My Review - The Black Cauldron

Hello Everyone,
Here is my review for the film.

"My Personal Favorite Disney Film"

When I heard the bad reviews about the film, I thought I should skip it. But later, I decided to watch it, because some people liked it a lot.

After I watched the film, it ended up becoming my favorite Disney film. We all know that this was a very different Disney film, because it has a serious touch to it.

I can see when people say the film is too slow. I thought the first 15 minutes was slow. I did find the characters interesting. I also can see why people see Taran annoying. But I liked Taran, because he is a bored innocent kid whose strong attachment towards the dream of becoming a warrior. But unlike other Disney heroes, there is one thing that is missing in Taran in the "beginning" of the film - the lack of experience. Let me take Disney hero - Aladdin. In the beginning of the film "Aladdin", Aladdin is an expert thief who has great deal of experience in stealing food and escaping the soldiers.

But with Taran, he wants to fight in the war. But due to his lack of experience, he doesn't realize the seriousness of war. This can be seen when Dallben says to Taran "War isn't a game. People get hurt." And we immediately see Taran getting hurt, because of the hot pot.

But he stayed with his dream of becoming a warrior. We see him dreaming about becoming a warrior by looking into the river. I feel that he has an ego inside him due to his dream of becoming a warrior. But not in a harmful way. I liked Taran, because I myself can connect to him. I was a bored kid who had lots of dreams about my future. I remember not taking certain things seriously when I was young. Through my experiences in my later years, I began to take them seriously.

Back to the subject. After that, his pig gets captured by dragon birds and the story becomes very serious. Through his journey, he meets Gurgi, a princess named Eilonwy, and FFlewddur.

I found the relationship between Taran and Eilonwy interesting. After the escape from Horned King's castle, Taran tries to take the complete credit for the escape. Eilonwy points out the importance of her role in escaping the castle. Taran and Eilonwy quarrel and leave in 2 separate ways. Later, Taran comes and expresses his gratitude towards Eilonwy for getting out of the dungeon. I think this was the first step towards his character development. After they get into the kingdom under water, Taran decided to go to Molva to find Black Cauldron so that he can stop the king. Taran requests Eilonwy to come with him. This was a "small" scene. But it is very important, because Taran now acknowledges the importance of Eilonwy's presence with him. He is more matured now.

Later, Eilonwy supports Taran when his confidence becomes low. We see the beginning of their romance. This is very different from Disney, because hero and heroine falls in love the moment they see each other. Snow White & Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, etc. are great examples. But in this film, it takes time.

I like Gurgi. His voice kinda reminds me of the voice of Donald Duck. Gurgi immediately escapes whenever he sees trouble. But in time, he begins to acknowledge the value of the friendship and tries to help the ones he cares. In the end, we can see the loneliness of Gurgi when he says he has no friends. He dies for the ones he deeply cares. Through a "small" character like Gurgi, Taran begins to realize the value of friendship.

In the end, Taran could have taken his sword instead of Gurgi. But he didn't, because he understands the value of true friendship and he also understands that there is far more greater things in life than just becoming a warrior and a hero. He learned this through his experiences.

All ambitions we see in Taran in the beginning of the film are gone by the end. He isn't disappointed by it, because he is completely happy and completely satisfied with what he has now.

I thought John Hurt did a great job playing Horned King. I thought Horned King was a terrifying villain. I loved the animation in the film especially with the scene where Dragon birds take the pig in the beginning of the film. I think its the small details in The Black Cauldron that makes the film great. For Example, the relationship between Taran and Eilonwy. The small scenes that develops into their romance with the help of Gurgi at the end of the film. The relationship isn't elaborated like other Disney films. I think this helps the audience to analyze their relationship.

In the beginning, Taran had nothing but dissatisfaction. But in the end, he has nothing but satisfaction. In the end, he has friends like Gurgi and Fflewdder. And finally, there is Princess Eilonwy to love him.

My request is always give another chance to this film especially because of the effort they put into this film. You may have been dissatisfied with the film when you first saw it. But I think repeated viewings can fill you with nothing but satisfaction. 10 out of 10.