The Black Cauldron

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The Black Cauldron

PG

1985

1h 20m

Kids & Family

Fantasy

Animation

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

56%

Tomatometer

36 Reviews

48%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

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.

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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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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

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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

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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

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David Reddish

CBR

Flaws and all, it doesn't deserve its reputation as the nadir of Disney's animated storytelling. If nothing else, it's still a hell of a lot more entertaining than Wish.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 19, 2024

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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

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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

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IronYautja C

This movie is an uncut gem, by that I mean, it indeed has flaws, but just needs a little polish, it was shunned by audiences that would have winced at movies like "the birds" or "Prom night" and much of the charm is lost in those types than now cast it in bad light. This movie is great and had potential to be greater if the sensitive types didnt call for cuts

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/31/24

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Dave C

You've got to love dark Disney. and this is up there with its darkest. Redolent of most of their stories with a stereotypically evil and cold antagonist, contrasted against youthful innocence and bravery on the side of the protagonists, this also seems to have been inspiration for the Sir Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings films, and seemingly a building block for Twentieth Century's Anastasia! Unfortunately, none of the Cauldron's characters are compelling or memorable, and the story isn't quite as romantic or poetic as Walt's usually are, and so it fails to hold up against the iconic movies

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/18/24

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Paul S

What is Gurgi exactly?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

07/13/24

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Pablo J L

Disney's most underrated movie. Different and much better than other disney classics.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/04/24

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ÐÑÑÐµÐ¼ 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

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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

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Ted Berman

Director

Richard Rich

Director

Wayne Allwine

Henchman

James Almanzar

Henchman

Grant Bardsley

Taran

John Byner

Gurgi

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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
Producer: Joe Hale
Production Co: Walt Disney Productions
Rating: PG
Genre: Kids & Family, Fantasy, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2014
Runtime: 1h 20m
Sound Mix: Surround

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