The Black Cauldron

[osprey_archer]

I have gotten WAY behind on my Disney animated movie rewatch reviews. The last one I wrote about was The Fox and the Hound, and we’re now all the way up to Beauty and the Beast. (Fun fact: Beauty and the Beast was the first Disney film to have a female screenwriter since Dorothy Ann Black contributed to the screenplay for Snow White, although Snow White had eight screenwriters so don’t get too excited.)

But before I talk about Beauty and the Beast, I should get caught up on all those movies I haven’t written about. Today: The Black Cauldron!

There have been certain films that I haven’t cared for in this rewatch - I’m probably never going to be a big Dumbo fan - but The Black Cauldron is the only film so far that I’ve thought was not only not to my taste, but also just not very good. (I’m sorry, Black Cauldron fans.) I felt this way for two reasons:

1. The animation is very busy in a way that detracts from the story. Lots of Disney animation is detailed: my favorite example of this is all the many clocks in Gepetto’s workshop, which are so intricately detailed that there’s actually a sequence that just shows them strutting their stuff, as if each clock is a nightclub act. But that detail enriches the world and serves the story, whereas a lot of the detail in Black Cauldron just feels like… do the rocks really need to be more detailed than Taran and Eilonwy? Do they really?

2. I realize that complaining that Disney changed the original story when they adapted it is basically a lost cause, but they changed the ending in this case in a way that I think totally undermines it. In… does anyone care about spoilers for a forty year old book? for Well,

So the thing about the Black Cauldron is that it’s a cauldron that can reanimate the dead, and can only be broken if a living being willingly enters it. In the book, the person who climbs into the cauldron is Ellidyr, which blew my tiny mind because Ellidyr is horrible and our hero Taran hates him, so how can he be the hero? At the age of seven or so, when my mom read me this book, it had not yet occurred to me that the designated hero could ever be wrong.

In the movie, there is no Ellidyr character. Instead, the character who sacrifices himself is Gurgi, who hitherto has been an annoying comic relief companion, who basically makes a speech about how he MIGHT AS WELL DIE because he’s TOO ANNOYING TO LIVE and NO ONE WILL CARE and then flings himself into the cauldron as Taran and Eilonwy scream, “Gurgi, no!”

The self-pitying speech undermines the heroism of the moment, and as if that’s not enough, the movie then brings Gurgi back from the dead. I realize that Disney loves turning tragic endings into happy ones and sometimes I don’t mind, but in this particular case, there is really no point to the story if the sacrifice isn’t actually a sacrifice.

...Also Gurgi really is annoying, and I at least was delighted to be rid of him, so that made it doubly disappointing when he returned. It ruins the theme AND we’ve got to put up with him again! Insult piled on injury!

Comments

[sovay]

but The Black Cauldron is the only film so far that I’ve thought was not only not to my taste, but also just not very good.

I have avoided it on principle since I knew it existed and your review offers no persuasive reason for me to change my mind!

[osprey_archer]

Probably the kindest thing to do with the movie tbh. The poor thing is just a mistake all around.

[rachelmanija]

That is hilarious and also renews my vow to never see that movie.

[osprey_archer]

A fine vow to renew!

[asakiyume]

I only recall hating this movie and none of the details, but YUP!

I remember being excited that it was coming out and then so, so, SO disappointed. I had the temerity to condole Lloyd Alexander when I wrote to him about it, and he pretty much accepted the condolences (along the lines of "Yes, I wish they had done differently.")

[osprey_archer]

I hope that Lloyd Alexander was glad to have someone condoling with him! I can only imagine that he must have found the movie disappointing, even if he went into it aware that Disney tends to play fast and loose with their adaptations.

[asakiyume]

I hope so! I may go look for the letter...

[osprey_archer]

I'd be interested to hear more about it if you find it!

[lokifan]

I had the temerity to condole Lloyd Alexander when I wrote to him about it

LOL that's adorable tho

[asakiyume]

Hahaha, it was so bad that it was pretty much impossible to put a good spin on .... though there's always the principle of keeping your mouth shut ....

[osprey_archer]

You can't even say something nice about the character designs, because poor Eilonwy looks like an Aurora rip-off!

[thawrecka]

I grew up reading the book series at least once a year, and when I finally watched the movie when I was 30-ish I could immediately see why it flopped. Not just for being a bad adaptation (though it is) but also for being just plain kind of unpleasant to look at.

[osprey_archer]

Right? This was this first movie where Disney used some computer animation, and I think it's pretty clear that they hadn't quite mastered it yet. The backgrounds in particular reminded me of a poorly rendered computer game.

[missroserose]

So, funny story—I first saw that movie in second grade, at a school event, on a filmreel (because it was long before Disney had scraped it out of the vault for video release). It stuck in my head because my mother (who brags that I read The Lord of the Rings aloud to her while I was in third grade) had already introduced me to the series, so it was probably the first time I remember having that "wait, they made a story I've read into a movie? excitement, followed by the complete and utter bereavement of "but...that was nothing like the book..." Honestly, the problems with the animation went completely over my head, I was so incensed!

[osprey_archer]

Oh noooo, this would be a particularly heartbreaking movie from which to learn that lesson. I can't remember what was my first book-to-movie adaptation where the movie COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT (actually, probably the Little House TV series. I saw that Pa didn't have whiskers and quit in a fiery rage), but it's a painful lesson that all book lovers must learn sometime, I guess.

[littlerhymes]

They did WHAT. I'm shaken.

[osprey_archer]

Right? It's one of the more baffling Disney adaptations. It's not just that they changed it so much - just look at The Hunchback of Notre Dame! - but in The Black Cauldron, the changes don't even work on their own terms.

[evelyn_b]

"Gurgi has no friends!!" :((((

The Black Cauldron is just plain bad. I saw it only as an adult, and prior to reading any of the books, so I had no preconceptions other than "let's see how bad Bad Disney can get!!" The animation is a mess and even basic scene structure is a mess.

I'm sorry to say that when I did finally get around to reading the books, my ability to tolerate Gurgi had been totally poisoned by movie!Gurgi.

[osprey_archer]

I feel like they were maybe aiming for "Gurgi is annoying to his companions but delightful to the folks watching back home!" but instead they got "Gurgi is SO annoying that we're all on Team Jump into the Cauldron Already." Not exactly the moral they had in mind!