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Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, Freddie Jones, Nigel Hawthorne, Arthur Malet ... see more see more... , John Byner , John Hurt , Lindsay Rich , Brandon Call , Gregory Levinson , Adele Malis-Morey , Billie Hayes , Phil Fondacaro , Wayne Allwine , James Almanzar , Eda Reiss Merin , Pete Renaday , John Huston , Phil Nibbelink , Steve Hale , Jack Laing

Walt Disney Pictures produced this ambitious, animated tale of sorcery and swordfighting. Taran (voice of Grant Bardsley), is an assistant to Dallben (voice of Freddie Jones), a pigkeeper in the mythi... read more read more...cal land of Prydain. Taran longs to be a knight, and he's given his chance to live out his dream when he is sent out in search of a magical black cauldron which can either be a powerful instrument of good or a bottomless fount of evil, depending entirely upon who should find it. However, Taran is not the only one in search of this talisman -- the Horned King (voice of John Hurt) wants the cauldron to shore up his sinister powers and raise an army of the dead, and with the help of the all-seeing pig Hen-Wren, the wicked one may make his hideous plans a reality. The Black Cauldron had the distinction of being the first animated feature from Disney to receive a PG rating from the MPAA, due to some frightening scenes of black magic. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

52% liked it

43,682 ratings

Critics

55% liked it

29 critics

PG, 1 hr. 22 min.

Directed by: Ted Berman, Richard Rich

Release Date: January 1, 1985

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DVD Release Date: October 3, 2000

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Stats: 1,287 reviews

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The Black Cauldron The Black Cauldron The Horned King Army of the dead Magic sword
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Flixster Reviews (1,287)

  • skeletonking101
    December 26, 2011
    skeletonking101
    Okay, I'm going to get a lot of hate for this but I do enjoy this movie, unlike so many other people. The animation is decent, but the thing I enjoy the most about this movie is the villain, the horned King. Mainly because its a demon, horned, skeleton voiced by John Hurt, and he... read more pulls it off frighteningly well. Also the music is also very good in the film, the only problem is that the composer is still stuck doing ghost-buster music, and it all sounds like ghost-busters music.
  • ythelastman89
    April 22, 2011
    ythelastman89
    Stylistically, The Black Cauldron has little in common with the typical Disney movie. In many ways it works in a good way; it's nice to watch something without a musical element. However, it kind've lacks a lasting effect. A lot of this is cheesy, which could've been fixed with s... read moreinging and dancing, but this is dead serious so it's hard to embrace a mystical pig. John Hurt's villain does stand out as a force to be reckoned with his Skeletor getup and trickery.
  • ajv2688
    January 19, 2011
    ajv2688
    My favourite Disney movie of the 80s, this fantasy adventure is awesome, and kids will love it.
  • 3niR
    October 18, 2010
    3niR
    This almost killed me! I have never felt this boring watching an adventurous scene.
  • phubbs1
    August 1, 2010
    phubbs1
    Starts of great, really promising but it kinda loses its punch half way through. It just goes alittle flat, the characters and look are amazing, the animation is good and the voices work well. The music is alittle uninspiring and the story is very old but it is unrated, the look ... read moresaves it really.
  • fb733768972
    January 14, 2010
    fb733768972
    I cannot stand this movie! I don't know what it is, but it scares me!
  • bottcorecords1
    April 23, 2009
    bottcorecords1
    It took 7 years and the combined efforts of 2 directors and 17 collected writers to come up with the disney turd known as The Black Cauldron, the story of a boy and a magic pig who must find the magic cauldron before the horned king can. Along the way they make friends with seve... read moreral colorful characters, including the annoying Gurgi, who manages to ruin the film much in the same way Jar Jar Binks ruined the first Star Wars prequel. But the voice acting is pretty bad all around, the boy hero never gets too excited over anything. The animation is equally bleh, characters don't run away from danger so much as they stumble away drunkenly. At one point, a fairy friend is added to the group, but nothing is ever done with him, until finally he gets fed up and announces he's leaving. I almost did too, but I stuck it out til the end. The ending, at least, is a little climactic, due mainly to an army of undead skeleton monsters rising up out of the cauldron, but this is all spoiled by an unwanted and unrequested resurrection scene. This represents the bottom of the barrel for Disney productions.
  • kiriyamakazou
    March 21, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Certainly one of the oddities from Disney's darker 80's period. The Black Cauldron is disappointingly bland in it's narrative. Boy must bring back a fortune telling pig, there's evil and there's sidekicks. They get captured, escape, and then get captured again. The villain is par... read moreticularly disturbing and has one of the more traumatic Disney villain deaths, probably just after the Tarzan hanging. It should be praised for it's adult style but unlike Basil the Great Mouse Detective, it loses it's Disney charm. Not enough humour, action or adventure. But if you want to see a comedic sidekick sacrifice themselves, then this is the film for you.
  • FiLmCrAzY
    November 29, 2007
    FiLmCrAzY
    i love this film its great you have a boy a pig and a dog thing and theres witched and ghouls and creeps but it reli good sweet and lovely
    he has a special pig that can sense danger as well as show where this caldron is the caldron is meant to bring back all the dark lords army ... read moreand create havect on farmers and the other people and this boy stops this from happening
    it is sooo worth a watch
  • YosemiteSamFan
    July 7, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    A truly magical Disney movie not-for-kids, because it has frightening skeleton baddies.

