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      The Black Cauldron

      PG 1985 1 hr. 20 min. Kids & Family Fantasy Animation List
      54% 35 Reviews Tomatometer 48% 25,000+ Ratings Audience Score In the land of Prydain, lowly pig herder Taran (Grant Bardsley) dreams of becoming a gallant knight. Young Taran receives his heroic calling when the evil Horned King (John Hurt) kidnaps Hen-Wren, a prophesying pig that had been entrusted to Taran. Now, with help from his furry sidekick Gurgi and Princess Eilonwy, Taran must locate the magical black cauldron before the Horned King is able to use its mystical powers to summon an army of the undead. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered Mar 06 Buy Now

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      The Black Cauldron

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      The Black Cauldron

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      Critics Consensus

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

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      Audience Reviews

      View All (1000+) audience reviews
      Артем Ð You can say that this is a copy of the Lord of the Rings - the hobbit boy, Sauron the horned king, the ring is pig, and Gurgi is Gollum.This is a rather strange movie. Cuteness like a chubby little pig is combined with rather creepy images of corpses, explosions, blood, and even at a conscious age it's not very pleasant to watch the movie, it's too dim and gloomy, here you have an allusion to drunkards and a harlot, then suddenly a frog will get stuck in the witch's tits, then suddenly a jump scare will jump out, and I'm silent about the presence of songs (they don't exist). The movie is neither for adults nor for children, eight screenwriters worked on it, and the fragmentation is visible. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 04/05/24 Full Review Israel Jeremy M Una muy buena peli, tiene bastantes fallas, por ejemplo, que la trama es algo predecible, o algunos personajes están solo de relleno, pero en todo lo demás, la pelicula es buenísima, tiene una excelente animación, un gran protagonista, un buen villano, y muchas cosas buenas más, le doy un 8.4/10. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/24 Full Review Obsidius EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH. Almost caused Disney's downfall. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/27/23 Full Review Tabitha B Disney desperately trying to copy Don Bluth and failing terribly Rated 1 out of 5 stars 11/11/23 Full Review Adam E The film that famously flopped so hard it put Disney's animation department in jeopardy for a short time, The Black Cauldron was a doomed project from the start with conflicting visions for it pre-release ultimately leading to poor box-office results. Loosely based on Lloyd Alexander's books, the film set out to be a kind of Lord Of The Rings meets Conan The Barbarian swords & sorcery adventure but for a younger audience. Unfortunately, between the studio chairman ordering changes based on bad initial test screenings, the producer refusing those requests and the CEO stepping in to manage things, the lead up to The Black Cauldron's release was a mess, to say the least. The big issue seemed to be a conflict in terms of what might alienate younger viewers, seeing as the film was considerably darker than most Disney animated features with the creepy Horned King unleashing an army of the dead on the world, killing some of his henchmen in gruesome ways in the process. This sequence and others were shortened and parts of the finished film, which earned a PG rating, still feel a bit clunky as a result. The film sees young assistant pig-keeper Taran discover that the evil Horned King is seeking a mythical black cauldron with dangerous powers and he'll soon need his pig's magical powers to locate it. Taran sets out to bring the pig to safety but the latter is soon taken by the Horned King's dragon creatures so the new plan becomes to break into the King's castle, rescue the pig and set out to find the cauldron themselves in order to destroy it once and for all. On paper, this is a pretty odd folk story, so not a particularly easy one for Disney to adapt, especially since the film didn't have an easy gimmick like catchy songs or big name stars to help attract audiences. That said, the movie works a lot better than you'd expect considering the struggle that was its post-production. For one thing, the design of the settings and the visuals in general are beautifully done. The Horned King's castle is a genuinely intimidating place and the sequence where the dragons capture Hen Wen is particularly intense. The animation on the two main characters, Taran and Princess Eilonwy, is regrettably as bland as the characters themselves and they are the film's weakest link by far. Between their lack of personality and the dull voice acting, these two are a charm vacuum and better, more fleshed-out characters would have gone a long way towards making this movie genuinely really good. Secondary characters like Gurgi, Fflewddur and the witches are very good, however, and John Hurt's Horned King is exactly as scary as he needed to be. It may have suffered from a tough release and a bad rep but The Black Cauldron was packed with potential and the finished film, while flawed, is still well worth a watch for the often stunning visuals, the gorgeous score, the fun supporting characters, the refreshingly darker approach and the mostly great animation. Good, if uneven. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/13/23 Full Review Nathanael S dommage que des scènes ont été coupées. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      91% 66% James and the Giant Peach 84% 77% Tim Burton's Corpse Bride 49% 54% Atlantis: The Lost Empire 88% 70% Frankenweenie 78% 81% The Dark Crystal TRAILER for The Dark Crystal Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

      Critics Reviews

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      Paul Attanasio Washington Post 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. Jan 3, 2018 Full Review Empire Magazine Possibly not the worst animated feature the House Of Mouse has produced, but certainly stumbling around the darker recesses of the Disney vault. Rated: 2/5 Nov 4, 2009 Full Review Variety Staff Variety The characters, though cute and cuddly and sweet and mean and ugly and simply awful, don't really have much to do that would remain of interest to any but the youngest minds. Feb 5, 2009 Full Review Carson Timar ButteredPopcorn While The Black Cauldron might not be the best Disney film, it easily could be the studio's most underrated work. Nov 11, 2023 Full Review Wesley Lovell Cinema Sight “The Black Cauldron” is an intriguing medieval film to be shared by a family or any group of fantasy role-players. Rated: 3.5/4 Oct 4, 2023 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy A tug-of-war between interesting graphics and uninteresting scenarios. Rated: 2.5/4 May 8, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis In the land of Prydain, lowly pig herder Taran (Grant Bardsley) dreams of becoming a gallant knight. Young Taran receives his heroic calling when the evil Horned King (John Hurt) kidnaps Hen-Wren, a prophesying pig that had been entrusted to Taran. Now, with help from his furry sidekick Gurgi and Princess Eilonwy, Taran must locate the magical black cauldron before the Horned King is able to use its mystical powers to summon an army of the undead.
      Director
      Ted Berman, Richard Rich
      Production Co
      Walt Disney Productions
      Rating
      PG
      Genre
      Kids & Family, Fantasy, Animation
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Jan 1, 2014
      Sound Mix
      Surround
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