Believe it or not, the film itself is quite dark now that I look back on it, which may be a part of the reason why Disney likes to keep their association with it very discreet. ( You do not know the true definition of "terrifying Disney villain" until you've met the Horned King - that guy and his skeleton army of the dead were the epitome nightmares when I was a little girl. ) The film is loosely based on a book series published in the 1960s called The Chronicles of Prydain, inspired by medieval Welsh mythology. It follows the adventures of a young pig-keeper named Taran and his quest to reach a magic cauldron before it gets into the hands of a destructive death-lord.
Woah. That sounds like the perfect recipe for a family-friendly animated movie, don't you agree? (That was sarcasm, by the way.) Seriously, who sat down at the production table and thought, " Yeah, an army of zombie-skeletons v.s. a little boy with a pig - that's A+ storytelling right there! ". As conflicting enough as it is with my love-hate relationship with the film, I do see why it was received so poorly. I feel like it was almost too ahead of its time in terms of its level of enigmatic fantasy, and I'd have to admit it - it did kind of taint Disney's innocent reputation when it was the company's first animated feature to be rated PG. ( Have you ever seen a bit of blood in an animated Disney film? I have. It's in this one. ) But, that's not to say this film was not influential, either. It was also the company's first film to incorporate the use of computer-generated imagery. Disney's animation certainly wouldn't be where it is today without this film. And for that, I always have The Black Cauldron to thank. Above all, it's been a unique favourite of mine - no matter how quirky characters or how bizarre the sense of adventure, it continues to captivate my interest even years later.