Disney's The Black Cauldron Could Have Looked A Lot More Like Nightmare Before Christmas
04 -03-2024
Disney's late 1970s was a difficult time. After Walt Disney's death, Disney went through many experiments (not all were successful). The departure of Don Bluth and other animators caused a small crisis at the studio. This was an interesting period for Disney. They released a number of films unlike any they had made previously or since. From the sci-fi thriller "The Black Hole," to the criminally overlooked "The Black Cauldron," this time saw many new and innovative movies.
Based loosely on Lloyd Alexander's first two "Chronicles of Prydain", the film is about a princess and bard who are trying to stop the evil Horned King from using a magical ancient cauldron to take over the world. Disney's darkest animation to date, the Black Cauldron is powered by an evil king who was literally trapped in it and melted. Kids' stuff.
This movie was intended to showcase Disney's new talents, including animators such as John Lasseter and Brad Bird. The studio also reached out to other artists who had no Disney connections to get a fresh perspective. One of these was Frank Frazetta. While that film sounds intriguing, we nearly had a "Black Cauldron", designed by Tim Burton.
Michael Peraza, an animator from Los Angeles, shared his insights on the making of the movie in his blog. He wrote about the early concept artwork that he and Burton created for the film. Peraza said that Tim's concept art was "fresh" and could be compared to a mix of 'Nightmare Before Christmas,' with 'Beetlejuice.' However, both would not become reality for many years under Tim's visionary guidance. Note: Contrary to what it sounds like, Burton didn't direct "The Nightmare Before Christmas"; Henry Selick was the director behind the film.
Justice for the Black Cauldron
Peraza, a rad person with a lot of great ideas, continued: "I did not want to make another Sleeping Beauty-style castle. Instead I designed a one made from human bones and those of other creatures." Did I say that I also wanted to write songs?" Tim and I did not stay for long in terms of the concept but [producer] Joe Hale was always open to trying new things and gave both Tim and me a chance."
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Disney wanted it to be different and new, like "Snow White", but for a younger generation. The movie was a flop, which is not surprising. Hard. Families went into the movie thinking it was another cute animated film from the same studio who had released "The Fox and the Hound" just a few weeks ago. Kids were surprised to find the first PG Disney animated film, which featured a proto Gollum and an army of gruesome, zombies. People also melted. Unfortunately, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the then chairman of Walt Disney Studios and creator of Quibi, cut this scene because he thought that cartoons should not be traumatizing to children.
Katzenberg almost axed the Disney Animation division at this time. But after the failure of "The Black Cauldron", the studio re-focused and we eventually got the Disney Renaissance. The film received a lot of criticism for being unlike other Disney movies. However, some people, like Roger Ebert, praised the movie as a "rip-roaring story of swords, sorcery and evil, revenge and magic, pluck and lucky, and it takes us through a Kingdom of some of Disney's most memorable characters."
The time has come to give this movie the reappraisal it deserves, even though the live-action version is still the best.