    A young farm boy named Taran has a pig who fortells trouble for the world if the Horned King's Black Cauldron is not found and destroyed. Taran is assisted by a beautiful princess, an old m... read moreinstrel, his magic pig, and a mischievious furry talking dog-like creature named Gurgi.

    Various obstacles stand in their way, including three annoying witch sisters, the King and his guards, and the Horned King and his skeleton army.

    The animation is astounding, drawn by Don Bluth (creator of Dragon's Lair video laserdisc). I love the scene where they meet a cave full of glowing rainbow pixies. The Cauldron pyrotechnics are astounding. The undead armies which rise from the cauldron are done in creepy slimey realism. Visually, it's a triumph.

    The plot is a bit confusing and long. Little kids will get frightened and adults might get bored.

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Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
February 5, 2009
Variety Staff, Variety

The characters, though cute and cuddly and sweet and mean and ugly and simply awful, don't really have much to do that would remain of interest to any but the youngest minds. Full Review

Dave Kehr
September 5, 2008
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

It's quite good, though by the impossible standards the film sets for itself it inevitably falls short. Full Review

Walter Goodman
May 21, 2003
Walter Goodman, 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. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

The backgrounds are as richly textured and detailed as in any other Disney film. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

By the end of The Black Cauldron I was remembering, with something of a shock of nostalgia, the strength and utter storytelling conviction of the early Disney animators. The Black Cauldron is a return... Full Review

Austin Kennedy
May 14, 2012
Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine

With all of the talent and effort put into this, the movie only amounts to a bunch of premature ideas that are clumped together, making little sense. Full Review

Mark Pfeiffer
March 9, 2011
Mark Pfeiffer, Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

It's not a good film, but for one with the reputation of being the studio's worst animated feature, it shows that interesting work is done in it. Full Review

Phil Hall
September 22, 2010
Phil Hall, EDGE Boston

Disney's worst animated feature. Full Review

Brian Orndorf
September 20, 2010
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com

Flawed jumble of a film, but a picture of immense artistic accomplishment and dedication to atypical faces of wickedness...there's still so much to admire about this red-headed stepchild of a film. Full Review

Tim Brayton
November 22, 2009
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

It may have cost five times the amount of any other Disney film in the preceding two decades, but by God that money ended up on screen. Full Review

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The Black Cauldron Trivia

  • This film director originally started as an animator at Disney doing uncredited work on The Fox and the Hound, Tron and The Black Cauldron. Who is he? (Hint: It was while he was working at Disney that he first conceived what would become a certain stop-motion film about Halloween and Christmas)  Answer »
  • In wich disney movie can a pig tell the future?  Answer »
  • In 1981, John Hurt played Jesus in "The History Of The World: Part 1". In which 1985 animated film did he play The Horned King?  Answer »
  • What was Disney's first PG rated cartoon?  Answer »
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