Movielogr
The Black Cauldron (1985)
Directed by Ted Berman, Richard Rich
Twitter Facebook Google+Most recently watched by seanCduregger
Overview
Taran is an assistant pigkeeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracular pig named Hen Wen, is kidnapped by an evil lord known as the Horned King. The villain hopes Hen will show him the way to The Black Cauldron, which has the power to create a giant army of unstoppable soldiers.
Rated PG | Length 80 minutes
Actors
Grant Bardsley | Susan Sheridan | John Byner | Nigel Hawthorne | John Hurt | Freddie Jones | Phil Fondacaro | Arthur Malet | Lindsay Rich | Brandon Call | Gregory Levinson | Eda Reiss Merin | Adele Malis-Morey | Billie Hayes | Peter Renaday | James Almanzar | John Huston | Phil Nibbelink | Wayne Allwine | Jack Laing | Steve Hale
Viewing History (seen 2 times)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/04/2020 | TV | 4K Blu-ray | Video on Demand | 7 stars |
| 03/23/2010 | TV | DVD | Library | 7.5 stars |
| (Average) 7.25 stars |
Viewing Notes
Wondering if we need 1) a new format: 4K UHD or 2) to change 4K Blu-ray to simply 4K UHD as to not create another entry under format. This would be to cover the 4K UHD streaming content now available which is definitely quite different than standard streaming. Or perhaps 4K Streaming?
Viewing this in 4K was kinda like watching that old Dragon’s Lair game where the characters are clearly in greater detail/color in contrast to the background, which is static most of the time. The 4K really does pop and showcase how gorgeous those paintings are. I wanted to view this again for that reason (4K) but also b/c I wasn’t as enamored with it the first time I saw it a few years ago (on standard DVD).
This really is a dark story and often doesn’t feel like a Disney production (feels more like Ralph Bakshi’s LotR animated films from a few years prior). Also it’s quite scary at times. Certainly Disney has touched on darker themes but I think this would scare most younger children. I didn’t see it as a kid b/c by ‘85 I was already beyond Disney animated flicks but I do remember the early coverage in mags like Starlog that would show the illustrations and concept art that looked really cool. Just was no longer on my radar by the time of release.
Totally get why so many embrace the film now b/c it borrows a bit from Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons. It’s a sweet fantasy adventure and has a cute clairvoyant pig.
update: weird! I gave this a higher rating on that previous viewing! Ah well. Maybe I enjoyed more than my poor memory could recall. ::shrug::
No comments yet. Log in and be the first!