The Troubled History of The Black Cauldron

[@channel12985]

The fact that the author of the books didn't think the movie was at all similar to his books, yet still was able to enjoy the the story the movie did tell, is honestly one of the most legendary and humble stories I've heard for a while.

[@t-bo2734]

The anti-Roald Dahl.

[@Quandry1]

It's not really like the book. There is a different focus in the book and things are told somewhat differently with a different flow and series of events. Though some of them share details. It's easiest to consider them two different things. I do love both of them and it does say a lot about the author to be able to seperate them and enjoy the movie.

[@legoferdinand2183]

I prefer the book for everyone in the year the Black Cauldron film was released

[@kforcer]

So true. Says a whole lot about Lloyd Alexander.

[@piestillaintreal6114]

Even as a little kid, the previews seemed awesome!

[@swanbe01]

My brother has autism and when he was diagnosed by the doctors, they said the he would never speak. Then one day when he was 4, he started singing the song "Somewhere, Out there" and started saying sentences from Disney movies. Suffice it to say, my sister and I ended up watching a bunch of Disney movies. Then one summer, my brother became obsessed with the Black Cauldron during a summer vacation. He made us watch it every day at least once before we could go out and play. The Black Cauldron is the Disney I have probably seen the most out of any of them, and even though I haven't watched Disney movies for a long time, I still remember it being one of the better Disney cartoons.

[@MrBeardsley]

It’s weird to think there was a time when movie studios would think “How can we turn five books into one 80-minute movie?” instead of “How can we turn one book into three 150-minute movies?”

[@zenith_zenith]

or really unnecessary extra seasons of tv shows

[@KingofWolvesii]

And to think they didn't learn from this for Eragon (even if 2 of the books weren't even written yet)

[@BastardWolf28]

more like "how can we turn this into a franchise"

[@ry_avi]

Little bit like the second Percy Jackson movie where they shoved all the lore into one movie

[@Viking_Luchador]

Tolkien's family HATES the Peter Jackson films

[@cydneyking7453]

Eilonwy will forever be one of my favorite Disney characters. The movies themes of finding your strength by stepping into what you want to be, even if it might not work out just really gets me. The hints that she’s simply pretending to be a princess just like Taran is pretending to be a warrior really paint this picture of two kids growing up in a horribly cruel world, leaning on the comforts of fiction to continue on and I think that’s such a subtle and impactful theme I haven’t seen in too many adult oriented movies.

[@mywifesboyfriend5558]

The books were full of amazing characters. Changed my life.

[@geikosera]

Eilonwy in the movie and especially the books was such a role model for me. Such an inspiration.

[@zainmudassir2964]

I like eilonwy too. 😊

[@magicaltour1]

Eilonwy in the books actually was a princess, but she was a lot more tomboyish, and was often taken for a scullery maid because she stayed with Taren’s master and worked in the scullery. Cut content from the movie suggests that she was a real princess, but the Horned King was making her work as a scullery maid to insult her.

[@majesdane]

@@magicaltour1yeah, I wish movie Eilonwy was more like the book version. It was fun to see this character who is a princess, who everyone expects to act regally, is just some girl who wants to run around in the woods and have fun adventures. She’s one of my favorite book characters ever.

[@Ultra04channel]

Honestly, looking at those shots of the undead soldiers really makes me want a fully cel animated dark fantasy film in that style.

[@Svensk7119]

The skeletons coming out of the green goo was too Heavy Metal for me. I prefer how they looked on the cover of The High King.

[@OfftheWallTales]

I will never get tired of Bluth going, "Peace, bitches" and just stealing half the team.

[@unclefranklin4575]

Disney paid him back when a number of his team quit a troll in central park to work on beauty and the beast.

[@BuckarooBanzai84]

@@unclefranklin4575 LOL! True!

[@notchuckproductions5029]

@@unclefranklin4575 I don’t blame them

[@mikefenton8327]

Then making Land Before Time and kicking the hell out of that year's Disney release.

[@Viking_Luchador]

WTH happened to that man? Did Disney pull some kind of "Get Out" mind swap in the early 90s, and force him to make movies they wouldn't touch?

[@knutini]

Disney: let’s hire all these new guys to innovate and be creative. Also Disney: we don’t like your innovation and creativity. Let’s ask this old guy what he thinks.

[@YesterworldEntertainment]

That is, sadly, quite literally the summary of the entire production of The Black Cauldron in a nutshell.

[@joshuajoe1419]

And when they finally stopped asking to old guy and allowed the new guys to innovate, we got the renascence.

[@warped_rider]

Animators: Fine, you won't let us be creative so we'll go be creative on our own time and make our own films! Disney: *surprised Pikachu face*

[@Near_Pluto_]

@channelofstuff exactly. Don’t blame the old guys here. This was corporate Disney getting nervous and flip flopping trying to make sure they got the best buck they could.

[@austinshoupe3003]

This is generally how any top down structure works. The guys at the top like the idea of fresh blood and innovation, but the results are unnerving. People don't like leaving their bubble. Doesn't help that the fresh blood usually wants to make their mark too quickly and changes too much too fast.

[@CoreyWE]

I can see now why J.R.R. Tolkien didn't want Disney to get their hands on The LOTR Trilogy.

[@JinxSanity]

And doubt he would had been happier in seeing what WB did to The Hobbit.

[@SirBlackReeds]

He died in 1973. This film had nothing to do with that.

[@steakslapn9724]

I don't think he would of been too thrilled with how they turned out any way. They were great movies, and really the bar other fantasy movies are measured against. But, the amount of lore cut from the books and how many amazing characters that were cut as well. I think if Tolkien were still alive when the movies were made, we would of got alot more magic, light hearted moments and we would of gotten bombadil. Lol

[@StarsWithScars]

Instead Ralph Bakshi

[@ZiddersRooFurry]

@@steakslapn9724 Bombadil is fine in the books. He would have ruined the movies. Movies aren't books. They have completely different narrative & pacing requirements.

[@tavarespalooza1323]

I had a chance to interview Lloyd Alexander back in the mid 90s. When I asked him about the movie, he kindly said “well, they did the best they could.” That was the kind of guy he was. Very gentle, very kind, and an excellent writer.

[@LucyLioness100]

Mad respect for him. He’s right though that Disney did what they could with the constant changes behind the scenes

[@danmulholland1634]

​@@LucyLioness100I hope one day we do get see the uncut for this movie it deserves it we seen worse then this At this point

[@bw7754]

The dark tones of this movie is why it is my favorite Disney animated movie, for me it’s so unique within the Disney genre that it really stands out. And also the story gets me EVERYTIME regardless of my age.

[@reginaldforthright805]

Its one of the best along with ichabod crane, Alice in wonderland, sword in the stone, Peter Pan, and beauty and the beast.

[@bocolatebhipbookie]

fantasia and dumbo r also rly great. i honestly hate disney but when he dove into dark subjects and themes his work became a lot more interesting. shame they have had to maintain such a squeaky clean family friendly image

[@reginaldforthright805]

@@bocolatebhipbookie sleeping beauty is a great picture as well. It has an elegance to it; doesnt really seem like a kid’s film at all. And Disney animation is unmatched regardless, few others even come close. On the whole, it’s the greatest artistic achievement of the twentieth century, if not all of human history.

