What Is The Black Cauldron?
The Black Cauldron is a troubled film - a dark animation aimed at both children and adults - based on a series of novels published in the 1960s.
Released in 1985, it was the product of five years' production: animated, but then re-edited, scenes cut after screen test, for being too intense or too dark for children. It would fail at the box office - earning just less than half its budget - suffering from the fate of many films attempting a multi-generational appeal: differences in artistic direction from the direction and the studio (allegedly, Jeffrey Katzenberg, then the studio chairman at Disney, personally had the film brought into an editing booth to cut it up himself: compromising only when restrained by CEO Michael Eisner at the entreaty of producer Joe Hale). It would be Disney's first PG-rated film - securing its point in history, at least, without regard to the impact this rating potentially had on its reception.
Since then, it has developed a cult following - many of whom are among those who enjoy fantasy adventure gaming - but remains in contention as to its quality: hovering at about 50% on Rotten Tomatoes' combined metrics.
What's to Like?
First and foremost - I enjoyed tremendously the quality of the animation on the film. It is the first Disney animated film to leverage CGI - most notably for the cauldron, itself, in addition to other less notable effects - but the process, itself, leveraged for the film was more traditional: first, with a novel process invented by David Spencer known as the "animation photo transfer". Spencer would win an award, the Academy Award for Technical Achievement, in 1985 following the release of the film for this process - and well earned: the film makes beautiful contrast between warm and cool - light and dark - to set a tone and visually draw in the viewer. The color green - simply - a single color - is put to use in both positive and negative contexts. When still on the farm, vibrant, bright greens are used to convey life, growth, and instill comfort; when in proximity to the Horned King or the magic of the Cauldron, on the other hand, semi-transparent, darker greens convey a sense of sickness, of decay and death - the tunic of the primary protagonist, Taran, is green: which, depending on light and shadow, ties him directly to the mood of the scene.
Movements are fluid, production value is apparent (that is, you rarely if ever can predict, "Oh, this door is going to open" due to an inconsistency in color - as is common for budgetary reasons in many hand-animated films) - the natural feels natural; the fey feels fey. The Black Cauldron is a thrill to watch, if only for the esthetics it presents.
There are obvious gaming elements. One - overland travel: we see the protagonist, Taran, and his companions adventure across several different biomes overland, each matching the purpose of the location being sought in said overland wilderness; two - dungeon delving: there are several "adventure sites" which the characters have to navigate (one of which being a literal dungeon) - including tricks, traps, monsters (both friendly and unfriendly - reaction roll, baby!) and shifting maps in one case, resulting from falling masonry; but where the movie truly shines - from my perspective - as a gaming resource is in its villains. The villains of the film are a step above most media.
The Horned King.
He is an undead wizard - a lich no doubt - who lives in a tower, commands an army of bandits and brigands, as well as monsters - dragon-like Cliff Racer things to spy and steal for him, then a goblin lieutenant - and then in realizing his goals (spoiler alert) he commands an army of the dead, itself, with aims of conquest and power. He poses a threat at all level ranges: brigands at the low level, undead and dragons at mid level, and himself as a "final boss" at a high level. An entire campaign can be based around this guy.
Further, the witches.
Again - spoiler alert - the party, in seeking the Cauldron, finds it guarded by a set of hags. While this could have been resolved with more sneaking or thievery - instead, the witches offer to bargain. Taran being young and naive, they are seeking to manipulate him into giving up something pure and valuable in exchange for something that will curse him, that he won't be able to use or affect: in perfect character of a coven hidden out in the woods!
The source material draws deeply on Welsh mythology - which, knowing that the original experience designed for TSR Dungeons & Dragons was highly inspired by western Medieval Europe - the mythos and vibe from The Black Cauldron aligns very smoothly with concepts and direction for the default assumed setting.
To Be Aware Of
I personally did not find the film dark or disturbing.
I watched it with a 2 year old.
The two year old did not find the film dark or disturbing.
Said two year old, now almost four, has a strange, inexplicable fascination with skeletons now: which may have something to do with having watched this movie with me... but let's not dwell on that too deeply.
The point I would like to leave with the reader - for anyone considering watching this film - be aware: it is a children's movie. It is not a Conan, it is not even a Pirates of Dark Water: this film was clearly and intentionally aimed at a younger demographic, something that is evident in several elements of both the cast of characters and the story itself. For example - the Fair Folk, a very Medieval interpretation of elves, D&D pixies: their interactions are comic relief, even if their magic and contribution is marked. Further, a character - Gurgi - is introduced: an energetic creature that looks like a sloth on fast forward. He annoys me - but he goes through a redemption arc: both as a friend to the party and as an individual struggling with self-doubt - speaking in a funny voice which will appeal to children.
So if these don't bother you - you'll be fine; if you walk into the film knowing about them - you'll be fine. The other aspects of the movie, as pertaining to inspiring your OSR tabletop game, are abundantly manifest. But it is something that I would, as a reviewer, be failing in my responsibility were I not to mention.
Where to Watch
For Further Interest
The film being based on the first two books in the series,
The Chronicles of Prydain
by Lloyd Alexander, it might be worthwhile to
- for those who enjoyed the world and characters, to pursue the boxed set -
which includes five novels:
- The Book of Three
- The Black Cauldron
- The Castle of Llyr
- Taran Wanderer
- The High King
Alternatively, one might pursue one at a time to control costs, but as of this writing, the entire collection of five is available together for $20 or less, the book still being in print to date - which puts the risk of cost escalation a bit into the "moot point" category.
Of the movie, the author had the following to say in an interview with Scholastic in 1999:
First, I have to say, there is no resemblance between the movie and the book. Having said that, the movie in itself, purely as a movie, I found to be very enjoyable. I had fun watching it. What I would hope is that anyone who sees the movie would certainly enjoy it, but I'd also hope that they'd actually read the book. The book is quite different. It's a very powerful, very moving story, and I think people would find a lot more depth in the book.
...which, suffice to say, may be sufficient to pique curiosity, if nothing else. I have not read the books - and thereby I cannot pass judgement on them.
Conclusion
The Black Cauldron belongs among the Appendix N suggestions of the Basic / Expert set. It is perfectly suited for adventure, well versed in mythology found in OSR / TSR modular product and the collective consciousness, it contains multiple elements of the game as experienced and played, and it is age appropriate for the target demographic of the original B/X. That is not to say B/X can't be loved by adults - but that had Appendix N been expanding to include film at the time when the Red Box came out, it would have benefitted by including The Black Cauldron in its suggestions - as the movie is great to spur the imagination of an aspiring 10 year old Dungeon Master.
For that reason, I rate The Black Cauldron 1: Definitively OSR.
While its target audience is young, yet the game, itself, can be appreciated by young and old, this does not disqualify it as inspirational material: nor does it take away from the fundamental fantasy adventure that makes up the foundation of The Black Cauldron's screenplay. With a runtime of 80 minutes, honestly, you don't have much to lose - even though, if my own viewer's senses are to be trusted, you have a fair bit to gain.
Thanks for reading - delve on!
The Black Cauldron was released in 1985, distributed by Buena Vista Distribution, Burbank, California, and produced by the Walt Disney Company, now Walt Disney Animation Studios, Burbank, California. All stills taken from the film are copyrighted property of Walt Disney Studios. Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, all imagery, references, or trademarked terminology - e.g. "Dungeon Master" - thereto related are property of Wizards of the Coast.
Clerics Wear Ringmail makes no claim of ownership of any sort to any of the aforementioned media, text, or images and includes references to or facsimiles of them for review purposes under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107: Fair Use.
The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.
