Disney/Buena Vista | 1985 | 80 mins. | PG
By the mid-eighties, Disney had released a string of lackluster films. In 1985, the ‘House of Mouse’ was poised to release The Black Cauldron. Their most expensive project since Pinocchio, and only the second to be shot on 70mm film (Sleeping Beauty was the first) Cauldron was also among the first films to feature a Dolby surround soundtrack. Aside from all of that, The Black Cauldron represented a real change in style for Disney; this was a fantasy adventure that featured no musical numbers. Given all those characteristics, it should come as no surprise that executives felt that The Black Cauldron was the film to put Disney back on top since years of box office uncertainty that began in the 1970’s.
Unfortunately, The Black Cauldron proved to be a failure at the box office and didn’t produce any characters of immediate or lasting impact. After the films failure, the ‘House of Mouse’ seemed to hide Cauldron in their history. As a result, few knew much about it. Now, with a new 25th Edition available on DVD, Disney fans will finally have the opportunity to check out the film.
Based on Lloyd Alexander’s award-winning series of books The Chronicles of Prydain, heavily influenced by Welsh mythology, the story is filled with beings both humans and supernatural. Taran (Grant Bardsley) is given the mission of protecting the magical pig Hen-Wen who can see into the future. The pig knows the secret whereabouts of The Black Cauldron, an enchanted pot whose power can enable its owner to conquer the world with an army of death spirits. After the pig escapes from his control and is captured by the evil Horned King (John Hurt), Taran must rescue it, aided by the already captured Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan), a captured minstrel Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne), and a cowardly creature named Gurgi (John Byner). Along the way, the heroes must cope with a trio of ornery witches and the Horned King’s weasely assistant Creeper (Phil Fondacaro) along with a duo of flying dragon-like creatures and the King’s burly army of slow-witted, muscle-bound soldiers. Interesting names, huh?
The villain steals the show here and John Hurt’s work is excellent. He is clearly having a great time as the Horned King. He gives everything he has to every outrageous threat and thundering, bellowing fit of fury he has to portray. Unfortunately, neither Grant Bardsley nor Susan Sheridan bring anything remarkable to their characters and there’s not much chemistry between the two. However, veteran, British actors Nigel Hawthorne and Freddie Jones (master magician Dallben) do their best with what’s there and John Byner attempts to add comic flair.
So, while The Black Cauldron certainly doesn’t comes close to what Disney would produce in the ‘90’s—The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast etc.—the film deserve better than it got upon its release back in 1985. Now, with the new DVD release, take a chance on this largely forgotten gem.
The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is reproduced and anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions. The DVD has been cleaned and shows no evidence of dirt, scratches, or other debris. Color is very impressive with strong hues that are deeply saturated (though there is an occasional mottled quality to the shading). There is some flickering present and some slight banding, though these aren’t major concerns. There appears to be some edge enhancement, though it’s not a major problem.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix makes very effective use of the entire soundfield with Elmer Bernstein’s engaging score spread throughout the fronts and rears. A great amount of directionalized dialogue is present in the mix and though the recorded voices are easily discernible, the sound quality of the vocals is sometimes a bit hollow and thin though this is only a sporadic problem. The LFE channel gets a nice workout with this mix.
The DVD features the following special features:
Deleted Scene (9:45): While it’s easy to see why this scene wasn’t used, it makes for interesting viewing.
Still Frame Gallery – A collection of photos and drawings divided into seven categories: Visual Development, Character Development, Behind the Scenes, Voice Talent, Layout/Backgrounds, Tokyo Disneyland, and Promotion.
There are two games: 1) Quest for the Black Cauldron is a question and answer game requiring the players to remember trivia from the film. There are two different versions of the game offered. 2.) The Witches’ Challenge requires the player to answer a series of riddles and then find in answers in a series of four pictures.
Trick or Treat (8:00) is the 1952 Donald Duck cartoon.
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