History YMMV / TheBlackCauldron

* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Horned King. Some argue he's one of the best villains ever, because of how monstrous and unhumorous he is in a DarkerAndEdgier film. Others argue it's ''because'' of those reasons, that make him one of the worst Disney villains ever, and they're not wrong when you study his character. He was an unstoppable warrior in the books, where only [[AchillesHeel his true name]] could stop his rampage. Here he's an AdaptationalWimp who compensates by being bombastically scary. But besides getting angry and strangling Creeper, he doesn't get [[OrcusOnHisThrone to do anything]] for the majority of the film. He has no real power of his own, and is carried by either his minions or the GreaterScopeVillain's DyingCurse. Fans argue he left a lasting impression to inspire the Lich for ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', but likewise point out that character being an indefinable EldritchAbomination was a ''true'' menace to all life; whereas the Horned King was underdeveloped because has no backstory, and it's never explained why he looks undead. Some think he's memorable, though reviewers have refuted that he's nowhere near as iconic as [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse Skeletor]]. Even Hexxus' fiery skeletal form from ''[[WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest Fern Gully]]'', of all things, is more [[OneWingedAngel terrifying]] than him. Both sides can agree though, he had a disrespectfully [[AntiClimax anticlimactic send off]].

** The film being rated PG was a big deal in its time, and seen as a huge sign of its attempts to be DarkerAndEdgier. Since TheNewTens, [[AvoidTheDreadedGRating it has been the standard rating for big-budget animated films]].

* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Horned King. Some argue he's one of the best villains ever, because of how monstrous and unhumorous he is in a DarkerAndEdgier film. Others argue it's ''because'' of those reasons, that make him one of the worst Disney villains ever, and they're not wrong when you study his character. He was an unstoppable warrior in the books, where only [[AchillesHeel his true name]] could stop his rampage. Here he's an AdaptationalWimp who compensates by being bombastically scary. But besides getting angry and strangling Creeper, he doesn't get [[OrcusOnHisThrone to do anything]] for the majority of the film. He has no real power of his own, and is carried by either his minions or the GreaterScopeVillain's DyingCurse. Fans argue he left a lasting impression to inspire the Lich King for ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', but likewise point out that character being an indefinable EldritchAbomination was a ''true'' menace to all life; whereas the Horned King was underdeveloped because has no backstory, and it's never explained why he looks undead. Some think he's memorable, though reviewers have refuted that he's nowhere near as iconic as [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse Skeletor]]. Even Hexxus' fiery skeletal form from ''[[WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest Fern Gully]]'', of all things, is more [[OneWingedAngel terrifying]] than him. Both sides can agree though, he had a disrespectfully [[AntiClimax anticlimactic send off]].

* CommonKnowledge: Jeffery Katzenberg did not edit the film so that it wouldn’t receive an R rating. The misconception comes from the fact that Jeffery Katzenberg edited the movie due to it being “too dark” for the test screen audience due to the "cauldron born" sequence containing a violent scene of a man dissolving graphically. In fact, if it remained unedited, it ''still'' would’ve received a PG rating by mid-1980s standards (even after the creation of the PG-13 rating), considering that Disney's[[note]]The film was released under the [[Creator/{{Touchstone Pictures}} Touchstone Pictures]] label, but still.[[/note]] own ''Film/MissionToMars'' received a PG rating in 2000 despite including an equally violent scene where a Martian vortex rips a man to shreds.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Horned King. Some argue he's one of the best villains ever, because of how monstrous and unhumorous he is in a DarkerAndEdgier film. Others argue it's ''because'' of those reasons, that make him one of the worst Disney villains ever, and they're not wrong when you study his character. He was an unstoppable warrior in the books, where only [[AchillesHeel his true name]] could stop his rampage. Here he's an AdaptationalWimp who compensates by being bombastically scary. But besides getting angry and strangling Creeper, he doesn't get [[OrcusOnHisThrone to do anything]] for the majority of the film. He has no real power of his own, and is carried by either his minions or the GreaterScopeVillain's DyingCurse. Fans argue he left a lasting impression to inspire the Lich King for ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', but likewise point out that character being an indefinable EldritchAbombation was a ''true'' menace to all life; whereas the Horned King was underdeveloped because has no backstory, and it's never explained why he looks undead. Some think he's memorable, though reviewers have refuted that he's nowhere near as iconic as [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse Skeletor]]. Even Hexxus' fiery skeletal form from ''[[FernGullyTheLastRainforest Fern Gully]]'', of all things, is more [[OneWingedAngel terrifying]] than him. Both sides can agree though, he had a disrespectfully [[AntiClimax anticlimactic send off]].

