The Black Cauldron (1985)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Michael E

  
  Okay, I'm going to get a lot of hate for this but I do enjoy this movie, unlike so many other people. The animation is decent, but the thing I enjoy the most about this movie is the villain, the horned King. Mainly because its a demon, horned, skeleton voiced by John Hurt, and he… More
  Okay, I'm going to get a lot of hate for this but I do enjoy this movie, unlike so many other people. The animation is decent, but the thing I enjoy the most about this movie is the villain, the horned King. Mainly because its a demon, horned, skeleton voiced by John Hurt, and he pulls it off frighteningly well. Also the music is also very good in the film, the only problem is that the composer is still stuck doing ghost-buster music, and it all sounds like ghost-busters music.

• Conner R

  
  Stylistically, The Black Cauldron has little in common with the typical Disney movie. In many ways it works in a good way; it's nice to watch something without a musical element. However, it kind've lacks a lasting effect. A lot of this is cheesy, which could've been… More
  Stylistically, The Black Cauldron has little in common with the typical Disney movie. In many ways it works in a good way; it's nice to watch something without a musical element. However, it kind've lacks a lasting effect. A lot of this is cheesy, which could've been fixed with singing and dancing, but this is dead serious so it's hard to embrace a mystical pig. John Hurt's villain does stand out as a force to be reckoned with his Skeletor getup and trickery.

• AJ V

  
  My favourite Disney movie of the 80s, this fantasy adventure is awesome, and kids will love it.

• Dead A

  
  This almost killed me! I have never felt this boring watching an adventurous scene.

• Phil H

  
  Starts of great, really promising but it kinda loses its punch half way through. It just goes alittle flat, the characters and look are amazing, the animation is good and the voices work well. The music is alittle uninspiring and the story is very old but it is unrated, the look saves… More
  Starts of great, really promising but it kinda loses its punch half way through. It just goes alittle flat, the characters and look are amazing, the animation is good and the voices work well. The music is alittle uninspiring and the story is very old but it is unrated, the look saves it really.

• KJ P

  
  I cannot stand this movie! I don't know what it is, but it scares me!

• First L

  
  It took 7 years and the combined efforts of 2 directors and 17 collected writers to come up with the disney turd known as The Black Cauldron, the story of a boy and a magic pig who must find the magic cauldron before the horned king can. Along the way they make friends with several… More
  It took 7 years and the combined efforts of 2 directors and 17 collected writers to come up with the disney turd known as The Black Cauldron, the story of a boy and a magic pig who must find the magic cauldron before the horned king can. Along the way they make friends with several colorful characters, including the annoying Gurgi, who manages to ruin the film much in the same way Jar Jar Binks ruined the first Star Wars prequel. But the voice acting is pretty bad all around, the boy hero never gets too excited over anything. The animation is equally bleh, characters don't run away from danger so much as they stumble away drunkenly. At one point, a fairy friend is added to the group, but nothing is ever done with him, until finally he gets fed up and announces he's leaving. I almost did too, but I stuck it out til the end. The ending, at least, is a little climactic, due mainly to an army of undead skeleton monsters rising up out of the cauldron, but this is all spoiled by an unwanted and unrequested resurrection scene. This represents the bottom of the barrel for Disney productions.

• Luke B

  
  Certainly one of the oddities from Disney's darker 80's period. The Black Cauldron is disappointingly bland in it's narrative. Boy must bring back a fortune telling pig, there's evil and there's sidekicks. They get captured, escape, and then get captured… More
  Certainly one of the oddities from Disney's darker 80's period. The Black Cauldron is disappointingly bland in it's narrative. Boy must bring back a fortune telling pig, there's evil and there's sidekicks. They get captured, escape, and then get captured again. The villain is particularly disturbing and has one of the more traumatic Disney villain deaths, probably just after the Tarzan hanging. It should be praised for it's adult style but unlike Basil the Great Mouse Detective, it loses it's Disney charm. Not enough humour, action or adventure. But if you want to see a comedic sidekick sacrifice themselves, then this is the film for you.