[@Belgand]

@@reginaldforthright805 A big part of what makes Sleeping Beauty look so good is the art style. I know it was controversial within Disney at the time but the choice to go with a sleek, modernist aesthetic was great. So much better than the doughy, rounded style that Disney typically uses.

[@nikkipaige272]

I cannot believe you got your hands on those storyboards! Thank you so much for sharing! This has made me very emotional!

[@YesterworldEntertainment]

Believe me, I had a lot...and I mean a lot going against me in showing these storyboards publicly. I'm truly hoping this doesn't put me on Disney's "let's demonetize & strike down everything he does from now on regardless of fair use" list.

[@nikkipaige272]

@@YesterworldEntertainment I really hope they don't because honestly your videos are such a treat to Disney fans. Also I'm currently reading Disney War so to see a video about what I'm reading right now was so amazing. Thank you again for this video! xx

[@hillarypritchard9249]

How do you get all your info though? You and defunctland… how do you know everything?

[@Clay3613]

@@YesterworldEntertainment So I take it you're not allowed to post the pictures separate from the video?

[@siljeff2708]

@@hillarypritchard9249 yesterworld is secretly Michael Eisner. Defunctland is secretly Jeffrey Katzenburg

[@ladyblakeney]

As a huge fan of the books, I've never loved this movie, but the drama surrounding it is absolutely FASCINATING.

[@sakunaruful]

Are the books that good?

[@ladyblakeney]

@@sakunaruful in my opinion, yes! They're a dark, Welsh based fantasy series. The length is comparable to Narnia, but that's about where the similarities end.

[@sakunaruful]

@@ladyblakeney I see. I haven't read much Welsh mythology. I look forward to reading this series.

[@vincentfranklin17]

I read the books in my last year of elementary school. I loved it!

[@MarMar-zj8tf]

@@sakunaruful I read them for the first time a year ago and watched the movie for the first time recently too. I'd honestly say if you've read any YA fantasy series before, then you've read the Chronicles of Prydain. It's pretty standard stuff, but it is interesting and done well enough. Heck, I read the whole series in roughly a week. The last two books kinda dip in quality though, imo, and in the end I do prefer the movie.

[@beverlyhale1277]

from Joe Hale: Mark, I am amazed at the time and effort this video must have taken you. Well Done.....I was determined to keep the Animation quality up to Disney standards and this film was the training ground for these young animators. the cost reported to me was $25 million. After Eisner was in charge of Disney, he told all the departments to charge their overhead to the TBC as he wanted it to be a loss. The promotional budget was cut from $3 million to $1 million. I don’t think Eisner wanted Ron Miller’s last film to be a success. Ron wanted this film to appeal to teenagers rather than small children as previous Disney films weren’t seem by teenagers.

[@SuperWolsey]

Hilarious considering how Eisner leaned to his son for what was cool at the time early on

[@ao9688]

More likes for this so Mark can notice! Thank you Beverly and Joe!

[@ZiddersRooFurry]

Beverly please tell Joe how grateful I am for all he's done for the animation genre. Films like the Black Cauldron and The Black Hole inspired my imagination and Robin Hood helped give birth to the Furry fandom which has given millions of furries like me a fandom where we can be our creative selves and be accepted. He's helped make my life and so many other peoples lives happier and more memorable. I will forever appreciate his work so much.

[@charlestaylor253]

Eisner is cancer...

[@SuperWolsey]

@@charlestaylor253 but not a CCP brown noser* *looking at you, Iger

[@OttoTheWeim]

Bravo sir. The research and investigation you put into this is truly exceptional. Making contact and obtaining the cut animations and “splicing” them virtually for the narration is a proper gift of history to the world. Things like this should never be forgotten even if only for historical reference of the process and art that was originally conceptualized by the artists. They put countless hours into creating these scenes and they deserve to be recognized even if not in the public release of the final product.

[@kingkoopa3000]

On behalf of lost media geeks around the world, I just want to thank Yesterworld entertainment for finally lifting the lid on what was cut from 'The black cauldron'. Your detective work is much appreciated ! I'd love to see more lost media content from this channel in future! Thanks again.

[@korwynias_yt]

Funny how they thought it was too dark and Don Bluth goes on to make dark animated films that did well. Also, I wonder what the movie would have been like if Don and Tim had stayed and were let to have their way.

[@rickmanalwayss]

I feel like the creative boundaries of animation would have been pushed further much much earlier.

[@SirBlackReeds]

Eh, his darkest still pales in comparison to the disintegration scene.

[@korwynias_yt]

@@SirBlackReeds But if you factor in Tim Burton films

[@natalierose13]

It would have been so GOOD!!

[@adriantucker5532]

@@SirBlackReeds disintegration scene?

[@jetsons101]

Talk about deep research, you did a great job here. Also the narration was spot on. Thanks for your time and work on this one as it is well deserved .........

[@YesterworldEntertainment]

Thank you for the kind words, I've been particularly working on my Narrating so I appreciate the compliment :)

[@gamestation2690]

@@YesterworldEntertainment Can you please provide me with images of the storyboards of deleted scenes? I want to share them.

[@dragonfire810]

@@YesterworldEntertainment could you please create “ the History of the Dark Crystal “ on May 27, 2021 :kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGjWcphsqbhrqKc

[@MokurenAwakened]

I agree! Very well done, I enjoyed learning about this classic movie!

[@Kurtsg10]

You should see about getting this in an official release of the movie. It would be nice if Disney did a restoration.

[@Mattfromthepast]

As a kid I always thought this movie looked cheap compared to other Disney movies and wondered why. Now I know, most of the budget was spent on scenes that didn't end up on screen. Thank you for this informative video.

[@leviturner3265]

I thought the movie looked cheap as a kid too. I still think it looks cheap. I do not like the style employed on the Disney films starting with Sword in the Stone until The Little Mermaid. They are not really refined at all. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi all had MUCH better animation. The exception from that era was a lot of their war-time productions, and this carried over for a few years after the war as well. Films like Dumbo, Fun and Fancy Free, Victory Thru Air Power, Melody Time, Make Mine Music, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad all of which suffered because of the effects the war had on the industry, and the carry over from that. Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland seemed to be going back to the original refinement Disney made themselves famous for.

[@elocfreidon]

So the biggest mistake Disney made with Black Cauldron was that they didn't take enough of a risk and did everything they could to avoid violence in a story where violence was unavoidable. Cuts being made to improve pacing is antithetical to animation. You go to see an animation to watch the animation more than anything else. Removing whole bits of animation for anything other than to avoid repitition is a bad excuse.

[@craigusselman546]

Very well thought out.

[@nerdychocobo]

they made a movie intending it to be for mature audiences, test screened it to young children, and said it was too mature and needed to be cut down...

[@elocfreidon]

@@nerdychocobo That was the obvious.

