Comments on: The Black Cauldron 25th Anniversary Special Edition

By: Waking Sleeping Beauty » DVDs Worth Watching

Waking Sleeping Beauty » DVDs Worth Watching — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 20:38:39 +0000

[...] The Black Cauldron was a key touchpoint. Its production was marred by culture clashes between the young kids, who wanted the darker material, and the old guard focusing on story. When it flopped, that was seen as the low point for the animation department. The team was kicked out of the historical Ink and Paint building and put off the lot. The Great Mouse Detective is another point of contention, mainly over its retitling from “Basil of Baker Street”. [...]

By: AS

AS — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 21:43:40 +0000

I’ve read the books, and know them to be older, but still think that the film went for Star Wars wave in terms of adaptation. Part of it no doubt comes from Campbellian hero’s journey and the similarities might have helped to push the project forward, but still…
Anyway, I too would have liked to have songs here. They don’t necessarily move the story forward but they help establish the characters and give a good opportunity to look inside the singers’ minds.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:18:18 +0000

I agree with Heather. There’s some Joseph Campbell-esque heroes’ journey stuff going on in the original Alexander novels, just as in Star Wars, but they developed independently. Not that the film is that faithful to the novels but I think the core team dynamics + the good/evil conflict are the part that is reminiscent of ‘Star Wars,’ and that was all definitely present in the books.

Possibly a downside to this film having been made is that, to the extent it’s in the public mind, it’s as a Disney property; otherwise, I think it might have gotten picked up for a more faithful/grown up treatment in the wake of ‘Lord of the Rings.’ Which I suppose is still a possibility (and I’d also be down with a musical!)

By: Heather

Heather — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 12:55:08 +0000

I could not wait to see this movie when it came out orginally. The Alexander books were some of my favorites. I did not even mind too much that they combined 2 books out of 5 for this one movie. One of my favorite memories was of the Main Street window displays in Disneyland before the movie was released, seeing the book scenes come to life were priceless.

AS –
Calling this movie a Star Wars wanna-be is completely off. The five books were written before 1970 and the last book won the Newbery Medal. The books cover like six years of character growth during the teenage years of Taran and Eilonwy. That Disney tried and was able to give an entertaining story was awesome. I think thanks to Star Wars success Disney risked a more adult animated movie, but unfortunately audiences were not ready.

By: AS

AS — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:32:28 +0000

Yeah, well, I’d say the animation is the only good thing it has, as far as story goes it’s paper-thin characters going through Star Wars motions…IMO one of the weakest Disney films.

By: Jake Forbes

Jake Forbes — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 03:59:08 +0000

I love the books but haven’t seen the movie since I was wee. I remember it only played at our art house theater, which is pretty weird for a kids movie in the 80s. When I was 18 and went through a 2 year obsession with animation art, I bought original cels of Henwen and Creeper and a pencil of Taran — the extent of my Disney collection. Now that BC is back in a new edition, it’s high time I give it another look (and look for the fraction of a second that I own!)

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:08:36 +0000

Reeve, that was why I was curious to see how it was presented. But maybe it wouldn’t look the same to much older eyes.

Nathan, I did wonder about that when I reread my previous post on this movie, that you said there was a song. Isn’t memory interesting?

By: Nathan

Nathan — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:51:46 +0000

I guess I was wrong about the music in my previous comment. It has been over two decades since I saw it. I distinctly remember a song toward the ending, which stood out in my mind. I don’ t know why I remember it that way.

By: Reeve

Reeve — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:16:26 +0000

Never seen the movie itself, but the trailer terrified me as a kid.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 02:05:29 +0000

I know I liked that movie when I was a kid but I doubt it would hold up. Also, kind of a shame, because I loved and still love the Alexander books, and you could make a helluva musical out of them!