The Black Cauldron: The Box Office Bomb That (Almost) Killed Disney

[@itsamekevin]

Fun Fact: Tokyo Disneyland had an attraction called "Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour" (1986 to 2006) which involved a walkthrough of the castle dungeon featuring Disney Villains such as Maleficent, & the Old Hag from Snow White. What made it unique however was that it also featured a major encounter with The Horned King and his cauldron born from The Black Cauldron. This is the only time The Black Cauldron appeared at a Disney park as an attraction

[@Larry]

This, Treasure Planet and Atlantis, all considered mis-steps by Disney are probably my fave movies of theirs. It's Disney's biggest oversight they never made an adult focused animation wing. Then again this was the '80s, having shocking animated movies was the in thing, like Watership Down, The Secret of Nimh, The Plague Dogs, When the Wind Blows Etc. It's a shame the west has the notion that animation is only for children.

[@PDRich]

Yeah, British Animation did have this uncanny ability of scaring the living daylights out of and traumatising children for life. So, that's probably why we tended to fall back on US/Disney animation, even ones that were considered to be major flops by their respective studios. The only real adult animation that came out of Canada/The US was probably 'Heavy Metal' and I don't think the western world saw it's potential until Manga started importing & dubbing Anime for the West.

[@btr3k]

@@PDRich Heavy Metal is probably the best known 80s "adult" animation, I'll always have a soft spot for "Rock and Rule", though.

[@GoddessOfWhim2003]

Treasure Planet is awesome

[@mightyfilm]

Atlantis's failure to launch hurt. It's not like they under promoted the movie and it had a low key presence. There was TONS of merch at the time, but sadly it got cleared out quite quickly. And we almost got a TV series, too, complete with a Gargoyles character crossover episode as Greg Weisman was set to be the head showrunner. It was a very unfortunate time for Disney movies. They were getting so much crap for making only princess movies, when they moved on to action films the same public that chastised them now were whining "HEY! Bring back those princess movies!"

[@projectgraham414]

Watership Down was pure nightmare fuel as a little kid. Why did my parents buy that VHS????

[@eriksturdevant8589]

"The Black Cauldron" was not allowed to be executed in the way it needed to be. It is obvious by looking at it that "the suits" tampered with it and ultimately destroyed it. Judging by the original storyboards, it could have been great, imo.

[@siriactuallysara]

This movie got me into fantasy and my love of undead armies.

[@bunkerzero]

the Black Cauldron is the only movie (IMO) that needs a remake! give it a second chance cause I think the Horned king has the potential to be a frightening character!

[@Cerospace]

Given that there's five books, I don't see why Disney (if they still have the right) hasn't announced a whole D+ series.

[@cassandralyris4918]

Yes!

[@VeXeDZERO]

"Has potential" he was scary as heck as a wee kid lol

[@LeeroyPorkins]

Heard that they're making it live action. Now if only they brought back Legend Of The Seeker.

[@AlphamagnusCreations]

This movie was like the Animated Lord of the rings movie, they just need to Find a “black cauldron Peter Jackson” and we are set

[@emerje0]

As a kid in the 80s I really couldn't tell the difference between the Black Cauldron and the Sword in the Stone, to the point that I'm not even sure if I've ever watched the Black Cauldron entirely. As an adult I realize they're two tonally different movies, but as a kid they were both "that one with the boy with the sword and magic".

[@TabletopJason]

Ha yeah. Same here.

[@crithitjace]

same. 🤣

[@brettgriffin2806]

Way.

[@brettgriffin2806]

@@crithitjace i

[@brettgriffin2806]

@@TabletopJason is u

[@lorddakon]

I saw this when I was 4 years old. I fell in love with fantasy as a result. I started sitting at my dad's D&D games and spent the next 30 years obsessing over fantasy games. I didn't know it was a failure until recently. Such an influential movie in my life.

[@DrRotwang]

I have a cousin who used to be a producer at Disney. I was visiting him back in 1998, and one night we were watching TV and talking about animation. I admitted that I wasn't a big fan of Disney stuff - "But," I said, "I really liked 'The Black Cauldron'." A dark look passed over his face, and he got really, really quiet. He stared at the TV, and then, without looking away from it, slowly said: "...we don't talk about that one out here."

[@natewilson111]

what a knob

[@registradus]

😂

[@TeamBelmont91]

My dad also works at Nintendo. :y

[@dubuyajay9964]

@@TeamBelmont91 How old is your dad!? You're Nosferatu!

[@mindyschocolate]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@katsomeday1]

I really think that despite its flaws, it's one of Disney's best. It was one of the fun things in the 80's. Kids movies didn't shy away from scaring the crap out of you, or leaving emotional scars.

