The Black Cauldron

Rating:
Summary: A Return to the Days of Doom and Fear
Review: Disney finally returns to the days of good vs. evil with very little compromise with their production of THE BLACK CAULDRON. This is a tale of swords and sorcery, evil, revenge and magic. It is the story of a search for a magic cauldron that if it falls into the hands of the evil Horned King, will be used as an abyss of endless evil. This Disney animated film is in the old tradition of SNOW WHITE, PINOCCHIO and BAMBI where some frightening moments and moments of real loss bring reality to the tale. THE BLACK CAULDRON had to follow this same mold to bring it credibility. If it looked too cute it would not work. You can see this same balance in SLEEPING BEAUTY. Good characterizations are the backbone of this film. The Horned King (coldly voiced by John Hurt), and a wooly little creature named Gurgi (voiced by John Byner) are the best. Gurgi is a great character who slurps and gurgles his way through this tale giving it that little bit of required levity. In fact the cauldron-born scenes were toned down before the release of this film. Taran the main character keeps the tale moving in a prerequisite and obligatory role. Creeper is one of the more memorable and noteworthy henchmen. ALL in all I think this is one of Disney's better films of the last two decades. I love the score by Elmer Bernstein that is lush yet whimsical. The storytelling goes back to the roots of Walt Disney's animated films yet the animation is unique from the rest of all Disney's other films. It was filmed in Super Technirama 70 and the DVD takes great advantage of this widescreen format.

Rating:
Summary: A forgotten classic
Review: This movie is sadly a forgotten one. I had never heard of it until they released it on DVD. I was quite surprised too, its hardly "disney-like" No singing, different animation style, and a much darker story. Overall its a good film.

I keep reading in other people's reviews how its "not like the book" that may be true (and the books are much better)but who cares? its a good film in its own right and it just might serve to introduce people to the books who might never have heard of them (like me). Besides that we could complain that EVERY disney movie is not like the story its based on. Have you every read The Jungle Book? Or any of the classic fairytales like Sleeping beauty or Beauty and the Beast? Or how bout the Little mermaid? Talk about rewritten endings! The little mermaid DIES in the end of the fairytale!

My point is every disney movie is VERY LOOSLEY based on some classic. They TOTALLY rewrite ALL their stories keeping only the basic plot points (if any)and the main characters, then they throw in some songs and cute/funny sidekicks. But does any of this make me enjoy Sleeping Beauty or the Little Mermaid less? No! and it shouldn't make you enjoy it less either. Enjoy the Stories/Books for what they are, and enjoy these Disney films for what they are.

So go buy or rent this movie already!You might be quite surprised like I was.

Rating:
Summary: The Black Cauldron
Review: This is one of the greatest dvd's. The picture and sound are so clear. Te widscreen picture is great.

Rating:
Summary: As always, Disney changes too many things
Review: Being a fan of manga/anime (Japanese comics and animation); I did not enjoy this Disney adaptation to the novel.

I have read the novel to this and when watching the movie; noticed Disney has CUT/CHANGED it. This movie is VERY LOOSELY based on the novel (if at all). The novel is by far MUCH MORE darker, scarier and bloodier.

The characters are rather shallow and not well developed in the movie. At least the plot's essence seems to be there, however alot less grimmer.

Disney also gave this its usual "Disney (happy) ending" (as expected), when the novel ended on a much more dismal/darker note.

I do not understand why Disney is afraid to do any "teen/adult animations". I guess they have a reputation to be "family" entertainment.

Although the animation was good, it was the CHANGES they made that had me VERY DISAPPOINTED.

If an animated feature could be redone, I would prefer it to be done by Japan. Since it seems they do animations in all different age groups (from children to adults only). In fact if this could be redone, have another company do it, NOT Disney.

Rating:
Summary: May not be suitable for toddlers
Review: This is a different Disney flick from what most Moms' and Dads' expect. This is a dark movie with some very scary creatures for your little ones. The older kids may love the action/adventure, but be forewarned that your younger children may want to sleep with the light on after watching this movie.

Rating:
Summary: The Black Cauldron
Review: I had never heard of this movie until I saw it on my sister's book and tape. I rented it just recently and intend to buy it A.S.A.P. I thought the Black Cauldron was a great movie, brilliantly animated with interesting plot lines. The only disadvantage was that Disney made one movie out of three books, so some storylines and characters had to be cut out. It is very dark for a Disney movie, hence the PG rating. If you are looking for a classic Disney adventure, look no further, and see the adventures of Taran, Eiloinwy, Fflewdur, and Gurgi in Disney's The Black Cauldron.

Rating:
Summary: I LOVE THIS MOVIE.
Review: after hearing so much about it for all these years and in 1998, i finally got it on video and became very happy with it. the only Disney Animated Movie to be " PG-Rated" and i loved it.

Recommendations: The Last Unicorn, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Army of Darkness, Return to Oz, and Rock and Rule ( another forgotten 80's classic of PG animation.)

Rating:
Summary: Great animated adventure, with exceptions.
Review: This is a great, but dark, animated adventure. The movie is based (quite loosely) on the first of a trilogy of excellent books that another reviewer mentioned. If you take the movie on its own merit, without comparing to the books, it is a very good movie, but definately not one you should play in front of the smaller children. It has a lot of intense and scary scenes in it.

If you're an avid Disney DVD collector, especially if you're working on your "gold" collection, snatch this one up. But if you've got smaller children, and are looking for a more lighthearted film (ala Bambi, Dumbo, Peter Pan, etc) then you might want to pass this one by for now.

Rating:
Summary: Looking for something other then the normal light hearted
Review: Disney movie?Then the Black Cauldron is for you!!!Its Diseny's only movie with a PG rating and is quite good,no singing what so ever!!!That's a plus side right there!!!Its so much darker then your average Disney movie...Staring a pigboy,scullery maid,musicman,and a monket/dog(okay that's not what he is,but that's what he reminds me of.!But he adds comedy to the movie without that character this movie would fall pretty short though its not the best Disney movie ever made its still worth a watch!!!So check it out today!!!

Rating:
Summary: Clean the dirt out of the cauldron,please!
Review: What are they on about? It maybe was trying to mix with Alice in Wonderland with The Legend of Zelda, but it had frog eating witches in, magic pigs, a strange little mammal thing called Girgi and it gets worse; fluffy pink fairies! Why didn't they do a different story like Tom Thumb or Jack and the Beanstalk? Go buy Alice in Wonderland or Pinocchio...