[@torytellstales]

I think their biggest mistake was kicking Tim Burton out

[@KittyStarlight]

Partly, but that wasn't the only problem. I think the audiences would have identified with the characters more if the characters had been more detailed like they were in the books. Also I think it is possible American children might have identified with Eilonwy more if she had been voiced by an American child instead of a British adult. I love Hayley Mills, but either this was not the right movie for her or she should have voiced an adult character. There was no real need for British accents in a movie that was really based on ancient Welsh mythology from a time period when modern English didn't exist. Also they really should have either stayed closer to the style of the books or created their own new style. They did neither, resulting in something that was just mildly cute instead of really entertaining. Understandably enough, audiences didn't tend to find that they were really entertained. "Another departure, but this time it was writer Rosemary Anne Sisson over, surprise, surprise, creative differences." Let me guess. She probably wanted it to be more like a classic children's book and less like a modern Disney movie. Why am I not surprised. These weren't even books that were written very long ago, and yet they managed to be too authentic for the 1980's version of Disney anyway. The whole thing just doesn't really ring true, is what the problem is. Not the lack of violence. They needed to let the movie express itself and be itself much more, in a lot of ways. The way the movie actually is, ten minutes of extreme violence would really just clash with the rest of the movie.

[@RSEFX]

I announced this film in a magazine I edited back in '77, and eventually lost track of what happened to it. Here it is 2023 and I'm just finding out that the film was actually MADE! That's how lost to time it turned out to be!

[@HBarnill]

Reading the story in Disney War, you get the impression that Eisner didn't object to Katzenberg changing The Black Cauldron, but his *demeanor* in doing it. Priorities.

[@jadedheartsz]

I just finished reading that book myself and it definitely came across that Eisner was not happy with how Katzenberg had no clue how animation worked with him just barging into the editing room and thinking he could edit it like a live-action film, and to be fair there apparently were test-screenings for the original version of the film but there were kids coming out of those screenings traumatized resulting in a lot of phone calls from angry parents to Disney which is what ultimately made Eisner agree to trim down the film.

[@ArtisticCeleste]

@@jadedheartsz It's always kinda irked me how they insisted on having the test screenings be for children when the film was clearly geared more for an older audience like teenagers-like if even adults found it dark what else would they expect from children? Had they test-screened on teens instead perhaps it wouldn't have gotten cut down as much.

[@Captain-Cosmo]

@@ArtisticCeleste I saw it with friends my first year in college. We understood beforehand it was not for little kids, and our viewing confirmed it. (It was s summer release, but we were in early band rehearsals for several weeks prior for Univ of GA football.)

[@jasonblalock4429]

I just wonder why he was so insistent on hacking the film down. They could have easily trimmed out only the scariest parts, without sacrificing so many character moments.

[@missybarbour6885]

@@jasonblalock4429 IDK, Katzenberg just loved to cut stuff, I swear. He tried to axe Part of your World from Little Mermaid

[@archer1949]

With Disney’s current obsession with live action remakes, the Chronicles of Prydain would be the only one that makes sense.

[@SuperWolsey]

But, China....

[@queenmedesa]

No thanks ,they'll probably screwed it , like Beauty and the Beast

[@nate1066pollock]

I'd rather see the rights released and another company adapt the books. Disney is pretty hit & miss these days.

[@tremorsfan]

And get Tim Burton to direct it using his original concept art.

[@zero_foxpants]

It would make sense creatively, maybe, but the business model for their live action remakes seems to be purely dedicated to lazily rehashing things that have already proven their worth.

[@qwerty77772]

17:27 That cheerful shot of the Horned King munching on popcorn was something I never knew I needed to see.

[@albineigengrau3212]

I sometimes think Disney missed a trick in the development of The Black Cauldron in that they could have used it as the springboard for a kind of "Touchstone Pictures" sub-label for their animation. The marketing department could have gone: "No worries, folks, we still have this fun-for-the-whole-family film in development, called The Great Mouse Detective, and parallel to that we're also going to start making some animated films geared towards an older audience." Granted, it would have been better if the first of these mature features had been smaller-scale, cheaper productions, as it would have taken several years time for the audience to warm to them, so a "put all your eggs into a single costly basket" project like The Black Cauldron would still have been a bad idea to go with first. But Disney did manage to find an older audience on tv with Gargoyles for example.

[@reginaldforthright805]

Gargoyles was a bomb. Black cauldron isn’t really targeted at older audiences as it still has too many childish bits. There were several other animated films around this time geared for older audiences like wizards, heavy metal, rock and rule, and they all bombed. Ironically, the only one that was a hit was Bluth’s animated game dragon’s lair. A dragon’s lair film may have done what you said. In any case Black Cauldron remains perhaps the finest film Disney ever produced. Also in the running I would put Alice in wonderland, sword in the stone, and beauty and the beast.

[@otroflores91]

Bomb at the time but are cult classics

[@Belgand]

Instead it largely caused Disney to lose an entire generation. If you look at the big Disney fans, they tend to skip Gen X. If you were growing up from the '70s to the '80s, Disney was pretty much junk. By the time the renaissance hit, you were too old to care. The largest contingent of hardcore Disney fans these days are Millennials whose childhood intersected with the renaissance.

[@RedQueenCreative_Roxie]

When I went to Tokyo Disneyland they had a walk-through attraction based on the Black Cauldron, and one visitor got to hold the magic glowing sword to banish the Horned King (which was me!). It was totally badass and I got a medal for being the selected person and I still have that medal.

[@DuskPShermanWallaby123]

lucky!

[@AsmodeusDHare]

They had something like that in Disney World for a while when I was younger. I got to banish the horned king and got a medal that when I was taken backstage to get back to the audience was literally ripped off my neck (the strap had a bit of velcro) and I was unceremoniously shoved out the door. My mom asked about the photo to have a souvenir and they said "Oh that? no that's for corporate use only for advertisements." which later we found out to be illegal but by then the statutes of limitations ended.

[@clydekimsey7503]

​@@AsmodeusDHare 😮😢

[@badoocee1967]

Damn, that's cool you got to hold the Sword and banish the Horned King. F@#king COOL!!!!!!

[@badoocee1967]

And the fact that you still have the Medal?! I'd cherish it for sure!

[@puppetstreamers7955]

The fact that a Disney movie lost to a Care Bears movie, still makes me laugh to this day.

[@bluekewne]

Also the fact that Back To The Future came out around the same time & dominated the box office - no way could Taran take on Marty McFly.

[@srstriker6420]

@@bluekewne and Disney was offered but turned it down

[@LaikaLycanthrope]

@@bluekewne Yes, and both Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd were at the _height_ of their popularity, which was the draw for BTTF in the first place. Then once it hit theatres, well, positive word of mouth never needed "social media" to "go viral" ....

[@mightyfilm]

Shiny, overly happy film for little kids vs dark and gloomy film likely to scare the same audience, taken to the theater by the same parents that can't distinguish between the two. Also, one was a massive fad at the time, and it WASN'T the Black Cauldron.

[@mattdisney1132]

I love back to the future too

[@LolaliciousSmiley]

Watching The Black Cauldron for the first time was a formative moment. Bring on the horror, high fantasy, and skeleton armies!

[@wstine79]

The Black Cauldron was so secretive on tv back then. Only saw clips on DTV MONSTER HITS. Finally saw it and.... it was alright. The best part was the villain and atmosphere.

[@RogueT-Rex8468]

Which was undone by that gremlin sidekick of his.

