The Black Cauldron: The Movie that Never Happened.

This week Aly & Sarrah watch Disney's 1985 forgotten film - The Black Cauldron.

What's that? GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE? No, Black Cauldron.

Aly starts us off with a biography of Lloyd Alexander - the author of the Chronicles of Prydain, the 5 book series that The Black Cauldron is adapted from. She runs down some of the many changes between book and movie and also gives a BRIEF overview of some of the Welsh Mythology Alexander used as inspiration. So many names are butchered. And that's WITH looking up pronunciations.

Sarrah discusses what studio life at Disney was looking like at the time (it was still a mess), as well as the invention of APT (a new technology to help refine the animation process).

Together we discuss how this movie flopped big time, and what little it left its mark on it the world (but it surprisingly did make a parks appearance or two).

Our walk-through has us exclaiming over cute little piggies, appreciating some fun characters, and getting a wee bit off topic sometimes.

So gather your friends and companions, and let's face the cauldron born on our quest for The Black Cauldron!

Podcast Music By: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

Welcome, friends!
Today we are discussing Disney's 1985 under-appreciated adventure fantasy - "The Black Cauldron".

Which of course, means we are also discussing the books it is based on! Aly gives us the biography of author Lloyd Alexander, who wrote the Prydain Chronicles. Disney's The Black Cauldron is based on the first two books in the series: The Book of Three, and The Black Cauldron. Once again, we see how mythology directly inspired another writer - this time it was Welsh mythology, and The Prydain Chronicles are steeped in it. Aly breaks it down (a little bit, it's a wee bit complex) for us the best she can.

Sarrah discusses how this movie failed. It just did. It really did, guys. Remember how The Care Bears Movie beat it at the box office? But there are a few silver linings! She also lets us know how there was a major breakthrough in animation technology with the invention of

Together we discuss the brief moment The Black Cauldron had in the Disney parks, as well as a video game based on the film and it's potential brighter future within Disney.

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Mural within the Cinderella Castle Adventure Tour in WDW

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The Horned King in the Cinderella Castle Adventure Tour in WDW

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Picture of a Cast Member inside Gurgi's Munchies and Crunchies in WDW

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Cast Member working at Gurgi's Munchies and Crunchies in WDW

In our walk-through, we make a fair few Harry Potter references (again), rename the anatomy of a piggy, and mispronounce every single character's name at least once (at least we're honest about it).

So let us gather our friends, companions, and our courage as we face the cauldron born on our quest for The Black Cauldron!

The Black Cauldron Rating: 3 1/2
Voice Acting: Half - once again, it was good but not great.
Script & Story: Half - it wasn't awful, but it was a less-than-great adaptation of a really good story.
Music & Songs: Half - the score was decent, and it included a really interesting instrument.
Animation & Technical: Full Star - it's Disney, let's be honest. They're good at this.
Over-All Style: Full Star - the character designs were great, as was the overall setting of the story. No misses here.

Princess Agency Rating:

Eilonwy takes spot 3 on our list! She's able to rescue herself (not to mention Taran and Flewdder) and has spunk! But for some reason the writers took away her independence when they gave Taran a sword.

Our list so far:

 

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Our Sources:

Podcast Music By: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

IMDb Page for The Black Cauldron
Wikipedia Article for The Black Cauldron
Wikipedia Article for The Chronicles of Prydain
Prydain Wiki

Wikipedia Article for Lloyd Alexander
Britannica.com Page for Lloyd Alexander
Kidsreads.com Page for Lloyd Alexander
NYTimes.com Article on Lloyd Alexander
 

The Book of Three. Lloyd Alexander. Square Fish. 2006. Paperback
The Black Cauldron. Lloyd Alexander. Narrated by James Langdon. Listening Library. Random House. 2004. Audio Book.