50 Fun Facts About The Black Cauldron

In what year was The Black Cauldron released?

It had been scheduled for Christmas 1984 until a disastrous test screening forced cuts and a delay.

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

Lloyd Alexander's five-volume series began with The Book of Three in 1964.

Who wrote the novels the film is based on?

He said there was 'no resemblance between the movie and the book' but admitted he found the film enjoyable.

What is Taran's humble job at the start of the film?

He dreams of becoming a famous warrior while tending the oracular pig Hen Wen.

What is the name of the oracular pig the Horned King wants to capture?

Her visions can reveal the location of the cauldron, which is why Dallben sends her away for safety.

What are the Horned King's undead warriors called?

Scenes of them mauling henchmen were cut after the test screening, leaving audible jumps in the soundtrack.

What are the Gwythaints?

They snatch Hen Wen early in the film, sending Taran off to the Horned King's castle.

Who frees Taran from the Horned King's dungeon?

Her design was drawn to resemble Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

What instrument does the bard Fflewddur Fflam play?

Nigel Hawthorne, Sir Humphrey of Yes Minister, voiced the bumbling bard.

Who jumps into the cauldron to stop the undead army?

Taran intends to sacrifice himself, but the once-cowardly creature beats him to it and is later revived by the witches.

Where do the three witches who hold the cauldron live?

Orddu, Orgoch and Orwen trade the cauldron for Taran's magic sword.

Which witch has a fixation on Fflewddur?

Orddu leads the trio, Orgoch is the greedy one, and Orwen the benevolent one.

Who voices the Horned King?

The New York Times singled out his performance; John Huston narrates the prologue.

Which legendary director narrates the film's prologue?

He was 78 at the time and died two years later.

Which impressionist voices both Gurgi and Doli?

He added a 'child's inflection' after seeing the concept art for Gurgi.

Which M*A*S*H actor auditioned for Gurgi and was thrown out after three hours?

He refused to leave while the directors grew frustrated with his endless vocal variations.

Which former Disney child star was considered for the voice of Eilonwy in 1981?

The role went to Susan Sheridan, who recorded it on three trips to the studio.

Who plays Creeper, the Horned King's goblin assistant?

Creeper later cameos in Tokyo Disneyland's Cinderella Castle show among other Disney villains.

What was the film the first Disney animated feature to receive?

Producer Joe Hale said the studio wanted something that would attract teenagers rather than small children.

Which newly appointed studio chairman ordered scenes cut after the test screening?

He started editing the film himself until Eisner phoned the edit bay and talked him out of it.

By roughly how many minutes was the film ultimately cut?

Existing scenes had to be rewritten and reanimated for continuity.

Who phoned the editing room and convinced Katzenberg to stop cutting the film himself?

Katzenberg agreed but still pushed the release from Christmas 1984 to July 1985.

In which year did Disney first acquire the film rights to the books?

The series had been optioned in 1971; actual production did not begin until 1980.

Which future director of The Little Mermaid was the film's initial director?

His comedic ideas for the first act were rejected, and he and Clements left to develop The Great Mouse Detective.

Whose character artwork did producer Joe Hale discard?

Hale and the directors wanted a Sleeping Beauty-style look instead.

Which retired member of the Nine Old Men returned to design the principal characters?

He redesigned Taran, Eilonwy and Fflewddur Fflam.

How had storyboard artist Vance Gerry first drawn the Horned King?

Joe Hale rejected it in favour of the thin, hooded figure with glowing red eyes.

The film was the first Disney feature to use what in its animation?

The CGI covered bubbles, a boat, a floating orb of light and the cauldron itself.

Which later Disney film's crew actually did its computer graphics first?

Producer Joe Hale borrowed that crew to create some CGI for his own film.

What was the APT process, first used on the film, designed to replace?

Inventor David W. Spencer won a technical Academy Award for it, but CAPS soon made it obsolete.

What did animator Don Paul film to create the cauldron's steam and smoke?

Live-action footage was combined with the hand-drawn effects.

Who composed the film's score?

Much of it was cut in last-minute revisions; he re-recorded a version with the Utah Symphony for the album.

Which unusual electronic instrument did Bernstein use to build the dark mood?

He had used it on Trading Places and Ghostbusters too.

What is unusual about the soundtrack compared with other Disney animations of its era?

There is only a score; Bernstein conducted it himself.

In which widescreen format was it presented, a Disney first since Sleeping Beauty?

It also carried Dolby Stereo 70mm six-track surround sound.

Which Donald Duck short accompanied the film on its original release?

The 2000 DVD paired it instead with the 1952 Donald short Trick or Treat.

Under what title was the film rereleased in some markets in 1990?

It was never given the usual seven-year theatrical reissue that other Disney classics got.

What did production manager Don Hahn say the film really cost to make?

Disney officially budgeted it at $25 million; either way it was the most expensive animated film yet.

Roughly how much did the film gross domestically?

The flop earned it the nickname 'the film that almost killed Disney'.

Which cheaply made animated rival outgrossed it in 1985?

A rerelease of Disney's own One Hundred and One Dalmatians beat it too.

In which country was the film a notable success, ranking fifth for the year in admissions?

It sold 3,074,481 tickets there.

How many years after release did the film first reach US home video?

The 1998 VHS came in the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection; the UK got it a year earlier.

Which critic gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, praising the Horned King and Gurgi?

He called it 'a rip-roaring tale of swords and sorcery'.

What was a Walt Disney World eatery renamed in 1986 in the film's honour?

It closed in 1993 and is now The Friar's Nook.

In which Tokyo Disneyland walk-through attraction did the Horned King appear until 2006?

Creeper cameoed in the tie-in castle show alongside Maleficent.

Which Sierra On-Line designer, later of Leisure Suit Larry, made the 1986 video game?

It resembled the first King's Quest and is one of very few Sierra adventures based on a film.

In Once Upon a Halloween, the cauldron belongs to which Disney villain?

The direct-to-video compilation shows several scenes from the film as flashbacks.

After the film, Disney's animation department moved from Burbank to which nearby city?

The move to the Air Way facility came in December 1984; animation returned to Burbank in the mid-1990s.

What did Disney announce in 2016 regarding the Prydain books?

No director, producer or writer was attached and nothing further has been reported.

Who directed The Black Cauldron?

The pair had previously co-directed The Fox and the Hound.