[@djutmose]

The books were so awesome when I was a kid. When I saw the film... Well, it was pretty much what you would expect from Disney back then, which was total mediocrity and a waste of the source material.

[@EddieSchirmer]

@@djutmose would love to read the books. often of which are the better material and content. films, even when done well often leave much to be desired when the story is being told. i actually like The Black Cauldron. despite its issues, and obvious editing and stylistic changes. but the very basic theming, being a dark story is fascinating. i can only imagine how good the books are, all things considered.

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

Ah, DTV, back when Disney Channel was known as THE Disney Channel

[@queenmedesa]

@@djutmose It was the best Disney's movie of the 80's

[@CiccioImberlicchio]

Basically most of those 10-12 minutes the dude wanted to remove were about the bard guy, ending up giving him no character and making his presence obsolete even if that wasn't the case in the original cut. Man, what production cycle.

[@kelliblodgette6435]

If the Black Cauldron was live action and had all the missing cuts (and was still made in the early 80s), I can picture the infamous death scene of the guard like the bad guys in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[@SkyeID]

A live action Black Cauldron would be fire.

[@weirdotzero7065]

A friend of mine who is a HUGE fan of The Black Cauldron told me this was a 10/10 video. Now that is an endorsement.

[@JosephDavies]

As someone obsessed with the film since 1985, I also agree this video is 10/10. If he had mentioned the video game based on the film, he would have gotten 11/10.

[@metropod]

"Tim Burton, Batman..." And a legend was born...

[@SuperWolsey]

And ironic yet unintentional foreshadowing

[@thEannoyingE]

I believe this was because he was still working on the film at the time.

[@Lundmunchkins2000TV]

@@thEannoyingE that was far later

[@SuperWolsey]

@@thEannoyingE except the only people involved early on was Uslan and Melneiker plus Tom Mankiewicz; the later submitted his 1983 script treatment. Burton wouldn't be chosen til after the success of Pee Wee's Big Adventure

[@kooliokylio3250]

@@thEannoyingE i dont think so because tim burton directed a movie before batman the pee wee movie at the same year black cauldron was released and the archive footage is still early in black cauldron production and animating takes a long time and he would have quit or disney would have fired him because he was working for another or rival company (i am just really bored right now so im writing this cause i got nothing else better to do right now)

[@johnsantoianni2231]

Just a minor correction: The Castle Mystery Tour was an attraction at Tokyo Disneyland, not Disneyland Paris.

[@mophydo]

Oh good catch. He might've confused it with the Dragon's Lair beneath the castle at Disneyland Paris, which is another uncharacteristically scary disney attraction

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

Its kind of funny since he used a clip of the sign from the ride which is in both English and Japanese.

[@ScarletSerenade]

I literally came to the comments to say this and I’m glad I checked first. I was watching it and texting and I heard him say “Paris” and was like, “Um..... that’s not right.”

[@KyraHogue]

I also caught that but didn't want to comment that before checking. Thankfully it is a minor mistake, and pretty understandable since the only two dungeon-themed areas under the castle are in Tokyo and Paris. Still learned a ton with the video.

[@tulinfirenze1990]

Yep - I did it in October, 2001. The Horned King animatronic rising up was INCREDIBLE!

[@aclockworkcranberry]

I grew up watching this film and I've seen it maybe 30 or so times, but haven't for 15+ years. Seeing the clips from it brings me to tears. I loved it when I was a kid, along with The Land Before Time

[@DestinyObake]

I actually teared up at the end of your version. Much better than what we got. I’d say that Disney should hire you, but they’d treat you terribly so keep doing your thing.

[@mbowler7124]

I remember seeing this in the theater and loved it. For years my sister and I wondered when it was coming to home video. We eventually gave up, grew up and went to college.

[@danmulholland1634]

Do you remember any scenes from that day that dont appear on any release copy

[@MCastleberry1980]

The Chronicles of Prydain would be perfect to adapt as a Disney+ series. I gotta admit, I got into the series because of the front cover of The Black Cauldron book around the time of the movie had the movie poster on it, so it really stood out at the Scholastic Book Fair back in the day

[@flannerymonaghan-morris7461]

There IS talk of that being done right now. I think in the wake of game of thrones’ success, this could very much be the Disney answer to that.

[@LunaticoniSolar]

Yeah, it would benefit better as a series on Disney+, like Tangled The Series or Gravity Falls

[@queenmedesa]

No, thanks, they 'll screw it for sure

[@moviestar1296]

The production of the Black Caldron is easily one of my most favorite stories of Disney

[@daboz8753]

It's astounding, I've been eating up articles on this film since I discovered its existence in the mid 90's just before its vhs release, and each time I come across another article I still learn something I didn't know before. What an absolute NIGHTMARE it must've been to create this film, and still they pushed through to get it out there...only to bury it for over a decade. I think that's one reason I love it so much, for all its flaws, all the chaos it went through...it's still a gorgeous movie. Every bit of effort everyone who saw it through to the end really shows in this movie, and I'm very grateful they saw it through, even though it was literally nearly the death of Disney animation! It just laid the groundwork for what would come after...

[@ali-cat1101]

I LOVED The Black cauldron as a child and the music was great.

[@ArtisticCeleste]

I've known about this film for awhile, but a recommendation from my animation professor (I'm a 2d animation major who does a lot of dark fantasy and he thought it’d be useful to study) led me to actually watch the film and discuss it with him, as well as research some more on it myself. This film had so much potential, and if they had been allowed to go darker like they planned it might’ve been remembered more fondly as a film meant for teens, since the story concept is really one that doesn’t seem fit for a younger audience. Its production being less chaotic also might’ve allowed for a far better story, since according to my professor some story concepts that were quite interesting were cut as well from earlier drafts. Like the Cauldron Born for example were meant to go towards a village to ransack it in one draft, upping the stakes. Since watching the film while it hasn't become one of my favorites story-wise, visual wise I adore it, and just wish it could've been given a better treatment than what the studio gave it.

[@Mokujo]

Personally I want more child-friendly dark fantasy. Like, animated films with the tone of Zelda Twilight Princess or Majora's Mask. Not because I really want kids to see it or anything, but because I feel like you can gracefully straddle the line between innocent whimsy and unsettling imagery.

[@beverlyhale1277]

thankyouMegan. too bad you could not have seen my uncut version....;Joe Hale, Producer (man in charge of the production)

[@ArtisticCeleste]

@@beverlyhale1277 Wow, I did not expect one of the producers to notice my comment-I searched through this comment section and found the one you left regarding the video itself, and it’s sad to hear what your higher-ups did to this film. As I said visually this film was absolutely stunning when I watched it, from both its delicate character work to the brilliant backgrounds that carry the same level of detail as those from Snow White, and I wish that there was a way to view the missing cuts as I’m certain they carried the same level of care. While it's regrettable the film wasn't able to reach its full potential, given the circumstances, I still applaud what your team managed to accomplish-the film is stunning and harkens back to the older days of the studio's initial era of films, and I’m grateful my professor pushed me to finally seek it out for a watch as it's now one of my go-to's for visual inspiration alongside Sleeping Beauty. Out of curiosity if you’re able to say or if you know, was an uncut version ever saved, or was the original negative destroyed during Katzenberg’s cuts?