[@evanp5911]

I LOVE this movie. My local theatre in NH would play it ever Halloween, saved up my allowance to buy the VHS when it finally came out in 1997. Disney needs to give this movie more love

[@manlysoutherner3696]

*1998

[@cheneethompson5756]

Well, it's on disney plus So, in a way, they are A movie that ahould be in Disney Plus is the film something wicked this way comes I hear it's even darker than the black cauldron

[@wstine79]

The Horn King was the best part of the movie. The design was creepy as was John Hurt's performance.

[@lukasketner]

Totally agree. The movie version was a mashup from the books combining The Horned King, a beefy masked warlord stained in blood and Arawn Death-Lord (who is pretty much Sauron). The movie character is what got me to read the books as a kid, such a cool character for a Disney film.

[@censorshipsucks9493]

It's The Horned King. Have some respect for Lloyd Alexander.

[@Viking_Luchador]

The Horned King vs Maleficent Who is the most evil Disney villain of all time? WHO? IS? DEADLIEST?

[@lukasketner]

@@Viking_Luchador It's a toss-up. Horned King has way better minions because of an endless supply of cauldron zombies, and Mal's soldiers are derpy little goblins. That said, Maleficent turns into a big fuck-off dragon.

[@Viking_Luchador]

@Lukas Ketner True... however, Maleficent was killed with a thrown sword. The Horned King could only be killed by the power of the Black Cauldron

[@glazdarklee1683]

The "some pig" joke did it for me. Also, lookin' seriously dapper.

[@P0nch]

This movie blew my mind in theaters, I don't think the world was ready, WAY ahead of its time

[@nickperkins8477]

Back then, the Disney as family friendly line had a field day with it. Overlooking Snow White, parts of Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio and other classic Disney animated movies.

[@alexkoronec4326]

Actually, I believe that they at first were going to make it an adult animated movie. But at the end they decided that they would revert it back to a children's movie. The horn king was just ahead of it time

[@joem1480]

I really enjoyed this movie when I saw it in the theater, then I found the book series and I loved it even more. I still read that series of books to this day

[@lunchboxsuxatvideos2235]

Such a great book series. Ngl, the movie is the only reason I learned how to pronounce gurgi correctly

[@liljenborg2517]

My experience is exactly the opposite. I love the book. Taran Wanderer is one of the most profound coming of age books ever written. The High King is the most deserving Newberry winner ever. The Black Cauldron is soooo powerful. And this movie so bastardized the book, if they’d changed the names of the main characters, Lloyd Alexander couldn’t have sued them for IP infringement. I LOATHE this movie. The only. The ONLY redeeming quality of this movie is the people like you who discovered the books because of it.

[@kevino1219]

Ditto. It was the first full series of books I every read.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@liljenborg2517 Disney is infamous for bastardizing things and changing them to the point where they are unrecognizable from the original works from which they are derived from. Honestly just from going from the little knowledge I know about this it was obvious Disney bit off way more than they could chew. No matter what the circumstances were this was always going to be an extremely compromised and extremely different from the source material.

[@ericpeterson8732]

Me too. Taran Wanderer is my favorite book.

[@doctorclu]

Also, Don Bluth, Tim Burton, it was amazing to learn of the talent squandered by Disney. But maybe Disney was that "I'll show them" moment that really kicked their talent into overdrive.

[@spiderhamilton1]

The Black Cauldron was the movie I went to see on my first date. I was twelve and my mother sat 2 rows behind us. My date and I clenched hands during the undead rising scene...which is pretty much all I remember from the movie

[@cheneethompson5756]

Omg, that's adorable!

[@danielaart9779]

I'm currently on a quest to read every Novel which later became a Disney film. I began with the Chronicles of Prydain. I especially loved Taran Wanderer. Reading the book made me appreciate the animated film more. Next on my list is "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?"

[@Dodo-bf3dm]

For many years, Taran Wanderer was my favorite book. For a boy of a certain age, it was very aspirational.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Who censored Roger rabbit feels much more appropriate in the modern day with the changes they've made to that movie.

[@sawtooth808]

@@JohnDoe-wq5eu Bill Maher had “Who Cucked Roger Rabbit” which is apropos considering poor Roger was a cuckhold 🙄🤦‍♂️

[@eldonerc2524]

I know it's not a Disney film but the book to Forest Gump is fantastic, easily one of my favorites, nothing like the movie.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@eldonerc2524 Yeah I've heard how much they changed between the book and the film and what's very crazy is that the author essentially wrote a sequel just to spite them because he was screwed over by the people who optioned his book. I mean love it or hate it the movie did become iconic and the fact there's a sequel that got 100% more meta than the first movie kind of makes me wish it had happened.