• Film C

  
  i love this film its great you have a boy a pig and a dog thing and theres witched and ghouls and creeps but it reli good sweet and lovely he has a special pig that can sense danger as well as show where this caldron is the caldron is meant to bring back all the dark lords army and… More
  i love this film its great you have a boy a pig and a dog thing and theres witched and ghouls and creeps but it reli good sweet and lovely he has a special pig that can sense danger as well as show where this caldron is the caldron is meant to bring back all the dark lords army and create havect on farmers and the other people and this boy stops this from happening it is sooo worth a watch

• Lafe F

  
  A truly magical Disney movie not-for-kids, because it has frightening skeleton baddies. A young farm boy named Taran has a pig who fortells trouble for the world if the Horned King's Black Cauldron is not found and destroyed. Taran is assisted by a beautiful princess, an old… More
  A truly magical Disney movie not-for-kids, because it has frightening skeleton baddies. A young farm boy named Taran has a pig who fortells trouble for the world if the Horned King's Black Cauldron is not found and destroyed. Taran is assisted by a beautiful princess, an old minstrel, his magic pig, and a mischievious furry talking dog-like creature named Gurgi. Various obstacles stand in their way, including three annoying witch sisters, the King and his guards, and the Horned King and his skeleton army. The animation is astounding, drawn by Don Bluth (creator of Dragon's Lair video laserdisc). I love the scene where they meet a cave full of glowing rainbow pixies. The Cauldron pyrotechnics are astounding. The undead armies which rise from the cauldron are done in creepy slimey realism. Visually, it's a triumph. The plot is a bit confusing and long. Little kids will get frightened and adults might get bored.

• Jason S

  
  One of the darkest of the Disney flicks.

• danny d

  
  the horned king is the scariest animated villian of all time, this movie was sweet

• George R

  
  It has the lovely animation a Disney movie should have, & Tim Burton's coloring in it makes it visually amazing, HOWEVER, the film is seriously lacking characters, & has a rushed plot. It is an underrated Disney movie, but it's not hard to see why. I remember only… More
  It has the lovely animation a Disney movie should have, & Tim Burton's coloring in it makes it visually amazing, HOWEVER, the film is seriously lacking characters, & has a rushed plot. It is an underrated Disney movie, but it's not hard to see why. I remember only watching a handful of scenes to this movie as a child, & thought I loved it. Re-watching it fully now, I really didn't like it as I hoped to. Characters: They need work. We get plenty of sight from the main characters, but they lack any real characterization & depth. We don't get enough information on them, thus almost rendering them pointless. As for the main characters, I really couldn't stand Taran. I don't mind big dreamers, but Taran just pissed me off how he completely lost track of his assignment over his daydreaming fantasies, & loses the pig. Then we have Eilonwy, the princess of the story of whom we don't get any royal background to, & no usefulness in the story. Yes, she's a real princess, take that Pocahontas. Anyways, Eilonwy may be a princess, but we get no background on her & how she was imprisoned & banished from her kingdom, & she is completely useless in the whole movie. Then there is Fflewddur Fflam, the weird character of the movie with the weirdest fucking name, & no sole purpose in the movie. Just like the other characters, he is useless, & has no story to him. And finally, we have Gurgi, an annoying little Chewbacca rip-off characters who only serves for one purpose in the movie, & that is to actually save the whole kingdom in the end. The Horned King however, now that is one scary villain. He still terrifies me to this day. One of the scariest Disney villains ever made. Animation/Coloring: It is lovely as it should be, & the dark coloring fits the movie perfectly. It was nice to see Disney go dark for once, & you can thank Tim Burton for the coloring in this movie. But it is too dark for kids, & the use of cgi really was killing the movie. Plot/Story: One of the problems with this movie is the plot is set from point A to point B, & it can barely seem to stand still. Another problem is how disturbing it is. The sex involved with the gypsy, the large boobed witches, & the extremely dark theme is far too much for a kid. The plot is set from point A to point B, & that doesn't work with many movies, & the story is completely rushed. We don't get enough time to see both sides of something when suddenly it jumps to the next part of the story. And there is also very little action in here, & the few scenes with action in them are completely ridiculous. Music/Score: I guess it fits the movie just fine, but it would exaggerate a little. Can't say much on this one because I wasn't fond of it. Dialogue: It was nothing special. Not much to say about it. Final summation, it is an underrated Disney movie, & it's not hard to see why, & it's very dark & disturbing for kids. It could have been a guilty pleasure of mine, but it didn't work out. You're better off watching Pocahontas or Robin Hood. Disney should really consider re-adapting this movie.