[@chileanyways196]

@@beverlyhale1277 wow!!

[@gamestation2690]

@@ArtisticCeleste The uncut version doesn't exist. Sorry.

[@GareksApprentice]

Ron Miller is such an interesting figure in Disney's history. From LA Ram to Disney heir. From championing Tron, early CGI, Touchstone, Tim Burton, Roger Rabbit & the Disney Channel to presiding & resigning during the most hopeless period in company history. I'd love to see a video on him.

[@YesterworldEntertainment]

He really is. He did so much for the company (the Disney Channel to name a few) but is often neglected when it comes to the companies highlights and achievements...I imagine there is a lot of behind the scenes drama that led to this, even more so than what I cover in the episode.

[@GareksApprentice]

@@YesterworldEntertainment Absolutely and I understand his tenure might be too extensive for one video. I recommend the book 'Storming the Magic Kingdom'. It's a bit of a dry business/corporate book, but it's all about the Steinbeck takeover and the events that led to Miller's departure & Eisner/Wells' arrival. Also makes for a nice companion piece to 'DisneyWar'

[@SirBlackReeds]

It's a shame it received the axe in favor of Disney's streaming service.

[@LucyLioness100]

@@GareksApprenticeI’d watch a video about both Ron Miller’s tenure & also the infamous Michael Eisner-Katzenberg drama following the death of Frank Wells in 1994

[@tvforeverus]

A special extended edition of Yesterworld on a Sunday evening? Let me get my popcorn, get cozy, and sit back and relax!

[@YesterworldEntertainment]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@codyt821]

Hell yeah I thought the same thing!

[@dragonfire810]

@@YesterworldEntertainment could you please create “ the History of the Dark Crystal on May 21, 2021 :kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4G3m3yNrregotU

[@DaymiianSFT]

Get your orange juice gamers

[@Ben-kd7ug]

@@YesterworldEntertainment do a history of studio ghibli's history with disney please

[@warhawkjah]

I remember one of those "occasional screenings" in the late 80's. My parents saw an ad in the newspaper for it so they took us to see it. It was at a theater of some kind, possibly one of those discount B movie theaters. I was probably 5 or 6 at the time. I remember it was scary but not too bad, more of a Halloween scary.

[@DuskPShermanWallaby123]

was everyone scared of the movie?

[@nufosmatic]

6:01 - Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor - the two principal voices in "The Rescuers"

[@sarahcollins5245]

I’m still so salty that the Prydain Chronicles got destroyed in the Disney drama. It’s such a compelling story and was butchered. We need a high budget, high fantasy, live action franchise, stat!!

[@minespatch]

Terry Pratchet and Rowling knew better not to give their books to Disney.

[@SuperWolsey]

@@minespatch shame for Pratchett it can't be said of the BBC

[@Tareltonlives]

@@minespatch Yeah, but the adaptationhs we got were pretty mediocre

[@kevinthomas4239]

Honestly I can't understand why this series hasn't gotten a proper adaptation. 5 books = 5 seasons.

[@Tareltonlives]

@@kevinthomas4239 Or 5 films

[@Razzilicious]

This episode mentioned so much about The Great Mouse Detective, I'd love if you did a video about that movie next! It's my favorite of the Disney animated movies

[@benm3382]

That would be great! I feel like it somehow gets forgotten in the world of Disney movies.

[@epicgamerhank9509]

9:24 That’s some epic foreshadowing right there.

[@MrD5914]

Pretty amazing and kinda creepy lol

[@jackcarraway4707]

Considering what he did with the Secret of NIMH, a dark fantasy, Bluth's presence would have really helped the Black Cauldron. At the end of the day, the Chronicles of Prydain can't be condensed into one movie. That's like trying to make a single movie out of Song of Ice and Fire.

[@justinmorgan2126]

I loved The Secrets of NIMH, that was a formative film for me when I was a child, it helped shape my entire attitude towards fantasy and art in a very positive way. More even than Star Wars did when I saw it in the cinema as a 9 year old.

[@chelseabaker1994]

Perhaps if Disney had considered making sequels back then (though they might have since The Rescuers Down Under came out in 1990 so it was probably about to go into development, or at least being considered, around the time this movie came out) they could have made this into a series of animated movies. Plus since Disney is SSSSOOO into just remaking their classics into live action remakes for nostalgic cash grabs (or to completely destroy the stories we love to make them “progressive” even though we’ve shown them time and again that we hate that) Disney should consider giving The Chronicle or Prydain another try (but I would just hope they wouldn’t do to it what they’ve been doing for the last few years, and that’s fill it with pushing a political agenda that no one wants shoved in their faces instead of telling a heart-felt story)

[@queenmedesa]

@@chelseabaker1994 no ,thanks, who wants a black , pants wearing Eilonwy ?

[@reginaldforthright805]

It may have worked as an 8 minute short though.

[@madjidchouarbi3921]

The art quality of the storyboard's panels is pretty amazing compared to what you can usualy see with others Disney style animated movies. Only Don Bluth used to put so much efforts to make the boards both accurate for the crew and pleasant to see for the producers. It was certainly a time of great esperances for this young generation of artists which had to perpetute the legacy of legendary artists. Thank you for posting this documentary !

[@wstine79]

The Black Cauldron is lost somewhere in McDonaldland.

[@frankpetersen3090]

Yeah that had to be pretty embarrassing for them.

[@otomicans6580]

Employees keep crawling inside to clean it only to be found dead the next morning.

[@BLAHBBER]

So long story short, I was actually taught by Hendel Butoy in college, who was an animator on the Black Cauldron and a classmate of Tim Burton. So to see you cover this is pretty fascinating. I was told a couple stories from this production and this is pretty fun to see too.

[@zacharyjochumsen9677]

Jim studio and Tim aslo worked on the Ralph bakshi lord of the rings film

[@moviemaestro800]

Cool! You were taught by the co-director of The Rescuers Down Under, and production supervisor/Pines of Rome and Steadfast Tin Soldier sequence director for Fantasia 2000.

[@PixelsLtd]

Incredible work! Black Cauldron is my favourite classic Disney movie and I've always been sad it never got a Blu-Ray release, and that I'd never know what scenes were cut. Suddenly, this month, 35+ years on, we get a completely random Blu-Ray drop, and you make an incredible video documenting everything missing! In some ways, it's disappointing that these cut scenes seem fairly inconsequential and wouldn't have made that much difference, but at the very least, now my curiosity of decades has been quenched. I live in hope that one day that original negative will be dug out and digitized. But til then, truly, thank you. I feel some closure at least, that I thought I wouldn't ever get 😅

[@srstriker6420]

Yet this is one of the movies that deserve a second chance and a remake

[@SuperFlashDriver]

I'm hoping by 2035, which is the 50th anniversary of The Black Cauldron's release, much like Back To The Future, We may finally get both the original test screening cut from 1984 with an alternative version of Back To The Future without Michael J Fox.

[@PixelsLtd]

@@SuperFlashDriver I certainly hope so. Perhaps if the new Blu-Ray sees enough sales, or enough people stream it via Disney+, there will be deemed enough interest for the narritive to change from "Disney's hidden shame" to "Disney's forgotten classic" 🤔 the fact they can't sell happy meal toys to small children is far less of an issue nowadays. If Disney can monetize something that they own, they certainly shall. So there is hope.