[@karenratliff3172]

I have always been a huge fan of this movie. What's not to love when you have a magical pig, a princess that rescues herself, and Gurgi?! Plus it was released on my 5th birthday. I was always so disheartened when people would ask me what my favorite Disney movie was and I would tell them it was The Black Cauldron and they had never even heard of it.

[@JustinWahlne]

I believe that our failures are more valuable than our successes. And the story behind Disney's The Black Cauldron is one of my favorite examples of that philosophy. If it wasn't for the absolute sh*t show that was The Black Cauldron's production, we probably wouldn't have gotten the many animated masterpieces of Don Bluth, the iconic dark whimsy of Tim Burton, or even the much beloved Disney Renaissance. In the immortal words of the Mythbusters, "Failure is always an option."

[@angryvikings]

I liked this as a kid, and when Legend of Zelda came out a year later, it felt very much like I was playing the Black Cauldron .

[@murphiverse]

I saw this in the theater. I was a big fan and as a kid couldn't understand why Disney never mentioned it after it came out. They acted like it didn't exist. I also had the Sierra game which was fun.

[@mumfnah]

This has always been the Disney film that stuck in my mind since childhood. I loved this at the cinema, bought the programme/book on the way out. Creeper was an instant favourite character. I never knew then it was such a flop for them. When Disney Plus came out here a couple years ago, this was the first film I searched for ... But it wasn't on there

[@codename1176]

It’s on there now

[@scottvasquez1401]

@@codename1176 And in 4K too.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

I remember how overly hopeful/optimistic people were when the Disney+ service originally was launching. Really thought they were just going to throw open the vault and bring out all the impossible to find stuff. Oh how wrong they were. Even now all this time later still nothing like what they had hoped.

[@CountOrlok22]

I did. I was born the year the film came out, had all the storybooks that Dan includes in this video, then read all the books, and grew up dying to see this fabled "censored" Disney film. By the time it was released on VHS, I was thirteen, and it was rather anticlimactic.

[@matt475]

I admit, I don't recall ever watching the movie. But to this day (I'm 46), I remember the Sierra game, and playing it on my Tandy 1000. 10 years old, it was just as fun as their King's Quest series.

[@Mainpage707]

The Prydain Chronicles was one of the very first novel series I read in my youth. A live action remake of the Black Cauldron (with additional treatments of the other 4 novels) would be incredible.

[@mike_minnick]

Another story about Mr Alexander. This was my favorite movie as a kid and when I met him I told him so. He said, "That's nice. It's certainly not mine." It was quite a shock and he told me that the movie was fine, but it wasn't his book. He said Disney had been begging him for years to license his other books, but he refused. Shortly before his death I saw an article saying he sold the rights to Time Cat to Disney and it blew my mind

[@chrisblush8204]

So weird, I was literally just talking about this movie the other day. I was wondering if it could possibly be as weird and dark as I remember it, and also thought it was weird how few people even knew this movie existed. For a minute there I was like, did I just totally imagine The Black Cauldron? Then, today, I see this. Synchronicities abound.

[@johnsmith5255]

Probably my favorite part of the movie was the smoke and fire special effects. The way that smoke drifted out of the cauldron is hard to forget.

[@chronicguardian9684]

The books are some of the best children's literature around. Unfortunately, every time I bring them up, people dismiss them out of hand because of the animated feature.

[@darbizzlebacon]

I was born in ‘85, and this was one of my favourites to watch on VHS. My mom had the Sierra game which I could never figure out. I haven’t watched it since I was very young but I think my memories of it might be better than it actually is.

[@lunchboxsuxatvideos2235]

I have a fun history with this movie. My grandfather had alot of tapes when I was growing up and when I would visit he would let me come over and pick something to watch on his TV and this was one we loved watching together. Thanks for this video. Took me back

[@evanskan6326]

One of my favourite movies (I think I still have its VHS somewhere...). The Black Cauldron, Treasure Planet, Atlantis etc are movies they should make in live-action or just remake them. They even have Pixar now to help them if its needed.

[@crabbieappleton]

The books are absolutely wonderful. Given that they may be starting to realize that people pay more when the source material is respected (and stay away when it isn't--read "The House with a Clock in its Walls" "Percy Jackson"), they should give this another go as a series.

