Disney’s Worst Fantasy Movie deserves a Remake

By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated 1 hour ago

Disney is working its way through their entire lineup of animated classics, giving us live-action versions Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaidand even Moanabut all those movies were record setting hits. If Disney had any guts, they would go in the opposite direction and create a remake for a living The Black Cauldron. The 1985 film is horrible, but the source material, Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain, is full of untapped potential, and the five book series should have been adapted years ago.

The Chronicles Of Britain

During the 60s, Lloyd Alexander managed to release an entire pentalogy in five years, between The Book of Three in 1964 and The High King in 1968. Joined by The Black Cauldron (1965), The Castle Full (1966), and Thunder Wanderer (1967), the saga tells the story of Taran, the Assistant Pigkeeper in charge of Hen-Wen, a pig who can tell the future, on his journey to save the land from the Dead Lord and his right hand, The Horned king. Because it was written for children, The Chronicles of Prydain is one of the best entry points into high fantasy, which is why it’s a shame that Disney it was butchered so badly.

The Black Cauldron adapts the first two novels, but calling it a loose adaptation is going too far, it’s more like a hatchet job. Although the film features most of the same characters, the frail yet ferocious Eilonwy, the Flame Flame Bard, and Gurgi, the strange monkey-like human/animal hybrid, it also adds in The Horned King, while omitting the novel’s villain, Morgant the Dark Warrior. Worse is the ending, which avoids the novel’s theme of sacrifice for a more encouraging victory.

The Movie That Almost Killed Disney

Despite the change from the novel, The Black Cauldron considered too dark for a children’s film, especially one animated by Disney. Disney’s first PG cartoon and the first to feature CGI, it was also the most expensive animated film ever made, at $44 million. Of course, it was also a failure at the box office, losing the company so much money that it almost destroyed Disney.ore The Little Mermaid start the Disney Renaissance and save the company.

Ambitious but flawed, The Black Cauldron it may have failed as a film, but Lloyd Alexander’s wealth of world-building manages to peak around the edges. If every book was adapted as a live-action film, then Taran’s progress would be a success, from exploring the world in The Book of Three to explore his past in Thunder Wandererthe making of the next great fantasy franchise is there. And yet, following Disney’s failure, no one has touched the property for almost 40 years.

That’s not fair, especially not in a world with multiple adaptations of The Chronicles of Narniaanother Hollywood series can never get it right, so why not give The Chronicles of Britain a second chance? No one ever asked for a Lion King prequel about Mufasa or live action Moanabut a new all-ages fantasy franchise bringing some of the most underrated novels to life, why not? The Black Cauldron is a historical failure, but The Chronicles of Prydain is a hit waiting to be discovered.