The Black Cauldron - A mixed bag

Despite growing up in the eighties, I seemed to completely miss Disney's 'The Black Cauldron' at the cinema and, during my numerous trips to Orlando's Disney World, I never really saw much (if any!) evidence that it even existed!  I mention this because I watched it with an adult who DID see it when she was little, therefore she loved it, partly because she saw it through nostalgic eyes, whereas I merely observed it through an adult's cynical viewpoint.

It's set in that well-known Disney cartoon world of magic and princesses and, in this case, apparently the story is based on an old Welsh tale (hence the vague accents which some characters attempt).  A young boy is the custodian of a magic pig (yes, seriously - a swine even more powerful than Wilbur and Charlotte put together!), but this pig is wanted by an evil wizard who wants to use the pig to rule the world (and unleash an army of the undead, but I guess those two things are linked).  So, when 'Babe' is kidnapped by the evil King's dragons and taken to his castle, it's up to our hero (and a couple of random others he picks up along the way) to rescue him.

So, if you're thinking something along the lines of 'that's a lot of detail dedicated to the pig' then you're probably not the only one.  It is a hard rasher to fry (so to speak), but, if you can get over that, it's actually a pretty good little fairytale.  Yes, this means that it does suffer from all the typical fairy-tale tropes, i.e. the hero automatically bumps into a princess in need of a helping hand, a 'comic' sidekick and knowledgeable elderly helper.

The characters are pretty generic, but their voice actors are decent enough to get by the - occasionally - by-the-numbers script and bring it to life enough to overlook any minor lapses.  Nigel Hawthorne and John Hurt are some gravitas to the cast.

I had nothing against any of the characters and was happy to enjoy them all… apart from Gurgi.  There's a reason I placed the word 'comic' in quotes in my previous paragraph when referring to the 'comic' relief.  Gurgi is, er, a thing - a cross between a dog, an Ewok and a Wookie and he is possibly the most annoying animated character ever committed to paint.  When watching him I couldn't get Andy Serkis' CGI interpretation of Gollum in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy out of my head.  Only Gollum was much darker and you could genuinely feel sorry for him, while at the same time being afraid enough of him because you knew he could turn on you at any moment.  Gurgi is just annoying.  Really annoying.  I could say that the story's downfall is it's pacing - it is a bit hit and miss/stop and start, not quite knowing what it wants to be.  However, for me, it's main flaw was simply this annoying little fur-ball.  Yes, he's worse than Snarf from 'Thundercats!'

It's hard to say whether I'd recommend 'The Black Cauldron' for kids.  Yes, of course it's a classic Disney cartoon, however it is rather dark and there are some moments in there that may actually creep out really young children in a way that other similar films like Snow White and Cinderella don't.

However, if you're looking for purely great animation and a decent enough little fairy-tale then this is definitely worth a watch.  Oh, and I should probably mention that this is one of the few Disney cartoons that doesn't feature any music or songs throughout.

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights