History Trivia / TheBlackCauldron

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: "Taran and the Magic Cauldron" in France.

* GenreKiller: Its failure killed any studio interest in PG-rated animated films until Creator/DreamWorksAnimation's successes with ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'', ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', and especially ''{{WesternAnimation/Shrek}}''.

* 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.
** Luckily this has been ultimately averted, as Disney is, as of the 2010's, planning on [[http://variety.com/2016/film/news/chronicles-of-prydain-movie-disney-1201733058/ a live-action adaptation of the original books]]. It may not be ''The Black Cauldron'' itself, but it has the potential to be even better.

* DawsonCasting: Despite Eilonwy being a teenager and presumably around the same age as Taran, Susan Sheridan was 34 when she recorded the voice - a fully 20 years older than Taran's actor, Grant Bardsley.

* DawsonCasting: Despite Eilonwy being a teenager and presumably around the same age as Taran, Susan Sheridan was 34 when she recorded the voice - a fully 20 years older than Taran's actor, Grant Barsley.

* TheOtherMarty: Creator/HayleyMills recorded Eilonwy's dialogue but was replaced by Susan Sheridan.

* 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.

* UrbanLegendOfZelda: 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.

* UrbanLegendOfZelda: According to [[Yesterworld's video on the movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIuK4OZCWbU]], many of the deleted scenes were this. While some of the grisliest scenes of the "Cauldron Born" sequence were indeed cut, most of the scenes cut from the released movie were overall much tamer than rumored. One of the biggest casualties was Fflewddur Fflam, who had several incidental lines and even a few plot-relevant scenes deleted.

** Disney reissued ''The Black Cauldron'' in theaters several years later under a new title, ''Taran and the Magic Cauldron.'' 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), and a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc0NSamJlME Portuguese TV spot]] (with English audio), all bearing this new title.
* PostReleaseRetitle: In 1990, ''The Black Cauldron'' got [[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.

** Because this movie was both atypical and unpopular, it wasn't released on home video until 1998, 13 years after its theatrical run. By the end of TheNewTens, it also remained the Canon's only post-Walt hand-drawn movie unavailable on Blu-ray (though it was finally released on that format in 2021).

** Because this movie was both atypical and unpopular, it wasn't released on home video until 1998, 13 years after its theatrical run. By the end of TheNewTens, it also remained the Canon's only post-Walt hand-drawn movie unavailable on Blu-ray.

* 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 beaten at the box office by ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie''.
** More specifically, ''The Care Bears Movie'' came out on March 29, 1985. It spent a period that ended on June 20 that year in the Top 15 before falling out. Cauldron was released on July 26 that same year. This meant that, though TCBM had been out since March, ultimately leaving worldwide cinemas on January 1, 1986, Cauldron, with the advantage of coming out 3 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days after TCBM, and still being in theatres until the same January 1, 1986 date, Cauldron still could not get it done.

** The film only returned 85% of its $25 million budget. It remains one of Disney's poorest-performing theatrical releases. AddingInsultToInjury, it was beaten at the box office by ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie''.

** It's no mystery that the Walt Disney company had been trying for years to secure the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Now [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien]] ''absolutely loathed Disney''. After his death his publishers (George Allen and Unwin) respected his wishes to never intend to give the studio permission to make a film of his books. But could you imagine if [[ExecutiveMeddling said 1980s incompetent staff]] made it? [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Oh boy]]. Sauron in place of the Horned King? The One Ring in place of the Cauldron? The backlash from the fans would've be so bad they would've '''''buried''''' such a film.

** Its no mystery that the Walt Disney company had been trying for years to secure the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Lord of the Rings]]. Now [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien]] ''absolutely loathed Disney''. After his death his publishers (George Allen and Unwin) respected his wishes to never intend to give the studio permission to make a film of his books. But could you imagine if [[ExecutiveMeddling said 1980s incompetent staff]] made it? [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Oh boy]]. Sauron in place of the Horned King? The One Ring in place of the Cauldron? The backlash from the fans would've be so bad they would've '''''buried''''' such a film.

* NoExportForYou:
** Due to the film being a BoxOfficeBomb [[note]]or for content reasons, as those countries do treat animated pieces like children's fare[[/note]], it has never been dubbed in certain languages, such as Hungarian.

** 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.

** More specifically, The Care Bears Movie came out on March 29, 1985. It spent a period that ended on June 20 that year in the Top 15 before falling out. Cauldron was released on July 26 that same year. This meant that, though TCBM had been out since March, ultimately leaving worldwide cinemas on January 1, 1986, Cauldron, with the advantage of coming out 3 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days after TCBM, and still being in theatres until the same January 1, 1986 date, Cauldron still could not get it done.

* BoxOfficeBomb: The film only returned 85% of its $25 million budget. It remains one of Disney's poorest-performing theatrical releases. AddingInsultToInjury, it was beaten at the box office by ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie''.

* DisownedAdaptation: Subverted. 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.

* 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.

* 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 ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'' took over the 1984 Christmas slot instead.

* 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 ''WesternAnimation/Pinocchio'' took over the 1984 Christmas slot instead.

* 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 ''Pinocchio'' took over the 1984 Christmas slot instead.

* ReleaseDateChange: ''The Black Cauldron'' was originally going to be released on Christmas 1984, but due to Jeffrey Katzenberg’s ExecutiveMeddling (namely cutting ''12 minutes of fully animated footage''), the film got pushed back to July 26, 1985.