What Could Have Been #6: The Black Cauldron

Considering how much little imagination there is little imagination and truly new ideas in Hollywood, it still astounds me that no studio has taken a second crack at this fantasy book series.  Considering that the first time this film was tackled was by a group of untried animators and a bunch of bitter old men not wanting to cling onto change.  Nevertheless, following the sensational string of success of fantasy movies like The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Hunger Games, I still hold a firm belief that The Chronicles of Prydain should get another look at for a theatrical release. 

The basic story of the series follows the exploits of an "Assistant Pig Keeper" named Taran and his friends, a mischievous furball named Gurgi, a plucky and slightly eccentric Princess Eilonwy, the grumpy dwarf named Doli, and the bumbling bard Fflewddur Flam and there perilous quest to defeat the evil demon, Arawn, who has an army of loyal followers and undead zombie men at his disposal.  Along the way, they encounter many dangerous obstacles, including winged vulture like monsters called Gwythaints, greedy and power obsessed Kings of Men, a cruel Sorceress named Achren, ugly hags from the Marshes of Morva, and the demon's lead warmongerer, the Horned King. 

When Disney first tackled this story, there was a great deal of optimism about it.  At the time, The Chronicles of Prydain was one of the most popular fantasy novel series of all time and was basically the Harry Potter of its time.  And considering Disney had failed to bring in the teenage crowd with a string of childish and unimaginative live action movies, this was almost the Holy Grail for Disney.  However, the shadows that hung over Disney in the seventies and eighties hung over the production of this film.  The key to a successful Disney film is loveable and relatable characters and a good story that doesn't have to rely on action.  This film doesn't seem to grasp this, instead going all out into telling a dark and sinister story.  This could have worked, but without any developed characters or a reason to care or worry about what happens in the plot, you get one of the worst interpretations of all time.

Now, almost 30 years afterwards, the film is viewed as a guilty pleasure and a great bore to watch and listen to.  The Black Cauldron was made in the era when Fantasy movies were odd films that lacked any focus or understanding.  Remember guys, this was pre-Fellowship.  The only place where fantasy films worked was animation.  Between 1985 and 2001, the only really good fantasy movies were films like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.  The question should be, what went wrong with this film?

  
 


1. The Characters: Lloyd Alexander develops a menagerie of characters that the reader grows to care about and want to hear and read more about, even beyond the final book.  The key character relationship in the series was between Taran and Eilonwy.  At first, the two view each other as an annoyance and inconvenience and went along on their journey only because they had to.  But by the end of the first book, the two had learned to care about one another, as Eilonwy learned to put up with Taran's arrogance and pride, while Taran learned to put up with the Princess's constant preaching and often annoying attitude.  By the time The Castle of Llyr came along, Taran had realized that he loved Eilonwy and would do everything in his power to see if he was of royal blood so he could marry her.  Eilonwy seemed to have felt the same way as early as The Black Cauldron. 

2. The Plot: The film combines the basic plot of both of the first books into one movie.  That was where the first mistake was made.  I don't remember if the first book even mentioned The Black Cauldron.  Instead, it focused on developing the characters of the world and gave us a strong plot to keep us on the edge of our seats. 

3. It's Disney!!: Remember, this was in the era when Disney made nothing but family friendly films and that's all they were known for.  So tackling a film this dark and brooding was not the best marketing idea.  This film could have been turned into something relatable and in the same veins as The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  But, the film tries to be something that Disney could never become.

Final Conclusion: There is still enough of a fanbase to get a movie going, and the era of big budget fantasy films hasn't ended yet.  Prydain can still get done and brilliantly.  There is just one catch: the "dreammakers" at Disney still own the rights, and we'll probably have as much a chance of this being remade as seeing Song of the South being released to DVD in the US.