45 Fun Facts About The Black Cauldron

Which month-old comedy out-earned The Black Cauldron on its opening weekend?

Back to the Future was a month into its run when The Black Cauldron opened in fourth place in July 1985; cuts ordered by a new studio chairman had delayed the Disney film from Christmas 1984.

The Black Cauldron is based on the first two books of which fantasy series?

The Chronicles of Prydain was optioned by Disney in 1971 and used to attract young animators, who hoped the adaptation would be their generation's Snow White.

Who wrote the novels that The Black Cauldron is based on?

Lloyd Alexander said there was 'no resemblance between the movie and the book', yet admitted that, taken purely as a movie, he found it very enjoyable.

What is Taran's humble job at the start of The Black Cauldron?

Assistant pig-keeper Taran dreams of being a famous warrior, but his first real mission is simply to hide his master's pig, and he loses her almost at once.

In The Black Cauldron, what is the name of the oracular pig the Horned King wants to capture?

Hen Wen's visions could show the villain where the cauldron lies, which is why her owner sends her into hiding at the start of the story.

In The Black Cauldron, what are the Horned King's undead warriors called?

The Cauldron-Born are dead soldiers revived by the cauldron's magic; much of their big scene was cut before release for being too gruesome, leaving the sequence noticeably choppy.

In The Black Cauldron, what are the Gwythaints?

Wyvern-like flying creatures called Gwythaints hunt for the Horned King; they snatch the pig early on, which is what sends Taran to the villain's castle.

In The Black Cauldron, who frees Taran from the Horned King's dungeon?

Princess Eilonwy is another of the Horned King's captives; she finds her way into Taran's cell and leads him out through the catacombs beneath the castle.

In The Black Cauldron, what happens to Fflewddur Fflam's instrument whenever he tells a lie?

It snaps a string each time the boastful bard stretches the truth, a trick taken straight from the novels, where his enchanted harp keeps him honest in the same way.

Who jumps into the Black Cauldron to stop the Horned King's undead army?

Gurgi, who had run from every earlier danger, leaps in before Taran can; the witches later bring him back to life in exchange for the cauldron.

In The Black Cauldron, where do the three witches who guard the cauldron live?

The Marshes of Morva are home to Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch, who wait until their bargain is struck before revealing that the cauldron can never be destroyed.

In The Black Cauldron, the witch Orwen takes a fancy to which character?

Fflewddur Fflam has reason to be grateful: her sisters like turning visitors into frogs, and the smitten Orwen is the one who protects the bard.

Who voices the Horned King in The Black Cauldron?

John Hurt voices a villain the film-makers promoted: in the novels the Horned King is only a minor figure, but producer Joe Hale expanded him into the story's chief menace.

Which legendary film director narrates the prologue of The Black Cauldron?

John Huston's prologue tells of a king so evil that he was thrown alive into molten iron, where his spirit was trapped in the shape of a great black cauldron.

Which bad-tempered fairy does John Byner voice in The Black Cauldron?

Doli is the fairy king's grumbling right-hand man, given the job of guiding Taran's party to the witches who hold the cauldron.

Which former Disney child star was lined up in 1981 to voice Eilonwy in The Black Cauldron?

Hayley Mills announced on a 1981 Disney television special that she would play the princess, but the part went to British voice actress Susan Sheridan.

In The Black Cauldron, what is the name of the Horned King's cringing goblin sidekick?

Creeper lives in such fear of his master that even his boasts get corrected mid-sentence: 'We're celebrating our success! I mean, your success!'

The Black Cauldron was the first Disney animated feature to receive what?

A PG rating was no accident: producer Joe Hale said Disney's films were not reaching teenagers, so the studio set out to make a darker picture for an older audience.

Which newly appointed studio chairman ordered scenes cut from The Black Cauldron before its release?

Jeffrey Katzenberg, used to live-action films, asked for the outtakes; told that animation has none, he went into the editing room and began cutting the film himself.

John Musker, pushed off The Black Cauldron, later co-directed which Disney hit?

The Little Mermaid was made with Ron Clements, the partner Musker found when their ideas for The Black Cauldron were rejected and the two were exiled together.

Whose character artwork for The Black Cauldron did producer Joe Hale throw out?

Tim Burton's sketches, among them a flock of flying hands with eyeballs between the knuckles, were too odd for a producer who wanted the film in the classic Disney house style.

Which retired member of Disney's Nine Old Men returned to design the main characters of The Black Cauldron?

Milt Kahl came out of retirement to draw the young heroes, and is said to have complained afterwards that the studio no longer had animators able to do his designs justice.

In The Black Cauldron, what glowing object floats along beside the princess?

