Line #20 Trivia/TheBlackCauldron


1	* BoxOfficeBomb: The film only returned 85% of its $25 million budget. It remains one of Disney's poorest-performing theatrical releases. Adding insult to injury, it was also outgrossed by ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie'', which had been in theaters for three fewer months, and had cost just ''$2 million'' to produce.
2	* BuryYourArt: Due to how poorly the film did, Disney has gone to great lengths to disassociate themselves from the film. For example:
3	** Disney opened a ''Black Cauldron''-themed restaurant, called "Gurgi's Munchies and Crunchies", at Disney World in anticipation of the film's release. Once the film bombed, they closed this restaurant down and later remodeled it into a ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' themed establishment (which since has been replaced with a ''[[WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973 Robin Hood]]'' establishment).
4	** Because this movie was both atypical and unpopular, it wasn't released domestically on home video until 1998, 13 years after its theatrical run. It also didn't come to Blu-ray until it received a Disney Movie Club-exclusive disc in 2021, marking the last of Canon's post-Walt traditionally-animated movies to reach the format.
5	** The Horned King occasionally makes appearances such as in ''VideoGame/DisneyHeroesBattleMode'' and ''WesternAnimation/ChibiTinyTales'', and all the characters were featured in the company’s MassiveMultiplayerCrossover for the 100th anniversary, ''WesternAnimation/OnceUponAStudio''. At the same time, however, it was one of the films excluded from the credits of ''WesternAnimation/Wish2023'' (the MilestoneCelebration feature for the centennial), making it unclear how Disney feels about the movie.
6	* CompletelyDifferentTitle: ''Taran and the Magic Cauldron'' in France, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium.
7	* CreatorKiller:
8	** The failure to get the film out in any reasonable amount of time helped bring down Ron Miller's regime at Disney, and its financial failure ensured that he would never work in Hollywood again. He founded the Silverado winery and moved into that business instead.
9	** Co-directors Ted Berman and Creator/RichardRich and producer Joe Hale were fired from Disney in the wake of the film's release [[note]]-- Berman had technically retired, but Hale and Rich also allegedly took an antagonistic attitude towards both Jeffrey Katzenberg and deputy Peter Schneider, which was the other half of why they got the ax --[[/note]]; Berman and Hale never worked in animation again. Rich ended up being recruited by UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} entrepreneurs to produce videos based on Literature/TheBible and American History, leading to the creation of a new animation studio. Rich is still working, but his career is now built on low-budget, direct-to-video franchises based on ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'' and ''WesternAnimation/AlphaAndOmega'', the only two (minor) successes he has had post-Disney.
10	** It was very nearly the death of ''Disney itself''. But its spectacular failure, as well as the growing amount of competition, led to Disney making some changes, and ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid\|1989}}'', released a few years later, is generally considered to be the start of their Renaissance Age.
11	* DawsonCasting: Despite Eilonwy being a teenager and presumably around the same age as Taran, Susan Sheridan was 34 when she recorded the voice - a full 20 years older than Taran's actor, Grant Bardsley.
12	* DisownedAdaptation: Well, the author of the original novels, Creator/LloydAlexander, didn't really consider the movie an adaptation. Surprisingly, he actually ''liked'' the film anyway, mostly because he felt it had so little to do with his work.
13	* DuelingWorks: This movie, ''Film/{{Legend\|1985}}'', and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' all feature the same three main characters: a young man in green clothes with a magic sword, a beautiful princess, and a fearsome demon-king. All three came out within a year of each other, meaning that all three were in development at the same time, and couldn't have influenced each other's development. One can only imagine Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s, Creator/{{Disney}}'s, and Creator/RidleyScott's reactions when they discovered what the other two had done.
14	* ExecutiveMeddling:
15	** It jumps straight into a very loose adaption of the second story of ''The Chronicles of Prydain''. Which in of itself is a [[NonLinearSequel very, very dangerous move]].
16	** After watching a test screening, the then-newly appointed studio head, Jeffrey Katzenberg, wanted to cut out the less family-friendly parts of the film and parts that he felt were unnecessary. The animation team explained that animated footage isn't typically edited like live-action and refused to make the necessary changes. Katzenberg personally tried to edit the film before then-CEO Michael Eisner got him to back off. A compromise was eventually reached to cut out 12 minutes.
17	** The film's creation was a result of this. Originally, the animators wanted to work on an adaptation of [[Creator/MaryStewart Mary Stewart's]] ''The Little Broomstick''. However, the higher-ups wanted a more ambitious project. Thus, ''The Black Cauldron'' was the end result.
18	* FranchiseKiller: Disney secured the rights to the entire ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain Chronicles of Prydain]]'', but the film flopped so hard, it killed off any future plans of continuing the series for three decades. The film was also nearly this for the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon. Disney would announce [[http://variety.com/2016/film/news/chronicles-of-prydain-movie-disney-1201733058/ a live-action adaptation of the original books]] in 2016, but [[DevelopmentHell nothing has come out of it since]].
19	* NoDubForYou: This was the case for Finland until 1998, when a Finnish dub was released on home video. In the original release in 1985, Finland got the movie in English with Finnish subtitles due having a high age limit.
20	* NoExportForYou: Due to the film being a BoxOfficeBomb [[note]]or for content reasons, as those countries do treat [[AnimationAgeGhetto animated pieces like children's fare]][[/note]], it has never been dubbed in certain languages.
