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The Black Cauldron

The Black Cauldron

Animation · Adventure · Family · 1985

Taran is an assistant pigkeeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracular pig named Hen Wen, is kidnapped by an evil lord known as the Horned King. The villain hopes Hen will show him the way to The Black Cauldron, which has the power to create a giant army of unstoppable soldiers.

Movie details

The Black Cauldron

“Hidden by darkness. Guarded by witches. Discovered by a boy. Stolen by a king. Whoever owns it will rule the world. Or destroy it.”

1985 Animation · Adventure · Family 1h 20m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

Taran is an assistant pigkeeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracular pig named Hen Wen, is kidnapped by an evil lord known as the Horned King. The villain hopes Hen will show him the way to The Black Cauldron, which has the power to create a giant army of unstoppable soldiers.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Black Cauldron?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ted Berman · Richard Rich

Written by

Peter Young · David Jonas · Al Wilson · Vance Gerry

G

Grant Bardsley

Taran (voice)

Susan Sheridan

Susan Sheridan

Eilonwy (voice)

John Byner

John Byner

Gurgi / Doli (voice)

Nigel Hawthorne

Nigel Hawthorne

Fflewddur Fflam (voice)

John Hurt

John Hurt

The Horned King (voice)

Freddie Jones

Freddie Jones

Dallben (voice)

Phil Fondacaro

Phil Fondacaro

Creeper / Henchman (voice)

Court is in session

Put The Black Cauldron on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.