain books 1, 2, and 5). Most of Alexander's best stuff has been removed, and Disney has inserted some pretty bad fluff in its place. The books are so wonderful that it's hard to believe anyone would want to butcher them so, but here it is nonetheless - and were it not for the fantastic animation, the good voice-acting, and the dark atmosphere (for a PG-rated Disney movie, anyway), it would be hard to recommend to anyone over the age of 10. At the same time, it's the only visual adaptation of the series you're likely to get, so that's saying something... perhaps. I just wish somebody would buy the rights and do something better with them - a couple of films or a miniseries, maybe. Lloyd Alexander deserves much better than this, and so does Prydain.
Rating: 
Summary: A neglected gem
Review: This film deserve far better than it got. When the film first came out in the mid '80s, it devastated Disney financially due to its very poor box office performance and very high cost. Pity, I really liked this film. It was one of the few Disney cartoons not based on any classic fairy tail. It was original. It was not formulaic like just about everything else produced by Disney before and since. Dark, dingy, and scary - oh yeah! Fearsome creatures, villain, and ghouls, oh my! Finally Disney began showing some guts, to go beyond the usual sugar coated fluff, kind of like Disney meets Dungeons and Dragons. The cutesy kid stuff was kept at a minimum (though not eliminated completely) and there was none of the usual song and dance numbers. Unfortunately it didn't pay off, and Disney went back to doing what it always had been doing. Sigh...The animation was fairly good. My only real complaint is that it was a bit flat at times, a little greater use of light and shadow would have been nice. The characters were well designed, and the voice acting was well done (dig them British accents). Add this neglected gem to your treasure trove.
Rating:
Summary: What a scray movie!
Review: Okay i can understand that some movies take that bappily ever after stuff out of movies like Atlantis but this was just to much. My kids didn't get scared by Atlantis and Lilo and Stich but the Black Cauldron scared them half to death. The horned King has no humour, he speaks scary and he looks like the devils son! Don't get this movie for your kids!
Rating: 
Summary: Gurgi must die
Review: Unfortunately, the nasty little critter didn't stay dead. Gurgi is among the most unloveable of side kicks in Disney flicks. The animation was second rate and was not all of the same style throughout the movie so it had a feeling of many animators collaborating, but not communicating. It tried to be something new and different, but it fell pretty flat. The plot was VERY predictable and though based on a fairytale world, not very transporting. Oh well, better than no animation at all.
Rating:
Summary: Not a terrible movie, but not great, either.
Review: As other people have mentioned, the characters are rather flat, and the plot is just a variation on the must-save-world-from-scary-guy theme. If you can ignore the predictability and the contrived and sappy ending, it's an okay flick. Eye candy, and the kids'll probably like it -- I did, when I was younger. If you're going to watch it, though, please DON'T read the books first. Read the books, by all means, but if you read them before watching the movie, you'll find the flick unbearable. Disney changed so much, and with no fathomable reason behind most of the changes. The changes to the character of Fflewddur Fflam hit me especially hard, since he's my favorite from the books -- apart from the name and harp, he's unrecognizable. Basically, everything's been simplified and, well, Disneyfied. All of the PG rating comes from visuals, and any bad things happening to the good guys are fleeting, unlike the books, which carry the more difficult -- but true -- lesson that life can be unfair sometimes. Anyway, in closing, the movie isn't bad, but as has been said, the books are far better. If you're thinking of buying it for your kids, especially, I'd highly recommend getting the books instead and sharing them. If they like Harry Potter, they're almost sure to like these. The Prydain Chronicles have a depth and a warmth to them that's difficult to find; I first read them when I was a kid, and I find myself re-reading them every few years or so.
Rating:
Summary: Not Lloyd Alexander and yet?
Review: Well, this is a really hard movie to review because I have such mixed feelings. Disney is known for taking liberties with many stories and basically changing them to the point that they are almost unrecognizable and this is no exception. Any time my children hear the original storybook version of a story Disney has made into a movie they say things like, "That's not how it happened in the movie." Snow White, Cinderella, Sword in the Stone, to mention just a few, but the absolute worst was Pocahonas since that was history they were messing with! Back to The Black Cauldron. They have totally changed so many things that if you know the story you may very well be sickened by what they have done to the story and it's characters. On the other hand, if you go into this with no previous knowledge, it's a wonderfully animated, fun story to be watched again and again. My children have read the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander and although they immediately noted many discrepancies, they still thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I guess what it comes down to is this. If you can watch it through the eyes of a child without expectations of acuracy, you'll probably really enjoy this movie, but if you're expecting Lloyd Alexander's novels on screen don't bother with this one.
Rating:
Summary: A decent DVD to own
Review: Although I'm not impressed with the amount of bonus materials on the Disney Gold Edition DVDs, The Black Cauldron is a decent Disney animated movie that Disney fans and families will enjoy. The picture and sound quality are improved over the VHS version and there are a few bonus features that make this DVD worth the purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: Disney is returning to this kind of movie (alantis,)
Review: This movie was sooooo bad it belongs with the patheon of bad disney films: The fox and the Pound, the adventures of mr. Road, aristoflats, tarzwan, dinosours. and the worst thing is that's what kind of movies disney is starting to make again, alantis, please that was one of the most boring movies, and treasure planet, they are trying to apeal to the teenage audence just like they did in the black cauldron. The only good animation is coming out of PIXAR studios.
Lets face the facts the disney animators are burned out. wait 10 years and they will get there wind back.just like they did after this movie and then they will come out with some brilliant movie like beauty and the beast or aladdin
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