21	* TheOtherMarty: Creator/HayleyMills was originally cast in the role of Princess Eilonwy and hosted a behind-the-scenes special on ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents Disney's Wonderful World]]'' in which she introduces herself as the voice of the character. Then, for reasons unknown, Mills was replaced by Susan Sheridan.
22	* PopCultureUrbanLegends:
23	** According to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIuK4OZCWbU Yesterworld's video on the movie]], many of the deleted scenes were overall much tamer than rumors suggested. While some of the grisliest scenes of the "Cauldron Born" sequence were indeed cut, few other deleted scenes had that level of violent or otherwise family-unfriendly content. One of the biggest casualties was Fflewddur Fflam, who had several incidental lines and even a few plot-relevant scenes deleted.
24	** In addition, there was a rumor that circulated that the original intent when Taran first discovered his sword was magic was that he would outright kill the guard rather than just scaring him off, and that him jumping at the end of the scene was TheArtifact of him leaping over the guard's dead body, and it was dropped by Jeffrey Katzenburg's request. Yesterworld's storyboard completely dashes this rumor -- all storyboards shown in the video predate when Katzenburg joined the company, and the scene plays out the exact way it does in the final project. The storyboard also makes it clear Taran is simply jumping for joy rather than leaping over a guard.
25	* PostReleaseRetitle: In 1990, ''The Black Cauldron'' [[http://platypuscomix.com/hollywood/magiccauldron.html was theatrically re-released]] as ''Taran and the Magic Cauldron'' to try to get more ticket sales and hide the DarkerAndEdgier elements of the film that caused it to be a BoxOfficeBomb during its initial release. It didn't work, and the next release of the film (a DirectToVideo one in 1998) kept the original title. 1990 Newspaper clippings from [[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ctc9AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA3&dq=taran+and+the+magic+cauldron&article_id=4441,4206241&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiz4YvfgcfdAhWsxYMKHQTCDuk4FBDoATAGegQIARAb#v=onepage&q=taran%20and%20the%20magic%20cauldron&f=false Bend, Oregon]] and [[http://platypuscomix.com/hollywood/magiccauldron8.jpg Portland, Oregon]] provide evidence that it was shown in theaters in that state (possibly as a trial run), and 35mm prints with this title are in circulation even if a wide release didn't occur. The only other [[http://platypuscomix.com/hollywood/magiccauldron.html evidence]] are posters under multiple languages, children's tie-ins (picture books and puzzles), a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc0NSamJlME Portuguese TV spot]] (with English audio), and [[https://youtu.be/WvWVQBdYE40 a theatrical trailer]], all bearing this new title.
26	* ReleaseDateChange: ''The Black Cauldron'' was originally scheduled for Christmas 1984, but was delayed to July 1985 due to ExecutiveMeddling revising and editing the film to make the film less dark and scary in the wake of a badly-received test screening. A reissue of Disney’s ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'' took over the 1984 Christmas slot instead.
27	* StillbornFranchise: Disney actually had the rights to the entire book series. When the movie imploded, plans for any sequels and any more adaptations of the books by Hollywood were sunk for 30 years; Disney reobtained the rights and began plans to try the series again in 2016, this time as live action. However, such plans would fall into DevelopmentHell.
28	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
29	** The film was initially meant to be BloodierAndGorier during the “Cauldron Born” sequence, but many scenes were cut by Katzenberg before its release. Imagine if the cuts weren't made (some of the footage Katzenberg had cut actually made it to the film's trailer on early copies of the 1985 VHS of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'').
30	** Concept art on the DVD shows that the ending of the film would have been closer to the books, with the Horned King being destroyed by Gwydion.
31	** [[https://iftheglassslipperfitsblog.wordpress.com/2017/03/06/a-black-cauldron-masterpeice-monday Early concept drawings of Eilonwy]] are more akin to the books' portrayal of her, with red-gold hair, bare feet, a ragged scullery maid's dress, and a distinct CloudCuckooLander vibe.
32	** Creator/TimBurton drew up some concept art for the film, not a single piece of which was used.[[note]]He would later claim that his drawings were never going to be used anyway. The studio just wanted to give him something to do until his contract ran out. He ended up getting fired, however, when he was commissioned to make a couple of short films and turned in the incredibly bleak ''Frankenweenie'' short. He [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas eventually]] [[Film/AliceInWonderland2010 came]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Frankenweenie}} back]].[[/note]] Animator Andreas Deja stated once that most of the designs Burton made would have been too difficult to animate anyway, and the film was already having enough production troubles as it was. [[HostilityOnTheSet Deja and Burton had numerous arguments regarding this.]]
33	** The film's loftiest ambition: the first cinematic hologram. The filmmakers wanted the Cauldron Born scene to climax with a three-dimensional skeleton warrior [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou flying out of the screen and right over the audience's heads.]] For the faint-hearted, perhaps it's for the best that it was simply impossible with the era's technology.
34	** In an earlier treatment for the film, the Witches of Morva were to have a more active role in the plot, being shown in the prologue in line with the books' depiction of them as the Prydainian Fates.
35	** In this same treatment, Taran's meeting with the Horned King would have had the King act FauxAffablyEvil, trying to coerce Taran into having Hen Wen use her powers. When Taran hesitates, the King starts getting angry and quickly regains his cool with a LastSecondWordSwap.
36	** An earlier version of the Fair Folk sequence shows King Eiddileg with a design similar to King Hubert. The animation for the sequence also shows Fflewdurr with a design closer to his appearance in the books as well as an earlier rendition of his voice, still provided by Nigel Hawthorne. A painted cel for the sequence shows that Eiddileg was to be blonde.

Context Trivia / TheBlackCauldron