I only found out about this movie because of an article on Slate about its troubled production history. I thought it was a great read, with some interesting asides, like how John Lasseter and Tim Burton, both fresh grads, worked on the movie.
If anyone would like to know more about what went wrong, the article is here:
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/dvdextras/2010/10/the_black_cauldro n.single.html
That article is indeed very revealing. The most informative part was the discussion about how Katzenberg's unsympathetic edits butchered the film, especially the cauldron sequence. Even someone who knows nothing about film editing can see, quite plainly, that some shots don't lead into the next, and that significant chunks are missing -- especially in the scene of the Horned King's death.
If there's ever been a film that would benefit from a "director's cut" (that is, with the deleted material restored), this is it. I'm sure that it would flow much more smoothly, and would be considerably more entertaining too.
The article calls for a remake. I'd be content with a restored cut, with the whole missing 10 minutes put back in.
The other flaw that the article mentions is also very true. The Horned King has the second-finest look of any Disney villain, ever (after Chernybog in Fantasia), but the plot should have had him do something, anything, rather than merely giving orders to lackeys. Visually, he was deftly realized; story-wise, he was underused.
Great article indeed. I agree with the author's conclusion. Here's the new link:
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/dvdextras/2010/10/the_black_cauldron.html
Thanks for finding a current link, I've updated the original post.
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