** The film being rated PG was a big deal in its time, and seen as a huge sign of its attempts to be DarkerAndEdgier. Since TheNewTens, [[AvoidTheDreadedGRating it has been the standard rating for big-budget animated films]]. Of course, the film as it stands is still a fair bit nastier than a lot of its successors (though perhaps not PG-13 unless you account for deleted footage). When the film was in production, the next highest rating above PG was R, and PG films were seen as "anything that you wouldn't necessarily ''ban'' a kid from being able to watch".

*** ''Mickey Mouse'' on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy in 1989 has him as the final boss.

* UncertainAudience: One of the main reasons the movie didn't do well was this trope; they couldn't seem to decide between making a more serious dark fantasy film that stuck closer to [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain the source material]] or a more whimsical and lighthearted fantasy film geared towards children. The film incorporated kid-appeal elements like the changes made to Gurgi and the addition of the Fair Folk. However, many deemed certain aspects of the film, like the Horned King and the Cauldron Born, too intense for young children, resulting in it being Disney's first animated film to receive a PG rating. This trope likely contributed to the film's commercial failure. Nowadays, most people agree the movie would probably have been better if they'd gone full DarkerAndEdgier, as these tend to be the parts people enjoy most.

* UncertainAudience: One of the main reasons the movie didn't do well was this trope; they couldn't seem to decide between making a more serious dark fantasy film that stuck closer to [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain the source material]] or a more whimsical and lighthearted fantasy film geared towards children. The film has kid-appeal elements like the changes made to Gurgi and the addition of the Fair Folk, even though a lot of the film's content, such as the Horned King and the Cauldron Born, were still regarded as too intense for young children (it was notably ''Disney'''s first animated film to be rated PG), which likely contributed to the film's commercial failure. Nowadays, most people agree the movie would probably have been better if they'd gone full DarkerAndEdgier, as these tend to be the parts people enjoy most.

* UncertainAudience: One of the main reasons the movie didn't do well was this trope; they couldn't seem to decide between making a more serious dark fantasy film that stuck closer to [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain the source material]] or a more whimsical and lighthearted fantasy film geared towards children. The film has goofy [[KidAppealCharacter Kid-Appealing Characters]] like Gurgi, even though a lot of the film's content, such as the Horned King and the Cauldron Born, were still regarded as too intense for young children (it was notably ''Disney'''s first animated film to be rated PG), which likely contributed to the film's commercial failure. Nowadays, most people agree the movie would probably have been better if they'd gone full DarkerAndEdgier, as these tend to be the parts people enjoy most.

* UncertainAudience: One of the main reasons the movie didn't do well was this trope; they couldn't seem to decide between making a more serious dark fantasy film that stuck closer to [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain the source material]], or a more whimsical and lighthearted fantasy film geared towards children. As a result, they had to edit a lot of the film's more graphic and scary content while adding goofier kid-appeal elements, which alienated fantasy fans and especially fans of ''The Chronicles of Prydain''. Even then a lot of the film's content, such as the Horned King and the Cauldron Born, were still regarded as too intense for young children (it was notably ''Disney'''s first animated film to be rated PG), which likely contributed to the film's commercial failure. Nowadays, most people agree the movie would probably have been better if they'd gone full DarkerAndEdgier, as these tend to be the parts people enjoy most.

* CommonKnowledge: Jeffery Katzenberg did not edit the film so that it wouldn’t receive an R rating. The misconception comes from the fact that Jeffery Katzenberg edited the movie due to it being “too dark” for the test screen audience due to the "cauldron born" sequence containing a violent scene of a man [[ImMelting dissolving graphically]]. In fact, if it remained unedited, it ''still'' would’ve received a PG rating by mid-1980s standards (even after the creation of the PG-13 rating), considering that Disney's[[note]]The film was released under the [[Creator/{{Touchstone Pictures}} Touchstone Pictures]] label, but still.[[/note]] own ''Film/MissionToMars'' received a PG rating in 2000 despite including an equally violent scene where a Martian vortex rips a man to shreds.

* CommonKnowledge: Jeffery Katzenberg did not edit the film so that it wouldn’t receive an R rating. The misconception comes from the fact that Jeffery Katzenberg edited the movie due to it being “too dark” for the test screen audience due to the "cauldron born" sequence containing a violent scene of a man [[ImMelting dissolving graphically]]. In fact, if it remained unedited, it ''still'' would’ve received a PG rating by mid-1980s standards (even after the creation of the PG-13 rating) considering that Disney's[[note]]The film was released under the [[Creator/{{Touchstone Pictures}} Touchstone Pictures]] label, but still.[[/note]] own ''Film/MissionToMars'' received a PG rating in 2000 despite including an equally violent scene where a Martian vortex rips a man to shreds.

