Synopsis
Taran is an assistant pigkeeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracular pig named Hen Wen, is kidnapped by an evil lord known as the Horned King. The villain hopes Hen will show him the way to The Black Cauldron, which has the power to create a giant army of unstoppable soldiers.
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Cast
- Grant BardsleyTaran (voice)
- Susan SheridanEilonwy (voice)
- John BynerGurgi / Doli (voice)
- Nigel HawthorneFflewddur Fflam (voice)
- John HurtThe Horned King (voice)
- Freddie JonesDallben (voice)
- Phil FondacaroCreeper / Henchman (voice)
- Arthur MaletKing Eidilleg (voice)
- Lindsay RichFairfolk (voice)
- Brandon CallFairfolk (voice)
Recommendations
- 80
Slate
But there's still a great deal to love in The Black Cauldron. The untested animators Don Bluth left behind created some amazing sequences, including a dramatic scene of Taran's oracular pig, Hen Wen, being captured by pterodactyl-like gwythaints...For all its flaws, The Black Cauldron was a movie ahead of its time. - 75
ReelViews
A fun-but-uninspired swords-and-sorcery story. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Despite its drawbacks as entertainment, it remains one of the best technical cartoon features ever produced by Disney. - 70
Chicago Reader
It's quite good, though by the impossible standards the film sets for itself it inevitably falls short: the character design is a little smudgy, the backgrounds are somewhat unimaginative, and the secret of Disney animation's unique depth—its impeccable perspectives and shadings—seems to have been irretrievably lost. - 70
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. - 50
The New York Times
This is the 25th full-length animated feature from Walt Disney studios, and professionally put together as it is, many of the ingredients may seem programmed to those who have seen some of the others. - 50
Time Out
As usual it is technically excellent, but the charm, characterisation and sheer good humour that made features like Pinocchio and Jungle Book so enjoyable are sadly absent. - 42
The A.V. Club
While more grim than most Disney films, it's not bleakness that gets in the way of The Black Cauldron succeeding; unmemorable protagonists, annoying sidekicks, an awkwardly episodic plot, and animation that ranges in appearance from impressive to cheap to unfinished take care of that.