A magic bauble, a glowing ball that floats beside her under its own power, was a Disney touch: in the novels the princess has to carry her golden light by hand.

The Black Cauldron was the first Disney animated feature to use what?

Computer-generated imagery moved solid objects such as a boat and the cauldron itself, but only as outlines that were printed out and finished by hand like any other drawing.

Banished from The Black Cauldron, Clements and Musker made which Disney film instead?

The Great Mouse Detective became the refuge for animators who disliked where the bigger film was heading, and it gave the two exiles their first directing credit.

What did Disney's David Spencer win for the photo-transfer process first used to make cels on The Black Cauldron?

A technical Academy Award went to Spencer in 1986 for the process, which copied drawings onto cels photographically, though digital ink and paint soon made it obsolete.

What did effects animator Don Paul film to create the Black Cauldron's steam and smoke?

Dry ice mists were shot in live action and placed straight into the picture for dramatic impact, mixing real vapour with the hand-drawn effects around it.

Who composed the score for The Black Cauldron?

Elmer Bernstein saw much of his music cut in the last-minute re-edit, so he re-recorded the score with the Utah Symphony Orchestra for the soundtrack album.

Which unusual electronic instrument gives The Black Cauldron's score its eerie mood?

The ondes Martenot, a French keyboard that makes wavering, theremin-like tones, was a favourite of the film's composer, who had used it in Ghostbusters the year before.

What sets The Black Cauldron's soundtrack apart from other Disney animated films of its era?

It has no musical numbers because Disney wanted a darker fantasy that would draw older audiences, so nobody sings and the music is orchestral score throughout.

In which widescreen format was The Black Cauldron presented, a Disney first since Sleeping Beauty?

Super Technirama 70 had last served Disney's animators in 1959; reviving the giant 70mm format was meant to make the film an event, but it proved cumbersome to work in.

In The Black Cauldron, what does Taran hand over to the witches in exchange for the cauldron?

His magic sword had just made him feel like the warrior he longed to be, which is why the trade stings: he calls it his dearest possession as he gives it up.

Under what new title was The Black Cauldron re-released in some markets in 1990?

Taran and the Magic Cauldron was used for a limited reissue; after its failure the film never got the regular seven-year re-release that Disney's other animated classics enjoyed.

Which documentary revealed that The Black Cauldron really cost $44 million?

Waking Sleeping Beauty was directed by Don Hahn, The Black Cauldron's own production manager, who put the true cost far above the $25 million Disney had announced.

Which Disney classic's 1985 reissue out-earned The Black Cauldron?

One Hundred and One Dalmatians, by then 24 years old, took over $30 million on its Christmas re-release, so Disney's own back catalogue beat the most expensive animated film yet made.

Which cheaply made animated rival out-grossed The Black Cauldron in 1985?

The Care Bears Movie took about $23 million to The Black Cauldron's $21 million, a defeat that put the future of Disney's animation department in doubt.

Which enchanter is Taran's guardian at the start of The Black Cauldron?

Dallben learns in a vision that the Horned King is hunting the cauldron, and his order sending Taran away into hiding is what sets the whole quest in motion.

Which release of The Black Cauldron did Disney hold back for over a decade?

A home video edition reached America only in 1998, thirteen years after the cinema run: after the flop, Disney chose to keep the film locked in its vault.

Which critic gave The Black Cauldron three and a half stars out of four?

Roger Ebert called it 'a rip-roaring tale of swords and sorcery', a warmer verdict than most critics gave a film often praised for its looks but faulted for its story.

Which name did a Magic Kingdom eatery take in 1986 as a tie-in to The Black Cauldron?

Gurgi's Munchies and Crunchies, named after the ever-hungry creature's pleas for food, replaced the Lancer's Inn in Fantasyland and kept the name until 1993.

In which Tokyo Disneyland walk-through attraction did The Black Cauldron's Horned King appear until 2006?

Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour ended in the cauldron's chamber, where one guest, often a child, was chosen as the group's hero and sent to defeat the Horned King.

In the 2005 video Once Upon a Halloween, the Black Cauldron belongs to which Disney villain?

The Evil Queen from Snow White asks the cauldron to show her other villains who might help her take over Halloween, replaying scenes from older films as it does.

After The Black Cauldron, Disney's animation department was moved out of Burbank to which nearby city?

Glendale's warehouses became the animators' home when the new management wanted their Burbank building for live-action offices and set about making animated features faster and cheaper.

In 2016, three decades after The Black Cauldron flopped, what did Disney begin developing?

A new film of the books went into early development after Disney bought the movie rights again, with no producer, director or writer yet attached.

Who directed The Black Cauldron?

Ted Berman and Richard Rich came to the film straight from The Fox and the Hound, taking over a project whose first choice of director had been pushed aside.