* CommonKnowledge: Jeffery Katzenberg did not edit the film so that it wouldn’t receive an R rating. The misconception comes from the fact that Jeffery Katzenberg edited the movie due to it being “too dark” for the test screen audience due to the "cauldron born" sequence containing a violent scene of a man [[ImMelting dissolving graphically]]. In fact, if it were unedited, it ''still'' would’ve gotten a PG rating by mid-1980s standards (even after the creation of the PG-13 rating) due to the fact that Disney's[[note]]The film was released under the [[Creator/{{Touchstone Pictures}} Touchstone Pictures]] label, but still.[[/note]] own ''Film/MissionToMars'' was given a PG rating in 2000 despite having an equally violent scene of a man getting ripped to shreds by a Martian vortex.

* CommonKnowledge: Jeffery Katzenberg did not edit the film so that it wouldn’t receive an R rating. The misconception comes from the fact that Jeffery Katzenberg edited the movie due to it being “too dark” for the test screen audience due to the "cauldron born" sequence containing a violent scene of a man [[ImMelting dissolving graphically]]. In fact, if it were unedited, it ''still'' would’ve gotten a PG rating by mid-1980s standards (even after the creation of the PG-13 rating) due to the fact that Disney's own ''Film/MissionToMars'' was given a PG rating in 2000 despite having an equally violent scene of a man getting ripped to shreds by a Martian vortex.

* CommonKnowledge: Jeffery Katzenberg did not edit the film so that it wouldn’t receive an R rating. The misconception comes from the fact that Jeffery Katzenberg edited the movie due to it being “too dark” for the test screen audience due to the "cauldron born" sequence containing a violent scene of a man [[ImMelting dissolving graphically]], so that it wouldn’t get a higher rating. In fact, if it were unedited, it ''still'' would’ve gotten a PG rating by mid-1980s standards (even after the creation of the PG-13 rating) due to the fact that Disney's own ''Film/MissionToMars'' was given a PG rating in 2000 despite having an equally violent scene of a man getting ripped to shreds by a Martian vortex.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Adverts [[MisaimedMarketing lured kids in with a light-hearted fantasy adventure of wonder and magic]]. The actual work is nothing like that, in which the film itself contains some NightmareFuel content (which was toned down due to ExecutiveMeddling). It still didn't stop it from getting a Universal -- a "suitable for everyone" rating in the UK, due to some mild ValuesDissonance on the subject of scary imagery.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Or at least, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids it was not originally intended to be]] before the ExecutiveMeddling. Adverts [[MisaimedMarketing lured kids in with a light-hearted fantasy adventure of wonder and magic]]. The actual work is nothing like that. Still didn't stop it from getting a Universal -- a "suitable for everyone" rating in the UK, due to some mild ValuesDissonance on the subject of violence.

* AdaptationDisplacement: There's a book. That's right, there is a book called ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain The Black Cauldron]]''. And its author actually enjoyed the movie, albeit in a SoBadItsGood sort of way. While the books aren't totally obscure (especially for fans of HighFantasy and Welsh mythology) and did pretty well when they were first published in the 1960s, they're not as well known among the general populace as the animated film (and the movie might be known more from the infamy surrounding it).

* AdaptationDisplacement: There's a book. That's right, there is a book called ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain The Black Cauldron]]''. And its author actually enjoyed the movie, albeit in a SoBadItsGood sort of way. While the books aren't totally obscure (especially for fans of high fantasy and Welsh mythology) and did pretty well when they were first published in the 1960s, they're not as well known among the general populace as the animated film (and the movie might be known more from the infamy surrounding it).

* CreatorsPet: Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, was in love with the character of Gurgi so much that he basically started putting [[{{Expy}} expies]] of him in other Disney films around the same time as this film premiered. This is despite the fact that his high-pitched voice and obnoxious behavior alienated a large percentage of the general audience.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** For the Disney version, this movie actually predated ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' in the animated canon's [[TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects use of CGI]]. These days, it's very obvious to see the moment it's used, and it borders upon SpecialEffectFailure. But back in the 80s, that wasn't done before.
** Towards the book series it was based off of, it reads almost like a shopping list of cliches. Except one has to consider that the series was originally published in ''the sixties'' - Taran predates ''[[Film/StarWarsANewHope Luke Skywalker]]'' in the "Farm-boy turned hero who befriends a princess".
** The film being rated PG was a big deal in its time, and seen as a huge sign of its attempts to be DarkerAndEdgier. Since TheNewTens, [[AvoidTheDreadedGRating it has been the standard rating for big-budget animated films]]. Of course, the film as it stands is still a fair bit nastier than a lot of its successors (though perhaps not PG-13 unless you account for deleted footage). When the film was in production, the next highest rating above PG was R, and PG films were seen as "anything that you wouldn't necessarily ''ban'' a kid from being able to watch."

* MisBlamed: Gurgi's mannerisms were not, in fact, Disney putting in an obvious PluckyComicRelief -- things like talking in the third-person, speaking in redundant phrases, referring to Taran as a lord, and "Munchies and crunchies" are in fact in the books, and Gurgi still does play somewhat of a comic relief character. Disney's main change was just to make him a small, cute dog-like creature instead of a human-sized man/beast hybrid.