• DOCTOR P

  
  6th in the "Do it like Walt" Era The animation is an improvement over the last film. It has a dark look that complements the film's tone greatly. The Characters are for the most part bland and uninteresting. While no character is really annoying, none really… More
  6th in the "Do it like Walt" Era The animation is an improvement over the last film. It has a dark look that complements the film's tone greatly. The Characters are for the most part bland and uninteresting. While no character is really annoying, none really becomes of much interest and it just gives little reason to care. Most of the time one is left to wonder which character is worth rooting for since none provide much reason to give support to, the audience is just expected to root for the hero because he's the hero, yet he is not given any interesting thing to do. The story has a lot of problems, while it is darker then the usual Disney fare it manages to find its way of being of little interest to both kids and adults. It's to dark for the very young and it's not dark enough for adults. On the whole by the end it feels rushed and one is left wondering what happened, though some scenes are worth watching for the visuals it just does not offer enough to overlook it's problems. "The Black Cauldron" has some nice visuals but it just does not offer much to follow it up with. While nothing happens that is sure to anger one, it just sits and never does much leaving much to be desired. It might've been a better film had most of the scenes that were obviously cut out(there are certain moments that just feel like scenes were edited) were left, though one will never know until Disney decides to release the uncut version. Up Next: Sherlock Holmes the Famed- oh there's a mouse dressed up as a detective.

• Matthew Y

  
  Going for darker tones and more stylish animation this Disney film fails to create any memorable characters or real lasting impression. Five minutes into the film and there's a fortune telling psychic pig (that's right pig) laying the groundwork for the plot. A fantasy… More
  Going for darker tones and more stylish animation this Disney film fails to create any memorable characters or real lasting impression. Five minutes into the film and there's a fortune telling psychic pig (that's right pig) laying the groundwork for the plot. A fantasy adventure film that never branches out of its comfort zone and is ultimately uncompelling and uninteresting. It has easily become the most obscure Disney film ever made, one that seems to be buried deep in the Disney vault, behind a crate and above a dim lite lamp. I remember reading that this was the only Disney animated film not represented in any copacetic at any Disney Theme Park. Their was a rib stand in the Magic Kingdom years ago but it ultimately closed.

• Suneel J

  
  A mediocre medieval adventure compared to other Disney classics. The characters are largely forgettable and poorly developed. They are neither likable nor funny with the exception of Gurgi. The plot lacks originality and emotional depth to any respectable degree. The climax is… More
  A mediocre medieval adventure compared to other Disney classics. The characters are largely forgettable and poorly developed. They are neither likable nor funny with the exception of Gurgi. The plot lacks originality and emotional depth to any respectable degree. The climax is pretty horrible and doesn't make Taran out to be any sort of hero. The insertion of Eilonwy was highly unnecessary and doesn't add anything to the experience. The villains are all stock and don't compare to more famous Disney creations. The visuals are splendid for 1985 as you might expect and the voice acting is acceptable. At the end of the day, you can count this on the list of Disney failures, but it still entertains for the children.

• Bradley J

  
  Most of the characters were there just to be there, but the movie is still a creepy, entertaining, and amazing adventure that is welcome in a Disney library. Overall Rating:67

• Gavin C

  
  Even though we've seen so many live-action adaptations of the fantasy novels that we read so it can depend on which or not they would be good, but only some of them were adapted into animated features (Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, Don Bluth's The Secret of… More
  Even though we've seen so many live-action adaptations of the fantasy novels that we read so it can depend on which or not they would be good, but only some of them were adapted into animated features (Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH, Martin Rosen's Watership Down, The Plague Dogs, Rankin Bass's The Last Unicorn, and many more). However, Disney also adapted novels into successful animated features in the Dark Ages and Richard Rich's The Black Cauldron is one of them. Based on the second book of the Chronicles of Prydain, it tells the story about a pig-keeper named Taran who is sent on a journey by Dallben to hide his pig Hen Wen from the Horned King who will use her to find the Black Cauldron and use its powers to bring the deathless warriors to life. Assisted by Princess Eilonwy, Fflewddur, and a creature named Gurgi, Taran must find a way to destroy it once and for all. Now you know that the story was about. Time for my opinion. There's nothing negative to say about it because it's one of the most underrated Disney films of all time. The animation/art design were very unique, the fantasy visuals were amazing, the characters were likeable, and the music score from Elmer Berstein was good. The main villian, the Horned King, was shockingly scary which makes him one of the best Disney villians yet and the movie's tone was darker and mature. The Black Cauldron is a solid underrated Disney movie from the early 80s and it's already in my list. 8.0 out of 10

• Jackson W

  
  While The Black Cauldron is strong visually and has the frightful zeal of a Halloween classic, the weak and often exposed plotline along with being devoid of musical numbers destroys this film's potential.

• Alec B

  
  It lacks the type of character and world development that would make the next few Disney films that followed so great, but its darker tones and the absence of half-assed songs that were a problem in the pre-Alan Menken involvement make this particular animated film still work pretty… More
  It lacks the type of character and world development that would make the next few Disney films that followed so great, but its darker tones and the absence of half-assed songs that were a problem in the pre-Alan Menken involvement make this particular animated film still work pretty well

Read all 20 featured audience ratings