[@Strideo1]

I still want my Fflewddur Fflam dialogue and reactions. I want to see Taran and friends try to destroy the cauldron. I want to see more of the emotional scenes that were trimmed down. I want to see the little moments that were cut. Sure, I don't think they'd be game changing but I feel like have them restored would actually be something of an improvement to the film and the film's characters.

[@largol33t1]

Seeing this documentary both fascinates and infuriates me. I actually liked TBC when I first saw it on the Disney Channel in the 1980s. I did have a chance to see it again a few years later and never could figure out the bizarre pacing of the storyline. I'm glad I stumbled across this video as it answered all my questions about why so many scenes looked awkward or weird. I just wish I didn't have to wait over 30 years for an answer! With the OBSCENE amount of money Disney was making in the early 2000s, it's a travesty that they refused to release a new version of TBC with all the mistakes fixed up. On the other hand, with the way they ruined the Star Wars stories, I am done with Disney and will not go to see another movie or animated feature ever again. They have disappointed me for quite some time as they have lost sight of where they could be going.

[@PorcelainRequiem]

I love this movie so much. I wish I could've seen the uncensored version though. It's a great and insanely underrated movie.

[@jim2lane]

They released it at the same time as Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Back to the Future, Teen Wolf and a re-release of E.T. and then wondered why it didn't do so well at the box office 🤔🤔

[@Belgand]

The '80s was a golden age for kid's TV and all-ages films. Meanwhile it was one of the lowest points for Disney. It was one of the times when they really needed to be stepping their game up, but instead they turned out mediocrity. Along with a retreat into safer and younger skewing products when the trend was going away from that and towards darker, more mature works that still had an all-ages appeal.

[@rebeccagibbs4128]

the spike in VHS sales for Black Cauldron was down to every disney collector needing it for their collection. I know collectors in my country, New Zealand, who bought it way back then via friends in america and the postal system lol. Everyone wanted it because it was rumoured it wouldn't ever get a release. Song of the South was a tough cookie for lots of disney fans who didnt want it, because it was so problematic, but NEEDED it for the collection LOL.

[@tfromcleveland3741]

I always imagine some pre-Renaissance imagineer pitching the idea of just buying some popular IP and being driven from the room with wadded up paper balls.

[@BNoble86]

Lol

[@jarodtank2611]

Even though the Black Cauldron isn’t the greatest movie I’ve always thought the art direction was beautiful and wish there were more Disney films in that style. It’s like what I’d imagine an 80’s Disney adaptation of the Legend of Zelda would be like. I know a lot of people didn't like this movie for being too dark for the "typical Disney audience," but that's one of the reasons why I appreciate it so much. They were trying to push boundaries in a way that they hadn't and haven't done in a long time. I wish Disney wasn't so ashamed of it.

[@Igorcastrochucre]

In recent years it seems like they do take pride in The Horned King as he is usually displayed alongside their other villains in merchandise, the same cannot be said for Taran, Einlowy, Fluter and Gurgi.

[@SirBlackReeds]

There's speculation that Taran and Eilonwy are the inspirations behind Link and Zelda.

[@smithydavis1033]

@@SirBlackReeds Peter Pan was the inspiration for Link

[@nickrustyson8124]

I will never unsee this being basically a Legend of Zelda movie

[@hunterolaughlin]

I agree that Disney should still acknowledge The Black Cauldron in their library of animated films as an interesting experiment of trying to push boundaries by appealing more to an older demographic of teens/young adults than their usual demographic with families.

[@MistaBrandoVA]

It's always so fun to learn about behind the scenes info on films like these, anytime the Black Cauldron gets more love and attention I'm all for it! Great job finding all those storyboards, those old Disney sketches are works of art!

[@ketanhein]

The Black Cauldron and The Great Mouse Detective have always been two of my favorite childhood Disney movies (yes, I remember seeing them back then). I'm glad they're on Disney+ now.

[@redfive1300]

Seeing YesterWorld’s new video on the timeline: *“This is where the fun begins.”*

[@redfive1300]

@SørenCast Z General Kenobi

[@bobbifrost2665]

@@redfive1300 you are a bold one!

[@redfive1300]

@@bobbifrost2665 back away! I will deal with the Jedi slime, myself!

[@hiridavidfeign]

What an amazing historical document you've created here. Really impressive. The Black Cauldron is definitely a transition film, and frankly more interesting as a production than the actual movie. I was in the CalArts character animation classes with many of the people in the Disney renaissance, including Gary Trousdale, Mark Dindal, Mark Henn, and the late Joe Ranft (Pixar). The prospects at Disney Animation were so grim during that period that I dropped out after my second year, but kept in contact with several close friends on the inside. One of my friends, a top animator on Beauty & The Beast, Hunchback, Pocahontas, and more, described for me the animation in The Black Cauldron as CalArts-style, which perfectly encapsulates it: A bit too earnest, with overbroad, awkward motions - that sort of thing. Student level but not master class. This video brought back all these memories for me.I feel really privileged to have experienced that era as a student. Thanks for the great work.

[@Noordledoordle]

This is probably blasphemy, but I'm not in love with Don Bluth's style for mostly that reason - the character motions are always so incredibly overbroad and floaty. (I suppose people will look back someday and shake their heads at all the super snappy anime-like movements we do now, too.)

[@Shadowfate93]

@@Noordledoordle Bluth movies mouths. The way is characters' mouths move bothers me

[@orangeslash1667]

@@Shadowfate93 Don Bluth is not afraid to be very weird when making films.

[@garlandstrife]

Awesome video! Black Cauldron is one of the most underrated Disney films. I love it. Some of its premise and character designs clearly inspired The Legend of Zelda just a few years later. The Horned King appears as the last boss and main antagonist in some Mickey games on Famicom and Game Boy. P.S. The Disneyland attraction of Cinderella Castle with the Horned King was located in Tokyo, not Paris. 20:20 Sadly it was renovated in 2006 and the tour inside the castle is completely different.

[@customsongmaker]

26:05 Windwaker

[@Melarancida]

This was an incredibly well made mini-doc. I've enjoyed this tremendously!

[@mrjuse5470]

The old horned king at 11:54 looks almost exactly like Mother Talzin from the animated Star Wars Clone Wars episodes and she was a great character. I cant help but wonder of she came from those sketches.

[@alexiane3]

Every time I look at the Mel Shaw sketches for this film, I just immediately start hearing the score to the Dark Crystal. Feels exactly like the type of score that could have gone to a film that looks like that. I just love them that much. Exemplary of this era of animated fantasy films.

[@SuperWolsey]

Oh what could have been....

[@queenmedesa]

I love Dark Crystal!

[@jackkramer9101]

I just love how much research this guy does. The level of detail is seriously impressive.

[@micahcease4617]

Damn bro, can we get some f's for my boy Fflewddur Fflam?

[@metalman_j]

His name already has enough.

[@otomicans6580]

Fflewder: My name has enough F's. *harp string breaks*

[@kryoruleroftheninthcircleo4151]

@@otomicans6580 The F string is broken.

