In honor of its 25th anniversary, the Walt Disney Company has released The Black Cauldron as a Special Edition DVD. The film, Based on Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain books, is the story of a boy named Taran who find himself involved in a quest to locate the magical Black Cauldron before the Horned King finds it and uses it for evil. Taran is aided by the pig Hen Wen, beautiful Princess Eilonwy, and furry little Gurgi during his daring quest.
In this scene, Taran first meets Princess Eilonwy, and it quite clear that she is not the typical damsel in distress:
The Black Cauldron was made after animator Don Bluth (The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail) left the studio. Often considered dark by Disney standards, it was a failure at the box office and deviated quite a bit from Alexander’s books. This was a low point in Disney animation history, when the styles of yesterday clashed with the new blood in the studio. With Bluth and others gone, morale was low. It would be a few years before Disney found its way again with the successes of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.
However, Cauldron is not a terrible film. It just feels a bit out of place when compared to the brighter and happier Disney films with singing fish and dancing candlesticks. The PG rating for an animated film also worked against it, particularly in the early 80’s.
Bonus features include a deleted scene with the Fairfolk and The Witches’ Challenge Game, in which players must solve riddles to possess a magical sword.
Behind-the-scenes artwork and photos are also available on the DVD, as well as a trivia game and a classic Donald Duck cartoon from 1952.