The Black Cauldron: Difference between revisions

[[File:BlackCauldron.jpg|frame]]

 

 

Meet [[Disney|Disney's]] [[Redheaded Stepchild]] and the 25th entry in the [[Disney Animated Canon]], 1985's ''The Black Cauldron''. It is the story of Taran, a young Assistant Pig Keeper who desperately wants to be a great warrior. He is charged with hiding Hen Wen, an innocent-looking pig -who is actually an oracle. The [[Big Bad]], the Horned King, wants the pig because she can uncover the location of the Black Cauldron, with which he will bring to life an army of invincible, undead warriors to conquer the world.

As the unbeatable Cauldron Born set out to destroy all life and take over the planet, there is only one way to stop them. Someone must jump into the cauldron, at the cost of their life...

 

 

* It is the first Disney animated feature to be rated PG in the USA... and the reasons why are evident.

* It is the first Disney animated feature to have ''absolutely no singing''; thus, there is one less element available to alleviate the movie's dark elements.

 

 

''[[The Black Cauldron (video game)|The Black Cauldron]]'' was also a mildly successful computer game released by [[Sierra Entertainment]] in 1986 (yes, the same folks who produced Space Quest and Kings Quest).

 

A 25th anniversary edition was released on September 24, 2010, so it seems Disney is confident of some demand for it among audiences.

 

* [[Abhorrent Admirer]]: One of the witches to Fflewddur Fflam.

* [[Accidental Kiss]]: Taran and Eilonwy are sort of tricked into one of these at the end, not that they particularly mind.

* [[Bad Boss]]: The Horned King's first response to ''any'' setback whatsoever is to strangle Creeper, whether it's his fault or not.

* [[Berserk Button]]: Eilonwy. Don't ever be sexist (Taran) in her presence. Nor take the side of said sexist (Fflam).

* [[Big Eater]]: Gurgi is always on the lookout for "munchings and crunchings".

* [[Brick Joke]]: Hen Wen is left under the guard of the [[Fair Folk]] when the heroes go after the Cauldron; she doesn't turn up again until the very end of the film, where she's shown back at Dalben's house, revealing to [[The Obi-Wan]] what happened to his student. Doli's there, too, indicating that, unsurprisingly, he got stuck with the job of [[Incredibly Lame Pun|going wee wee wee all the way home]]...

* [[Canon Foreigner]]: Creeper, who was not part of Alexander's original series.

* [[Cartoon Creature]]: Gurgi is a strange example of this trope, looking something like a cross between an Old English Sheepdog, a marmot, and a gibbon.

* [[Collapsing Lair]]

* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Quite a few.

* [[Evil Gloating]]

* [[Evil Overlord]]

* [[Executive Meddling]]: The film was originally intended to be the beginning of a [[Darker and Edgier]] Disney, aimed more at teens and young adults. It was originally much more graphic and violent. However, at the last minute, the Disney execs changed their minds and cut several completed scenes.

* [[Family-Unfriendly Death]]: The Horned King. And ''[[Body Horror|how]]''!

* [[Failure Hero]]: Taran so wants to be a [[Knight in Shining Armour]], but at almost no point in the film does he successfully do anything useful with his own skills: He loses Hen Wen almost immediately after being entrusted with her; when held captive by the Horned King he only escapes with the help of Eilonwy and the magic sword; and he unwittingly brings the Black Cauldron into the Horned King's hands by getting it from the witches with whom it probably would've been completely secure. At the end of the film, Taran actually acknowledges that he's a failure as a warrior and forfeits his chance to become one in order to {{spoiler|resurrect Gurgi.}}

* [[The Film of the Book]]: Of the books, more accurately. This film is a bit of a mash-up of elements from the first two books of the Prydain series, ''The Book of Three'' and ''The Black Cauldron''.

* [[Gag Boobs]]: Orwen of the Three witches, who is on the heavier side and well-endowed enough to lose a frog in her bodacious bosoms.

* [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]: Arawn's the evil force within the Cauldron.

* [[Shout-Out]]: After the Cauldron-born start dying:

* [[Significant Green-Eyed Redhead]]: Taran.

* [[Spoony Bard]]: Fflam isn't much use for most of the story.

** Also Creeper, with "this isn' my fault!"

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]:

* [[Wacky Wayside Tribe]]: The Fair Folk.

* [[Wandering Minstrel]]: Fflewddur Fflam.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fantasy Animated Films]]

[[Category:Films of the 1980s]]

[[Category:Horror Western Animation]]

[[Category:Disney]]