[@Powherkrangunch]

In 1999 was when I first found the flim on video at my local rental store, Movie Gallery. I was happy to rent it. I'm an autistic person and my brain works in very mysterious ways. I also often have the desire for adventure or for doing the unexpected. This makes Taran very relatable for me. I have watched it many times since then and I now own the DVD. Even I don't think it's perfect, it definitely has flaws and missteps, but it's definitely a lasting piece of Disney's legacy for sure! If they could do something in live action that represents both the characters and the feel of the original film well, I might give it a shot. Of course I also want to say I do appreciate when Disney gives us more dramatic stuff in animation. This common attitude that "Animation is only for kids" really does need to be dropped! There are really so many great animated features that everyone can enjoy and celebrate!

[@FearlessSon]

You know, I never actually saw this film, which is unsurprising, but it's effects were strongly felt on the course of my life. I had friends who had an NES, but the first *personal computer* game I ever played was Sierra's adaptation of The Black Cauldron, on some old Apple IIs we had in my third grade classroom back in 89'-90'. I fell in love with it, drawing elaborate maps of the game world and wanting to just... be involved in the creation of things like this. It set me on a course. Long story short, I work on the Age of Empires franchise now.

[@travisbishop782]

That's awesome!

[@BarokaiRein]

This movie is one of the reasons why I like dark fantasy so much. Like Undead monstrosities like the Horned king and ofc his rather vividly animated skeletons weren't something I was used to when I was 4. This was one of those disney films that did well with 90s kids, shame the target audience wasn't around in the 80s when it actually came out though.

[@saltybob3711]

My all time favorite Disney movie! As a 9 year old I saw this at multiple (albeit mostly empty) matinees. Would love to see the original cut.

[@mekman4]

I’m old enough to have seen at least one of the Care Bears movies. Great Stuff, as always.

[@mightyfilm]

For Disney's entire animated film history, most of the films that are loved, well known, well established, and are iconic pieces of Disneyana today were actually flops or underperformed in their day. Hell, even Encanto didn't get an audience until it hit Disney +. It took Disney almost 20 years to realize Emperor's New Groove had a big following, and 20 years for most of the merchandising to happen. But even with Black Cauldron, that's cult even for cult. Japan at least got a theme park attraction with the Horned King, and even managed to sneak that into a Japanese video game. And of COURSE Katzenberg was the one who wanted to ruin the movie. Remember the Toy Story Black Friday reel? He wanted to make it "edgy."

[@jessehcreative]

When did TENG get merch? I’d love some more, there’s so little!

[@mightyfilm]

@@jessehcreative It's mostly like shirts and accessories and stuff. There was a line of Funko pops, and The Disney Store finally got in a figurine set...just as they closed the stores down forever. Of course, there was some things when the movie was out, but it was just like coloring books, a Happy Meal, a soundtrack, and 4 bean bags (none of them Kronk) that came out well over a year after the movie finally dropped. Disney liked to pretend the movie didn't exist, and it still somehow got a DTV sequel and a TV show. Meanwhile when the movie did come out, they were aggressively pushing the second live action Dalmatians, and it was also a time when Disney Stores only had them and Pooh merch.

[@Viking_Luchador]

Disney pretty much forgot Hocus Pocus existed, until fans started clamoring for a special edition rerelease for its 10th anniversary

[@mightyfilm]

@@Viking_Luchador Disney had a LOT of throwaway live action raucous family comedies at that time, and would through the 2000's. None of them were the smash hit status of "Honey I Shrunk the Kids," which had a theatrical sequel, DTV sequel, and odd television series that came out quite a while later. Hocus Pocus was considered a minor thing to tide Disney over until the next animated license to print money. It just happened to slowly get a cult following on VHS and later on with cable, and now they're milking the HELL out of that movie. How it went from "old video at my Grandma's house," to "moichandising! We put the picture's name on EVERYTHING!" in the past few years is actually pretty amazing. Then again, it took the creation of Hot Topic and the goth teens that shopped there for Disney to respect Nightmare Before Christmas as well, and that thing just exploded in popularity when it did.

[@Viking_Luchador]

also had the misfortune of being a summer release(despite being a Halloween movie) going up against Jurassic Park. Biggest memory I have of HISTK The Series, was an episode guest starring Bret & Owen Hart Another live action 90s Disney film that deserves more recognition is "Tall Tale". I know Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn & Cafe in Frontierland is meant to be themed to the version from Melody Time, but since the anthology shorts are the least remembered of my Disney Animated Canon, they're missing an opportunity to capitalize on 90s nostalgia by not licensing Patrick Swayze's image from his family

[@maxordman4100]

I first saw this movie on vhs growing up and I loved it! I’m still a big fan of the movie. Very interesting to learn about the production history. Your history videos are always fantastic. I love The line- “The Black Cauldron was put on the Backburner” simply hilarious!