[@moldyvoldy1231]

To this day, this is one of my favorites. I watched it over and over as a kid. Still have the VHS its warped from how many times I've watched lol

[@brianblumenreich9026]

John Hurt gives a great morbid performance as the voice of The Horned King!

[@LucyLioness100]

He’s easily the best part of the finished film. His vocals are utterly chilling. The only other positive outside of him and the visuals is the Elmer Bernstein score; insert “Ghostbusters” joke here

[@thespookymage6294]

The black cauldron is still one of my favorite Disney movies. This movie is better then people give it credit for and it honestly deserves much more recognition than it gets.

[@eringladstone5205]

You have really outdone yourself this time!! This video gives perfect context to the environment that created this movie and the forces it was up against. And to finally have some definitive insight into what was cut? AMAZING. I will confess I've never seen the movie either, but I've been fascinated about the story surrounding it for years now. Thank you for such a great video!

[@funandgames4645]

It’s amazing how much they criticize the movie for being “dark” but they praise Pinocchio which is WAY darker and more fucked up then the Black Cauldron

[@hunterolaughlin]

Pinocchio’s darkness also contributes to the source material being dark as well such as the Fox and the Cat hanging Pinocchio on a tree, the Blue Fairy momentarily dying from grief over Pinocchio’s disappearance, and getting captured and nearly eaten by a giant green sea monster.

[@funandgames4645]

@@hunterolaughlin oh absolutely. I think I read the guy who wrote the original books hated children and actually wrote it to traumatize kids into behaving. But yeah it’s a dark from the start

[@elmospasco5558]

@@funandgames4645 Jordan Peterson did an analysis of the movie and called it terrifying.

[@jessemehaffey4576]

Ikr

[@FP194]

@@vids595 No he is not You give a link to an obviously biased video and drink the kool aid it provides Think for yourself instead of letting others do it for you

[@SavageGreywolf]

"To condense the entire five book series into a workable cinematic story" and there's where the trouble began.

[@LucyLioness100]

Something that the “Dark Tower” adaptation could’ve learned from also

[@Angelfyre.]

Disney has been going towards live action a-lot recently, I wonder if they’d be bold enough to do the Black Cauldron. I honestly wish they had gone full into the more adult and darker themes. The entire “It has to be for kids” and the whole internal conflicts really killed this film.

[@LucyLioness100]

This could’ve been their Ralph Bakshi level film. I think aiming it to an older audience would’ve benefitted them & it could’ve potentially been the first PG-13 or R film from the Mouse House

[@siriushpfan]

Can we all just give a round of applause to Yesterworld for risking himself against the corporate Disney machine and giving us this information publicly? I mean... 👏👏👏

[@omiheaddev7090]

He’s been so far using publicly accessible knowledge and interviews? Nothing about this is really that Anti-Disney, just overview of it’s darker time.

[@lakers1850]

What?

[@IG88IGLOO.]

It's a only a matter of time that someone at Disney cares enough to restore these for a new release. Disney, I'd pay money for this!

[@YesterworldEntertainment]

Ditto.

[@gta71000]

They had a dvd release you could buy from the Disney store online(not a uncut version mind you but just the regular) . No idea if it's there still as it was on the Disney store during the height of Disney infinity. I still have the vhs version of the black cauldron 👍

[@Hawthornne]

I'd also love if they would but realistically.. The movie didnt even have a wide Bluray release yet (only Disney Movie Club exclusive so far). In Germany the DVD is still available in the Disney Classics line, but no bluray in sight...

[@siljeff2708]

@@gta71000 they released it on bluray just a couple of weeks ago on Disney Movie Club too

[@siljeff2708]

I’d imagine if they were to finally release the original cut, it would likely be a Disney+ exclusive. After all, they put forth the effort to put the final cut on Disney+ in 4K so someone is at least cleaning up their obscure films to this day

[@brandonwalters8637]

If im not mistaken, It's not at Disneyland Paris it's at Tokyo Disneyland, but could imagine if TBC characters were in Paris.

[@stevieroo18]

You are correct. The Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour was inside Tokyo Disneyland’s version of Cinderella Castle (and not Disneyland Paris).

[@weirdproq]

Yeah, I was about to comment this. The Mystery Tour was at the Japan park, not the Paris park.

[@ParallelDiscover]

That was what I was thinking.

[@KirbyVolt]

Timing makes more sense too. Tokyo Disneyland opened around 1983/84. This movie would still be in production, thus make a potential new great attraction. Paris was still a decade away, and with how badly the movie bombed, I doubt they'd want to reference it in their newer park. That said, there is something underneath the castle in Paris (or at least was), which is a dragon.

[@mariane-3480]

@@KirbyVolt yes the dragon is maleficent. (The disneyland paris Castle is also called Sleeping Beauty Castle)

[@folgore1]

I always liked the Black Cauldron. The animation is solid and feels like classic Disney animation. My biggest negative impression of the film was that it was too short and not enough happened in it. The missing footage may account for some of that feeling. Also, I've never read the Chronicles of Prydain so that might be my biggest problem: I don't have any idea of what "really" should've been in the film. Anyhow, all the details of the behind-the-scenes drama is certainly enlightening. Such a massive concentration of animation talent both new and old and Ron Miller wanted to make use of them all but he -- and the people he appointed -- lacked the ability to "herd cats" and achieve the synergy the project required. Add to that the tension between keeping the production child-friendly while including some of the more adult/violent content in the source material and finally the issue of dealing with the corporate raider at the same time and it's ultimately amazing the film is as good as it is! (Is it just me or does that real-life corporate raider look like he might serve as inspiration for some future Disney production?)

[@Cydia942]

30:18 I think it’s very interesting that Katsyberg later went on to found Dream Works and their flag ship Shrek also had a beer barrel flood during a fight scene. He definitely has a talent for storyboarding movies.

[@kittymcgeeky8853]

Gotta say, really appreciate the effort went into making this video. The Black Cauldron always had this...mysterious quality to it given how much Disney tried to cover up its existence, especially with the production hell and poor box office performance. Though given its failure nearly caused the company to pull the plug on animation, it's probably something they don't want to think about. Which is a shame because I think with a little tweaking or if they tried to revisit The Chronicles of Prydain series again...it could be so much more. I also really like how you included the storyboards to fill in those missing scenes, it may seem like just a small contribution but I think it would've helped the movie flow much more naturally. Poor Fflewddur Fflam though, the cuts really made his portrayal in the film next to pointless. Also, I want to know what music was played at 33:40.

[@katielarson1593]

Poor John Musker and Ron Clements...Disney just loved to screw them over on their passions :( What a great and interesting video! Kudos to all the work you put into it!

[@zacharyturner2944]

The amount of research that went into this video is amazing!

