Disney's The Black Cauldron Could Have Looked A Lot More Like Nightmare Before Christmas
The late '70s were a dark time for Disney. Following the death of Walt Disney, the studio went through much experimentation (not all of which was successful), and the departure of animator Don Bluth and several other animators led to a mini-crisis at the studio. Still, this was a very interesting time for Disney, which released many movies unlike anything they'd made before or since, from the sci-fi adventure "The Black Hole" to the criminally underrated "The Black Cauldron."
Loosely based on the first two books in Lloyd Alexander's "The Chronicles of Prydain" series, the film follows a bard and a princess who try to destroy a powerful and ancient magical cauldron before the wicked Horned King uses it to rule the world. This is by far the darkest animated movie Disney has made, one that starts with an explanation that the Black Cauldron's power comes from an evil king that was literally melted alive inside of it, trapping his evil spirit within. You know, kids' stuff.
The movie was meant to be a showcase for Disney's emerging new talent, with animators like John Lasseter, Brad Bird, John Musker, and Ron Clements. What's more, the studio initially reached out to artists with no Disney connection to provide a different perspective, like Frank Frazetta. And while that movie sounds interesting, it turns out we almost had a version of "The Black Cauldron" designed by one Tim Burton.
Animator Michael Peraza shared some insight from the development of the movie on his blog, writing about his and Burton's work in doing early concept art for the film. "Tim's work was fresh and resembled what could best be described as 'Beetlejuice' meets 'Nightmare Before Christmas' although both wouldn't become reality until much later under Tim's visionary direction," Peraza wrote. (Note: despite the way that sounds, Burton did not direct "The Nightmare Before Christmas;" Henry Selick is the filmmaker behind that picture).
Justice for The Black Cauldron
"I didn't want to create another 'Sleeping Beauty' style castle but instead designed one constructed from human skeletons and other creature's bones," Peraza continued, instantly proving to be one rad human being with great ideas. "Did I mention that I was also pushing for songs? Tim and I didn't stay long as far as doing the concepts but to [producer] Joe Hale's ever-lasting credit, at least he was open to new approaches and gave us both a shot."
Indeed, Disney wanted this to be something new and fresh, like a "Snow White" for a new generation. Unfortunately, but not very surprisingly, the movie flopped. Hard. After all, families went in thinking this was another fun animated movie from the studio that had just recently released the cute "The Fox and the Hound." Instead, kids encountered the first PG-rated Disney animated movie, one starring a proto-Gollum, an army of gruesome zombies, and people melting to death. Sadly, this last scene got cut by then-chairman of Walt Disney Studios, Jeffrey "I created Quibi" Katzenberg because he cowardly decided kids shouldn't be traumatized by cartoons.
Katzenberg also almost scrapped the entire Disney animation division around this time, but from the failure of "The Black Cauldron" the studio pivoted and eventually we got the Disney Renaissance. And despite most criticism being that the film was unlike any other Disney movie, there were some fans — like Roger Ebert who praised it as "a rip-roaring tale of swords and sorcery, evil and revenge, magic and pluck and luck ... And it takes us on a journey through a kingdom of some of the more memorable characters in any recent Disney film."
It is time to reappraise this gem of a movie, and finally give the books the adaptation they deserve, even if it is in live-action.