[@toms781]

I see this period of Disney animation as one of their most creative. The 1970s through to the late 1980s they were trying different things and gave us The Black Cauldron, The Rescuers, The Great Mouse Detective, and Robin Hood to name a few. The so called "Disney Renaissance " starting with The Little Mermaid in 1989 is when they just started pumping out mostly princess movies.

[@mriamo5003]

"mostly princess movies" when only 3/10 of the films in the period were actual princess movies with mulan being a major stretch

[@jadacampbell9331]

Black cauldron is somewhat experimental, but let's not forget how it tried to take ingredients from that sword king Arthur movie and peter pan because it couldn't be that original. Clearly going for the mischievous boy in a fantasy world trope, but lacked a strong storyline...

[@alittleimagination9023]

I saw this as a kid in maybe like 2010. My Nana had it on VHS. I was terrified of the horned king. Still think he's the scariest Disney animated character. But I loved this movie as a kid and still do. It's the only Disney movie that I bought and don't share with the family. I'm keeping it for myself.

[@GalactiVids]

I saw this in the theater as a kid and loved it. For years I looked for it at video stores until I was finally told by a store owner it was likely never going to be released. So of course when it did come out I bought it and have rebought it a few times. I recognize it’s not a great movie; but it’s one I still enjoy.

[@Marc_Araujo]

I saw it as a kid on VHS and I personally think it's one of Disney's best movies...so ahead of its time.

[@Viking_Luchador]

Still have it on VHS

[@imnotmike]

This was my favorite Disney movie as a kid, and then for a long time it became my favorite book series.

[@imnotmike]

I saw this in the theater, and then spent the next 5 years bugging the lady at the video store every single week, asking her when The Black Cauldron was going to come out.

[@serenitynow85]

I loved this movie as a kid. I even had the "comic" adaptation of the movie, and read it almost daily Second movie I watched after getting Disney+ (first one was Who Framed Roger Rabbit)

[@Fluffykeith]

The saddest thing about this is that it's a really good film, based on a really good series of books...I remember seeing it in a tiny little cinema in the Lake District on a very wet day, and loved it.

[@TENACI0USP]

Black Cauldron is still one of my favourite Disney movies because it dared to do something different & be genuinely scary. Just a shame they didn’t take a chance on a higher age rating

[@andrewgedge4015]

I was 4 years old when I saw this one in the theater. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will echo Lloyd Alexander's sentiments having just read the novels for the first time with my 10 yr old son. The movie is fun; the books are amazing. The Gurgis are very different, both lovable and friends I wish I had.

[@erikbuhre]

I loved the movie as a kid. And I can remember the promotional stuff in the german Micky Maus magazine quite well. Those were choose your own adventure comics with lots of cut out tokens and even a custom die you had to assemble. And I think the audio cassette version of the movie was constantly in my tape deck back then.

[@jresha]

The Chronicles of Prydain were the books that made me fall in love with fantasy. Those books and and the final fantasy video games were all I needed at 10

[@russellharrell2747]

I feel like the Gummy Bears somehow benefited from the assets created for Black Cauldron. The respective princesses look A LOT alike.

[@bullmonty764]

As do Taran and Cavin. There had to be someone in the Gummi Bears crew who saw something in Black Cauldron that no one else at Disney did

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

It is weirdly and beautifully ironic how the Black Cauldron lived on with Gummi Bears.

[@cayreet5992]

Well, Disney recycled a lot of stuff over time, so it wouldn't surprise me if they dove into the old designs and came up with something they liked and thought they could use.

[@natewilson111]

Side note: I really like how the Gummies are in the same universe as Duck Tales ❤️

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@natewilson111 Is that really true?! I'm assuming gummy bears takes place in the past whereas DuckTales takes place in the present day in that universe.

[@Marc_Araujo]

Saw this on VHS as a kid and loved it...an underrated piece of Disney history.

[@Scott.Sandifer]

Saw _The Black Cauldron_ in the theater. I guess in 1985 I was 9? I loved it, and I remember being shocked everyone else hated it. Haven't seen it since. Wonder how it holds up? I'm hesitant to see it again. I'm afraid to expose what 9 year old me's tastes were.

[@jonathanfenton8695]

It is on DVD. I managed to find a copy.

[@alittleimagination9023]

@@jonathanfenton8695 me too. I got mine at Barnes and nobles.

[@MusicOverMyHead]

I loved these books as a kid. I really am surprised no one has tried to remake these and do them justice.