[@jameshorscroft1218]

15:15 "frank!", "hi Michael" *splat* ...why the hell did that get me 😂😂

[@Foxuniverso]

One thing i always loved about this film is that it reminds me of the Legend of Zelda but with a piggie... Also i always felt this movie is missing a climax, the ending to me if memory serves me right... is lacking,

[@ryansargent7831]

This is one of the most fascinating Disney stories in my mind, and it's so strange and exciting to finally have something like a definitive answer! There were so many rumors and so few answers 10 years ago. The "melting man" was so shockingly gruesome that people felt like ANYTHING could have been in these cut scenes, and I remember one semi-reliable source saying there was even partial Eilonwy nudity! Of course, looking back, that's kind of ridiculous- even if that might have been considerably less traumatizing than the melting man haha. It's satisfying to have a pretty clear answer of what's in the trimmed scenes, but also a little disappointing that the mystery is over and apart from the Cauldron-born scene and maybe Gurgi's sacrifice we didn't lose anything especially shocking or emotionally impactful. Still, this was a really compelling watch and it's great to know the truth, Yesterworld. Disney is sometimes awful at preserving its own history and presenting it the public so you're doing the work of angels. I don't know if you're still reading comments, but I just had to say something!

[@YesterworldEntertainment]

I'd love to track down who started that "partially nude Eilonwy" claim, because I've always felt it was pretty ridiculous...the whole "it was originally going to get an R rating" is just bonkers and I never bought it personally. After I obtained the storyboards, the analysis portion of this episode quickly transitioned from a "what WAS cut" into a "what WASN'T cut and never even part of the original film to begin with"

[@ryansargent7831]

@@YesterworldEntertainment I wish I knew the origin as well. I can remember some industry voice talking about it on animation boards more than a decade ago and I bought it (and all the other crazy rumors)as an edgy teenager. But eventually I realized there was no way, not even in the experimental 80s.

[@altact6699]

@@YesterworldEntertainment This is such a well-done video, and I would be fascinated to see a follow-up that tracks down the origins of some of those more outlandish rumors.

[@Quandry1]

I think we have to blame a lot of the nudity and partial nudity rumors in video games and some of the movies like this where there were questions about what was removed tend to come from the same place. It all seems to basically lead back to Samus and Metroid with the spread of the "Justin Bailey" code that let you play Samus without her armor but the bikini instead. Not only was that exagerated to be a bit more than it actually is at one time. But it seemed to create this whole slew of claims about having the right codes or cut content that involved either partial or fully nude material in various media in the late 80's a bit but much more so in the 90's and early 2000's.

[@jordanshaw9699]

I have been waiting for you to do this! This was the first movie I watched during the pandemic and I’ve been obsessed with it since. I read The Book of Three a couple of months ago and loved it. I’m so happy you made this video.

[@pascalcocco3499]

@ Jordan Shaw there are 5 or 6 books in the series!

[@TheDigitalApple]

I wonder what happened to John Musker’s original “Black Cauldron” cels. He just walks into his office and there suddenly gone!

[@sabrinalibby3435]

Probably deep in the Disney vault

[@oneinathousand2156]

I bet it was the person who stole the original Foodfight footage.

[@thedude2131]

@@oneinathousand2156 it’s all connected

[@thelucondrix391]

Deep within the vault, I have an orginal Black Cauldron because my mother worked at block buster...we have a lot of forgotten Disney movies, some outright banned, we also have other rare movies made by other groups now owned by Disney. They released very few of them, and it could have been amazing and I wish they'd go back to that detail of amazing LoL

[@TreadwellJay]

Not cels, the hand drawn animation on paper.

[@graveyardsmash2711]

11:55, the character on the left is not the Horned King, but Arawn-- the original main antagonist of the book. They were planning to use him, but he was instead fused with the Horned King, and Arawn was made into the cauldron's spirit.

[@snakes3425]

I feel like part of the problem is that people felt Cauldron "didn't fit the Disney Brand" (as Owl House fans can attest) since horror and dark fantasy are two genres that people don't associate with Disney even though Night on Bald Mountain and Hunchback of Notre Dame show Disney is capable of producing horror and dark fantasy rather well if given the chance and initiative

[@LucyLioness100]

It wasn’t even intended to the typical Disney film especially for those who’ve read the series. It’s a shame that they messed with it so much and toned down the darker elements when ‘90s Renaissance Disney snuck in pretty dark imagery in G rated films like the death of Mufasa, blood when the Beast is stabbed in “Beauty and the Beast” and of course Hunchback of Notre Dame despite not being nearly as harsh as its source material

[@mamagrubbs]

Love seeing all those Star Wars ads in the newspapers

[@DoodleThis]

This will always be one of my favorite Disney movies ever. Definitely in my top 10

[@hieithefox]

I always loved it as a huge horror fan as a kid

[@Joelthegeek]

such an amazing set of books that really need a reboot as either live action or animated.

[@codyt821]

A live action reboot would be so freaking cool

[@JosephDavies]

@@codyt821 I'd love to see a live action film series, one for each of the five novels. There's plenty to work with!

[@staceyrox360]

Disney’s busy with Live Action films we don’t want- this is one we DO want!

[@yrooxrksvi7142]

See, this is why Modern Disney is such a god-awful lazy corporation. Instead of revitalizing these strange old IPs in a proper way (Something Wicked This Way Comes, Escape to Witch Mountain, Tron, The Black Hole, this film amongst many), they keep recycling only the big successful IPs in pointless, squallid remakes, partly because they know the average moviegoer is a peabrain with ADD who only cares about their nostalgia, but also because there isn't an ounce of creative bone left at Disney. Been saying this for almost a decade. Just look at what has become of their Animation Studios.....

[@chileanyways196]

@@yrooxrksvi7142 so true

[@KittyStarlight]

The advertising where it says that he's "on a quest to rescue a beautiful princess" (and then they become friends and work together instead of him just rescuing her) sounds pretty good in the advertising, but actually, he was originally on a quest to do something completely different and he didn't even know that any such princess *existed* until he suddenly met her. I'm just saying. 😉

[@robpolaris7272]

I read the Lloyd Alexander books in elementary school. I believe I started in 2nd grade and finished by 4th grade. I really liked the story and characters. After my daughter watched The Black Cauldron I started doing an imitation of Gurgi. The Black Cauldron was a masterpiece compared to the garbage Disney is putting out today. Walt should have kept Disney in the family or let is collapse. The peak of Disney films were; The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin (originals). It slowly went down hill until it hit rock bottom with last Jedi and rise of skywalker.

[@nilus2k]

I think you always remember the first original Disney animated film you saw in theaters and for me it was Black Cauldron. I was 7 and for years after I thought it was a fever dream of a memory, this weird dark Disney movie. By the late 90s we had the internet and I realized it was real and I remember clearly that it was one of the first movies I put in my cue when I started Netflix(back when it was still dvds by mail)

[@VoidNull9222]

I remember the only reference to the Black Cauldron I ever saw as a kid was a McDonalds happy meal toy. For some reason they made toys of the VHS covers with a little figure of one of the characters. I had no idea what the movie was or who this little dog guy was supposed to be

[@ColeWalker]

I’ve never clicked so faster, I’ve been fascinated with these scenes for quite a long time.

[@Zachafinackus]

Even if the film was troubled and wasn't a total commercial success, it's still one of my favorite animated films. I hold fast that the king is still one of the most terrifying villains in animation.

[@badoocee1967]

AGREED👑❤👑

[@danmulholland1634]

​​@@badoocee1967I hope one day somebody uncovers the original form and it gets out there somehow

[@jonathanwarrdddedcxddeecec4787]

You managing to find so much evidence of what the cut scenes were is beyond incredible considering how tricky it can be to find more than snippets of behind the scene Disney stuff