Ok so on September 14th the 25th anniversary edition of Disney's 25th animated feature film The Black Cauldron was released in the US and UK. Now there's something special about this movie that made me desperate to own the DVD (yes Steven and I collect Disney DVDs and own just about all of them but there's something more). I have never seen this movie. Well...now I have but before yesterday it is the one animated Disney film I have never seen-not even a clip, had no idea of the plot or premise. So I went into the movie blind. 
The film is the 2nd film directed by Ted Bergman and Richard Rich (Rich is well known as the man behind those Swan Princess films-possibly the epitome of mediocre animation). The first being Fox and Hound. No other Disney films were directed by the pair, presumably due to the Black Cauldron's not so successful run. It is one of a small number of darker movies using imagery not associated with Disney (One scene cut featured a man being dissolved by mist), especially considering the fact that Disney's great 80's revival came two films after it. The movie has a very Bluth feel to it though by this time he was no longer at Disney you can't shake the feeling that his influence is there, but a Bluth film without Bluth just isn't up to much. A lot of Rich's work has a Bluth feel to it and Rich did work with Bluth while he was still at Disney so I doubt I'd lose a bet if I wagered he influenced the man. The film lacked clean up in some major areas, for instance in a scene toward the end they have to open a gate. Taran, the main character successfully gets the gate open but in the next cut the gate is still very much shut. A lot of the work on Fflewddur is lacking clean up which makes him stand out in a bad way. There are slight inconsistencies that are just enough to make you feel like there's something visually off about the film. It is, however, the first film that Andreas Deja worked on, incidentally the most obnoxious character in the film-Gurgi, but you all know how I feel about furry sidekicks.
As story progression goes the film seems to rush through, not surprising as it's based on a book series so they are trying to get a few novels of info into a mere 80 minutes. They try to hint at a romance between Taran and Eilonwy but they get so little real screen time and she gets so little development the viewer feels just as awkward about it as they appear to. The characters also seem to just roll with the punches, they never seem that afraid when running for their lives, we only see a small moment of traveling in a film that implies quite a journey, and never really get to see bonding between the characters...I suppose we are to just trust it happened during all that walking we didn't get to see.
The credits reveal that the film had many people working on the writing of it, many contributors. This in itself shows us why the film feels so weak. Honestly it's hard to condense a series of books into one film, a short film at that.
While darker films where out and about at the time that this film was conceived the public just wasn't and sad to say never will be willing to accept such a thing from Disney. People have a false image of Disney. If they ever actually sat down and watched a Disney movie, really watched it-especially the older ones- they would find that the sugar coated happy fun clean Disney they picture isn't real. Plenty of Disney films have had dark moments, dark themes, death, and even GASP! sex. These are not films for children, they are simply films. But before I wear myself out preaching about animation simply being one of many formats and having no age setting on it anywhere I will get back to the task at hand- the DVD.
The menues are light and bright, implying none of the actual content of the movie, the cover even removes Taran's sword, which used to be a main focus of art for the film. It's almost like they are trying to trick you into watching this movie. Every person featured on the box is smiling. The quote on the back is even "A Rip-Roaring Tale Of Swords, Sorcery And Magic!" Doesn't this look like fun! Then you sit your 5 year old down and they have nighmares fr a week because you didn't bother to find out about how the titular object is actually made out of an evil being so evil they couldn't be killed so they turned him into a cauldron. Not very well thought out if you ask me....maybe a table....tables can't kill people or create an army of the dead.
Most features are from the 2000 release of the film, though now it is presented in widescreen and has a deleted scene. Though it's more of an alternate version of an existing scene than a deleted scene. There are art galleries which are usually never a disappointment and they even have the development art Tim Burton did, but you can tell right away they didn't use any of it. Though unlike most art galleries on DVD releases they actually have photo galleries from development. It's nice to see the people behind the paper. The menus of the galleries leave much to be desired and feel quite phoned in. Akin to Great Mouse Detective release with the exception that they actually did add one or two features to it, though there is nothing truly special about the special features.
All in all it wasn't ground breaking, but I did enjoy it. You have to give props to a film that's not afraid to be different, and cost alot doing it. Before it's time? After it's time? It seemed to miss the boat on edgey animated films, probably would have done better in the late 70's or just a year or two earlier(but I have the feeling that was the goal and all the rewriting it went through pushed it back). Don't feel too bad though, it has a loyal following.
In the end my verdict is to pick it up if you are a Disney afficianado, but if you're looking for a film for your kids rent it first and watch it on your own. But hey I reccomend that for anything you want to show your kids. It's no power packed DVD but considering the fact that it's a black eye on the company books this is probably the best you'll be getting. 
Of course all it made me want to do is read the books...The Black Cauldron actually got a Newberry...so it seems worth picking up. It is usually true what they say, you know. The book is usually better. Maybe I'll get my character development I always wanted.
I'll let you know
See ya real soon!
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