[@YakBat]

I loved this movie before I knew it was an adaptation and wished for sequels. Cut to 6th grade when I was assigned the book in class over spring break. We had to a do book report on it, but I did one on the entire series since i loved it so much. Castle of Llyr being my fave cause come on, a giant kitty! 100% "forgot" to return that one and still have it to this day- the 1966 version with Taran on the left side of the cat with a $1.50 cover price. About a decade ago there were rumors it was gonna be adapted again, due to the hype LOTR produced but fanatsy titles haven't really been made since.

[@charlockprime]

My kids just watched the movie for the first time a couple months ago. Their response was an understandable, "Is this a Disney movie?" I've always loved the movie, especially as a kid. Now, I just wish they'd release the original cut.

[@anonymousscience4095]

Scott Murphy of Sierra put swear words into the text boxes of the Black Cauldron game during development. His manager, without his knowledge, used one of his versions to demonstrate the game to execs from Disney, and when the swear words popped up, they were not impressed. Scott Murphy said he got into a lot of trouble for that.

[@Kitsune44X]

Not fired though! Thank you for the story; hadn't heard that one and love these little peeks behind the production curtain, movies or otherwise.

[@drillerdev4624]

You should never use development versions without asking the team first. Profanity is a given. (I worked in a couple of Disney mobile games some years back)

[@splizer101]

Long live Space Quest.

[@pious83]

This is my favourite "classic" Disney film as a kid. Horned King being one of the best villains they've made to date. I have been recommended to read the books since. Which I was oblivious to, growing up.

[@LeatherRebel75]

I loved the movie, and I got to see it in the theater at it's original release. The CG enhanced visuals were impressive, and the Horned King was just such a badass villain. It may not have been a "typical Disney animated movie," but it was still a fun fantasy adventure that scratched my itch for sword and sorcery tales.

[@newwavepop]

what i remember about "The Black Cauldron" is it just felt really short to me, like the hero has to do this thing and then he is doing and the movie is over. i felt like there was no middle, it felt like there was no journey and the Heroes journey is sort of the whole point of this genre.

[@AndyZoric]

I remember my mom taking me to see this movie in the theatre. She probably read the books it’s based on. I do remember it being the first cartoon movie without a musical number. That made me think it wasn’t a Disney production.

[@bensaret]

I played the Sierra Online game of this, never managed to beat it without sacrificing Gurgi to the Cauldron. Would LOVE to see a future video dedicated to Sierra games like King’s Quest, Dan🤩!

[@BugsyFoga]

The Disney film that lost to the freaking Care Bears .

[@animezilla4486]

Believe me I was shocked to find now it lost to a bunch of bears. I absolutely love this movie when I saw it in the 90s it was perhaps the darkest Disney movie ever made which made me love it even more

[@mightyfilm]

One was a dark looking film that couldn't be marketed properly, the other was an established preschool/young child brand that was at the height of its popularity. Doesn't seem that surprising. Humiliating, yes, but not surprising. If you were like 3, would you want to see something that would scare the hell out of you or a bunch of candy colored teddy bears dancing around?

[@drgribb]

Can confirm that Care Bears was hittin hard at that time :P

[@mightyfilm]

@@drgribb I remember someone whining about how Kubo and the Two Strings didn't get the audience it should have and that whatever Illumination film released around the same time (it was either Secret Lives of Pets or one of the Despicable Me/Minions movies), and it's like the SAME reason. Little kids don't like things that scare them, of course they're going to the more juvenile movie.

[@shaynethechangingman322]

It never occurred to me until now but you're right, in an era of all these live action remakes and fantasy series, The Black Cauldron is a prime candidate for a live action Disney+ series! I love this movie but would also like to see the books get a more faithful adaptation.

[@spookerd]

My maternal grandparents were good friends of Lloyd Alexander and his wife and even got yearly Christmas cards from them up until their passing. The Chronicles of Prydain was my grandmother's way of introducing me to fantasy, and I'm thankful for that and Mr. Alexander to this day.

[@hannahz6848]

I remember being shocked when I heard this was considered a fail by Disney because as a kid this movie was one of my favorites. I still have my VHS tape of it.

[@NotMilesPrower]

Honestly I had no idea this movie didn’t perform well, this is one my favorite animated films of all time!

[@richerDiLefto]

The Black Cauldron was the first Disney movie I ever saw at a movie theater. It was fantastically dark and a great memory for me.

[@siriactuallysara]

Oddly enough I loved this movie as a child and then read the book and was so upset it wasn’t the same story

[@michaelmills8205]

It's mostly an adaption of the first book in the series "The Book of Three", with a few plot elements taken from the second book. Mostly the title and the cauldron itself.

[@mccallosone4903]

I was upset, the other way around. First book, then movie

[@cassandralyris4918]

When I was younger I was too, but as I got older I decided to basically look at it as if it was the same story being told by different people. Sort of like a Rashomon effect. It would be great if the books got a proper mini series though...

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@cassandralyris4918 Honestly I'd rather see like an anime adaptation instead. I don't really trust Disney with this kind of stuff. But I would give them another chance but not for live action it would have to be animated and done well.

[@sertandoom4693]

Read and knew the entire book series by heart...then saw the movie. Almost enough disappointment to make me skip disney films for life.

[@angleshero]

I saw The Black Cauldron in the theaters as a kid. I always thought it was cool even as a kid. I never understood how it became such a forgotten film.

[@leonardhayhurst9562]

I'd like to see you now do "The Great Mouse Detective" the next animated release after "The Black Cauldron" and the last film before the Disney renaissance with "The Little Mermaid." I think there's a lot there with GMD as a transition point and a film, much like Black Cauldron, that has been largely swept under the rug.

[@cheneethompson5756]

I think it was "oliver and company" then "the little mermaid"

[@mattrossesq]

I remember the Siskel & Ebert review more mainly because Roger Ebert did it was odd or funny to hear Gene Siskel ask him in the critics screening, "If the pig is psychic, why can't they use it to find the cauldron?" Or something like that. Thanks for another great analysis!

[@Noisemarine]

It always makes me laugh how Eilonwy is not acknowledged as a magical Disney princess despite being a literal magical princess.

[@NinaH6792]

I saw quite a few commercials for it on Disney VHS tapes when I was younger. I had a really hard time tracking it down until I found a DVD of it at a store in Disneyworld in the early 2000s. I've watched it several times since.

[@JPOG7TV]

I was obsessed with this movie when I was younger. I had it on VHS and it felt so mysterious since it had many things that Disney films today and even back then didn’t have. It was terrifying but also fascinating to watch. The movie itself may not be that good but I still have fond memories of it. If they still insist on doing more needless remakes, Black Cauldron deserves a second chance. Though I’m not sure if they’ll give it the right treatment. It would be sad to see a hypothetical remake flop like it’s original movie.

[@dfailsthemost]

Everything about that original cut sounds like it would be exactly what I would wish for in an animated Disney film.

[@rosebuddesign635]

Love this movie. Saw it in the cinema with my grandfather in 85. Remember very young kids crying because they were so scared! 😂

[@r.a.w.talentart]

This is my favourite Disney movie and has been since it came out. I remember my cinema trip like it was yesterday. The film scared the crap out of me and I liked it. I even collected the Kelloggs figurines. I opened the boxes in the supermarket to find the ones I needed

[@1977Bast]

I remember seeing this in the theater as a kid and loving it. As kid and young adult I couldn't get enough fantasy stuff.

[@AevasHouse]

The Black Cauldron was my introduction to Dark fantasy and it is still one of my favorite animated movies ever

[@dzspdref]

Absolutely enjoy this movie. The first PG-rated Disney movie to ever come out, and I bought the VHS as soon as I could. I now converted it to MP4 and carry it around on my tablet to watch, and have shared it with many people who had never heard of it nor seen it. Not everything has to be logical with magic, but these were some of the better animations they had for the 1980's on VHS.

[@Tim85-y2q]

I always kind of liked this one since I was a kid. It felt like the cool off brand offering in the Disney catalog. Was one of the first things I wanted to watch on Disney+ Hindsight being what it is, I think it probably would have turned out a lot better (at least creatively) if Bluth managed to stay on the project.

[@PaulWerkema]

I remember having the book adaptation of The Black Cauldron. I thought they were awesome, and they made me want to see the movie. I finally saw it when I was in the Navy and I thought it was okay.

[@wesleythomas7125]

Now this, if anything, should get a live-action remake. This could have been kick-ass...

[@seananderson7153]

Big fan of the book series, but found the movie underwhelming. It does hold the honor of being a Disney Animated movie without a song. The fail comes in how loosely adapted the story is to the books. The animation was really great though. ✨🌟✨

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

You could say the one consistent thing that makes this a true Disney movie is how loosely adapted it is. Disney always takes pretty significant liberties with the source material but wow like some other commenter said if you changed the names you wouldn't even know it was based on the books they're supposed to be based on.

[@CountOrlok22]

If you get the chance, check out comic book artist and illustrator Mike Ploog's concept art and storyboards. They give a strong sense of what wound up on the cutting room floor.

