The Black Cauldron

Name: The Black Cauldron
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Released: 1985-07-24
Duration: 1 h 20 min
Rating: 6.4
Cast: Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, John Byner, Nigel Hawthorne, John Hurt

Hidden by darkness. Guarded by witches. Discovered by a boy. Stolen by a king. Whoever owns it will rule the world. Or destroy it.

The Black Cauldron (1985)

Timing: 1:20 (80 min)

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6.4/10
1459

6.3/10
45000

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Everything about the movie

Video 10

Photo 66

Actors and characters

Video for the film The Black Cauldron — Taran and the Magic Cauldron - 1990 Reissue Trailer (35mm 4K)

1:25

Photo 66

Release date

1985-07-24

Country

United States

Production

Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Productions, Silver Screen Partners II

Genre

Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy

Budget

$44 000 000

Box office

$21 288 692

Website

Director

Ted Berman, Richard Rich

Actors

Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, John Byner, Nigel Hawthorne, John Hurt, Freddie Jones, Phil Fondacaro, Arthur Malet, Lindsay Rich, Brandon Call
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Joe Hale, Ron Miller

Camera operator

Composer

Elmer Bernstein

Artist

Chris Buck, Phil Nibbelink, Mike Gabriel

Audition

Editing

James Melton, James Koford, Armetta Jackson-Hamlett
Whole Team (69)

Short description

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.

What's left behind the scenes

The first Disney animated film with sound recorded in Dolby Stereo format.
The first Disney animated film to be given a PG rating (parental guidance suggested).
The first Disney animated film to use computer graphics to some extent during its production.
Work on the film continued for a full 12 years (preparatory work began as early as 1973).
The film was originally planned for release in 1980, but by August 1978 it became clear that it would not be ready by that date due to the extremely complex work the animators were doing on the human characters. Therefore, a decision was made to postpone the release of the film until Christmas 1984.
Lloyd Alexander generally liked the film, although he noted that the story was more profound in his books.
The animated film is a loose adaptation of the first two books in the cycle of novels by American writer Lloyd Alexander, "The Chronicles of Prydain" (1964-1968): "The Book of Three" (1964) and "The Black Cauldron" (1965).
Directors Ted Berman and Richard Rich also created the previous Disney animated film – "The Fox and the Hound" (1981).
Walt Disney Studios acquired the rights to adapt Lloyd Alexander’s novel cycle “The Chronicles of Prydain” (1964-1968) as early as 1971.
While heavy work was underway on "The Black Cauldron" (1985), Walt Disney Studios was able to fully create and release "The Fox and the Hound" (1981), which was originally intended to follow "The Black Cauldron".
The release of "The Black Cauldron" for Christmas 1984 was also delayed due to the fact that during test screenings in the fall of 1984, the cartoon seemed too scary for children. As a result, "The Black Cauldron" was sent for a lengthy re-editing process, which reduced the runtime by a full 20 minutes (100 versus 80), and the final release of the long-suffering cartoon was scheduled for July 1985.