Disney’s The Black Cauldron opened July 24, 1985, as the studio’s first PG-rated animated movie. Here’s how the Horned King scared kids, what got cut and where to stream it.
Disney villains have scared kids for generations. But few Disney cartoons came with an army of skeleton warriors, a melting villain and a PG rating.
That’s The Black Cauldron.
The 1985 movie took 12 years to make, cost more than $25 million and was Disney’s first animated feature rated PG. It was also a box office failure, according to D23, Disney’s official fan club.
Today it’s a cult favorite, and it’s streaming on Disney+. Here’s how one of Disney’s darkest cartoons came together, and why it fell apart.
What is The Black Cauldron about?
Taran is a young pig keeper whose pig, Hen Wen, can see the future, D23 says. The evil Horned King kidnaps her because he wants her to lead him to the Black Cauldron.
Taran sets out to rescue Hen Wen. Along the way, he teams up with a young princess, a minstrel and the furry, mischievous Gurgi, according to D23.
The Cauldron has a terrifying power. It can raise an army of deathless warriors, and the Horned King wants to use it, D23 says.
John Hurt voiced the Horned King. Grant Bardsley played Taran, Susan Sheridan voiced Princess Eilonwy and John Byner voiced Gurgi, according to D23. Nigel Hawthorne played the minstrel, Fflewddur Fflam.
John Huston narrated the prologue, according to the AFI Catalog.
Is The Black Cauldron based on a book?
Yes. It’s based on “The Chronicles of Prydain,” Lloyd Alexander’s five-book fantasy series from the 1960s, D23 says. Disney bought the screen rights back in 1971.
Turning five books into one movie wasn’t easy. The series has more than 30 major characters and a lot of storylines, D23 notes.
Joe Hale took over as producer in 1980 and rewrote the script. One of his big changes was the villain.
In the books, the Horned King is a minor character. Hale made him the main bad guy, combining traits from several characters in the series, according to D23.
Why did The Black Cauldron take so long to make?
It was 12 years in the making, including five years of actual production, D23 says.
The studio originally planned a Christmas 1984 release and a $15 million budget, the AFI Catalog says. The final cost was about $25 million.
Disney also lost a big chunk of its animation team along the way. On Sept. 13, 1979, Don Bluth walked out with a group of animators and staff, delaying the movie, Collider reported.
A few future legends passed through, too. Tim Burton worked on the movie before leaving, and Ron Clements and John Musker, who later directed “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” were moved to “The Great Mouse Detective,” Collider said.
What did Katzenberg cut from The Black Cauldron?
In 1984, new leadership took over Disney, and Jeffrey Katzenberg took charge of the studio’s movies, Collider reported.
Katzenberg asked to recut the nearly finished film, according to Collider. He shortened a gruesome scene in which one of the Cauldron’s undead warriors attacks a soldier and trimmed other moments he thought were too grim.
The release moved from December 1984 to the summer of 1985, the outlet said.
Was The Black Cauldron Disney’s first PG animated movie?
Yes. The Black Cauldron was the first Disney animated feature to get a PG rating, D23 says.
Disney had already released its first PG movie, the live-action “The Black Hole,” in 1979, D23 notes.
Critics noticed the darker tone. The Christian Science Monitor’s David Sterritt warned in 1985 that the movie “may be too intense for the youngest children.”
Roger Ebert saw it differently. In his 1985 review, he argued that Disney’s best animated movies had always been dark underneath. “They only looked innocent because they were cartoons,” he wrote.
Why did The Black Cauldron flop?
It opened in Los Angeles on July 24, 1985, and in New York two days later, according to the AFI Catalog. A Hollywood Reporter item from that month said it would open in 1,200 theaters, the AFI Catalog noted.
Even with all that money on screen, it was a box office failure, D23 says. It grossed about $21 million in the U.S., less than “The Care Bears Movie” earlier that year, Collider reported.
A 1998 Hollywood Reporter article called it Disney’s only animated feature that didn’t turn a profit, the AFI Catalog noted.
What new technology did The Black Cauldron use?
A lot, especially for 1985.
It was Disney’s first animated feature shot in 70mm since “Sleeping Beauty” (1959), and it used three scenes of computer animation, according to the AFI Catalog.
Disney also introduced a new way of moving animators’ drawings onto cels, called the Animation Photo Transfer process, or APT, D23 says. David W. Spencer won an Academy Award for developing it.
The movie used more than 1,165 colors and over 34 miles of film stock, according to D23.
Where can you watch The Black Cauldron?
It’s streaming on Disney+, according to JustWatch. You can also rent or buy it digitally from Amazon, Apple and Fandango at Home.
The movie runs 1 hour and 22 minutes on Disney+. It didn’t come out on home video until 1998, D23 says.
Disney hasn’t posted the trailer on YouTube, but here’s the original 1985 theatrical trailer, uploaded from a 35mm print by a fan channel:
What are some fun facts about The Black Cauldron?
The Horned King almost wasn’t the star. He was a minor character in Lloyd Alexander’s books until producer Joe Hale built the movie around him, D23 says.
It was the most expensive cartoon of its day. A 1985 Backstage item called it “the most expensive animated feature ever made,” according to the AFI Catalog.
Hen Wen is a fortune-teller. The pig at the center of the story is clairvoyant, which is why the Horned King wants her, D23 says.
It’s a cousin of Return to Oz. Both came out in the summer of 1985. The Christian Science Monitor called The Black Cauldron a “resounding bounce-back for Disney” after the disappointing response to “Return to Oz.”
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
D23 Disney A to Z: The Black Cauldron and Ratings entries
AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Black Cauldron (release, budget, technology and trade reports from 1978 to 1998)
Collider: How The Black Cauldron nearly killed Disney Animation (production history, the Katzenberg recut and box office)
David Sterritt, The Christian Science Monitor, July 26, 1985: Black Cauldron pours on the visual wizardry
Roger Ebert, July 24, 1985: The Black Cauldron review
Disney+: The Black Cauldron title page
JustWatch: The Black Cauldron U.S. streaming listing, checked Oct. 10, 2026
Animation Compendia on YouTube: The Black Cauldron 1985 theatrical trailer (35mm)
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