Forgotten Disney

Everybody from The Black Cauldron

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN SEPTEMBER-7-2014

Everybody from The Black Cauldron: The Black Cauldron

Forgotten Disney Characters

Set in the mythical land of Prydain during the Early Middle Ages, the film centers on the evil Horned King who hopes to secure an ancient magical object known as The Black Cauldron that will aid him in his desire to conquer the world. He is opposed by a young pig keeper named Taran, the young princess Eilonwy, the bard Fflewddur Fflam, and a wild creature named Gurgi who seek to destroy the Cauldron, to prevent the Horned King from ruling the world.

The film is directed by Ted Berman and Richard Rich, who had directed Disney's previous animated film The Fox and the Hound in 1981. It features the voices of Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, Freddie Jones, Nigel Hawthorne, and John Hurt.

The Black Cauldron was the first Disney animated feature film to receive a PG rating from the Motion Picture Association of America as well as the first Disney animated feature film to feature computer-generated imagery. The film was released theatrically on July 24, 1985.

The film is notorious for being a major box office disaster, as it earned $21.3 million domestically, which it led to a loss for the studio, putting Walt Disney Feature Animation near to bankruptcy. Due to its poor performance, Disney did not release the film on home video until 1998.

The film is considered one of the worst entries in the Disney Animated Canon (along with Home on the Range and Chicken Little, though The Black Cauldron does have the largest fanbase out of three of these films). However, the film has gained a cult following in recent years, most notably since the early 2000's, ironically during a time period known as The Second Dark Age.

November-24-2019 Update: Updated and changed chapter with added information