The Black Cauldron (film) - Definition and Overview

The Black Cauldron is an animated Disney film based loosely on the first two volumes of Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain. The movie was directed by Ted Berman and Richard Rich and starred the voices of Grant Bardsley, Susan Sheridan, Freddie Jones, Nigel Hawthorne, and John Hurt. The film was first released in the USA on July 24, 1985.

The story concerns the evil Horned King, who attempts to secure the Black Cauldron in order to rule the world. The Horned King is opposed by the heroes of Taran, Princess Eilonwy, Fflewddur Fflam, and a strange creature named Gurgi.

The Black Cauldron was the first animated movie to ever use 3-D graphics. The film received quite poor box office figures, but this may have been due to the atypical dark nature of the film, and the lack of songs, both of which have been viewed by some as positives. The Black Cauldron was the first Disney animated film to get a PG rating.

External links

• The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for The Black Cauldron (http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/cartoon.cgi?film=43&cartoon=The%20Black%20Cauldron)
• The Black Cauldron (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088814/) at the Internet Movie Database