[@specialagento486]

When he bought our first computer, my dad also bought a copy of Sierra's Black Cauldron game to go with it. I imagine the fact that we'd never seen the movie made the game much harder than it would have been otherwise, though it probably wasn't helped by our computer's CGA, three color graphics.

[@Summertimeblues28]

It’s been my favourite Disney animated film ever since I first saw The Black Cauldron in the theatre way back in 1985. At age 6 I didn’t know or care that it ‘bombed’. I still loved it. Another great video Dan & Greg!

[@Tornado1994]

BTTF CRUSHED TBC at the Box Office.

[@christomlinson3074]

When I was packing up to move to Vegas I came across my install disks for the Sierra game. It was the first game I ever beat and I still have the hand-drawn map that my mom and I did on graph paper so we could beat it. I still have nightmares about climbing the damn wall to get into the Horned King's castle.

[@BrianGeers]

I saw this in theaters but the lack of a VHS release for so long (when everything else Disney was popping up on video) had me wondering if it wasn’t a Disney film at all, like a sort of sideways Mandela effect. I was relieved when the tape finally released in all its shiny, chromiummy goodness.

[@ericcancer7936]

I saw this in the theater when It came out. I remember being disappointed when learning that Disney’s much-touted holographic projection system was cancelled. There’s hardly any information about about it anywhere online. Supposedly a prototype was developed that worked and impressed the people who got a chance to witness it.

[@asyourgm]

After the financial hit from Sleeping Beauty, a small team of animators went around Disney and consulted directly with Xerox to see if there was a way the copier company could streamline the process. Xerox figured out how to take the paper keyframes and in-betweens and copy them directly to cels, requiring that the inkers only do a bit of clean-up. This reduced costs, but also gave the figures a distinctive 'fringy' look, where some ink lines had breaks and others had a little too much texture. 101 Dalmatians was the first to use the Cel Xerography process and the animators found that the 'fringy' look actually worked better on animals that it did on humans, which may have led to the large number of animal-themed features in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. After the financial hit of Black Cauldron, Disney adopted their own version of CAPS, the Computer Animation Production System that allowed a fully digital inking and coloring process. Little Mermaid partly used it (Scuttle is still notably fringy) and Rescuers Down Under fully implemented it.

[@jakbparish]

This was the first movie I watched when I got Disney+. Nostalgia is a powerful thing. Thanks for this.

[@nicholasa.jr.daddona8282]

I loved this movie and so many stare at me with a blank face when I mention this great animation.

[@cheneethompson5756]

Omg,same!

[@Roda-Fowa]

The books the film is based on are wonderful. The whole concept of the Cauldron Born just completely freaked me out when I was a kid. I’ve never been able to watch the movie because I’m not sure I want to see a Disneyfication of something I loved so much.

[@JeffreyPiatt]

It was also way past.the stage of Disney being able to convince theater circuits that they should install special equipment to play a Disney film. Back in the 1930's -1940's Disney got some theaters to install Fantasound for Fantasa during it's first road show.

[@Veiled_Lepidoptera]

I love The Black Cauldron. It's one of my favorite 'Classic Disney' films. I even think Gurgy is cute and amusing (My wife can't stand him, calls him 'Disney's JarJar Binks')

[@petebyrdie4799]

I saw it in theatres and loved it. Even back then, I recognised the classic mythical themes. It's only in recent years I realised how dramatically it failed at the cinema. Disney animation had often explored darkness (the first movie I saw at the theatre was Snow White), but I think you had to be a certain type of kid to really appreciate them leaning into it as much as The Black Cauldron did. I also had some of the little figures from Cornflakes boxes. I wish I still had them.

[@darthsatanikus]

One of Disney's most under-rated, but definitely a favorite..I remember going to see it as a kid, and was excited to pick it up on DVD for my kids while working at Blockbuster

[@anthonywheeler2082]

I would love to see the original uncut version with all the horror intact. It's amazing just how creepy the Horned King was in the censored version irreguardless.

[@WaggilyTale]

I remember seeing this in theaters and loving it as a kid in the 5th grade. Then I worked for a company that proofed the ads for K-Mart and Pamida that had the original ads for the VHS release! I was in heaven when I got to see it at home finally! I loved the Hell out of this one!'

[@TerranIV]

I love LOVE the books, but I've never watched the movie because I can tell just from the trailers how different it is from the books. It seems like the story is basically from The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron. They are such great stories I'm sure they could be blockbuster movies if anyone would actually do a faithful adaptation. It is criminal that Disney has just sat on the rights all these years for nothing. : (