Disney's Darkest Animated Movie Can Flourish in Live-Action

In 1985, Disney released its 25th feature-length animated film, The Black Cauldron. The film was based on the book series The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander and featured a dark tone reminiscent of the Night on Bald Mountain sequence in Fantasia (1941) decades earlier. The fantasy epic was rife with production struggles, and Disney released a number of other films during its development, such as The Rescuers and The Fox and the Hound. Overall, it took over ten years for the film to be produced. But the animators working on it believed so much in its potential success it remained on the docket despite the continual delays. Even when production stalled as artists struggled to accurately animate the human characters.

When the film finally premiered, five years after its initial predicted release date -- it flopped at the box office. The Lion King producer Don Han recalled in the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty that TheBlack Cauldron cost $44 million to make and made less than half of that back in ticket sales. What likely contributed partially to the film's downfall, aside from the disjointedness of its story, is its dark and ominous tone. Conversely, the tone is what makes it one of the best candidates for a potential live-action remake.

The Black Cauldron Spotlights Disney Had Lost Touch With Its Fans in the 1980s

The Black Cauldron followed a young boy, Taran, who starts the film as an assistant pig keeper to a magical swine (Hen Wen) who has the gift of foresight and vision-casting. The villain of the film, The Horned King, desired to find Hen Wen to use her abilities to find the fabled Black Cauldron, which held the demonic spirit of a dead king and contained the power to "resurrect an army of deathless warriors." Taran and his companions, including a forgotten Disney Princess (Eilonwy), must go on a journey to recover Hen Wen and keep The Horned King from finding the cauldron. In short, The Black Cauldron was not exactly the typical lighthearted fairy tale or story filled with childhood charm that Disney audiences had come to expect from the brand.

The opening of the film had an incredibly morose preamble outlining the origins of the cauldron, setting up a sinister premise. Fittingly, Disney must have been aware of its departure from its usual vibe since the film was given a PG rating. One review at the time even stated how it "apparently, is [not] aimed at youngsters who have had a taste of more sophisticated animation of the Star Wars breed of movies." Roger Ebert tried to argue that Disney had never shied away from showcasing difficult concepts in its films, such as Bambi (death of a parent) and Pinocchio (the Island of Lost Boys). But TheBlack Cauldron may have taken this idea a bridge too far.

Even though the film had a typical runtime for an animated film of just under an hour and a half, the story lagged. The plot jumped around from event to event and lacked a great deal of momentum once it got going. New characters were constantly introduced throughout, but none of them quite left a lasting impression, a potential issue that arose from attempting to adapt a book series into a single film. Even today, TheBlack Cauldron stands at a 6.3/10 on IMDB. It seemed by the mid-1980s, Disney simply didn't know how to produce a movie their core audience actually wanted to see or replicate the success of films like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.

The Mature Tone of The Black Cauldron Is More Suited to Modern Disney Fans

All this isn't to say that a Disney film in the vein of TheBlack Cauldron would not do well in today's market. More than ever, viewers appear keener to embrace every shade of Disney. Why else would Hocus Pocus, a movie about three child-hunting witches, receive a long-awaited sequel 30 years after its first installment (and currently be in talks for a third)? ​​Even the most recent Haunted Mansion remake contained more frightening imagery than the 2003 version, along with a PG-13 rating. ​​​​​TheBlack Cauldron may simply have been ahead of its time, which is why this more mature Disney film might be ideal live-action material.

Many of the live-action films Disney has produced have been met with varying success. Regardless, some have introduced a weirder direction and tension to the source material and have proved the studio won't shy away from exploring their darker side again. Maleficent and Cruella represented the box office wins for this Disney subgenre, while Peter Pan & Wendy and Dumbo did not perform as well critically. Still, the argument could be made that the lesser performers suffered more from writing and story issues than their directorial choices. Meanwhile, Maleficent and Cruella presented old material in an entirely new way while the others may not have been different enough to merit their live-action remakes. A live-action Black Cauldron would be an opportunity to redeem an arguably flawed film

A Live-Action Version of The Black Cauldron Could Redefine a Story With a Darker Context

While audiences seemed to be growing somewhat tired of shot-for-shot remakes like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid or adaptations that change the ending entirely (Pinocchio) -- they might be more keen to see a once previously maligned Disney film revitalized. Movies like The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) are more great examples of Disney maybe misreading their current viewership but creating a long-lasting success after audience trepidation over mature themes. One contemporary review of Hunchback stated the obvious at the time. A 1996 Variety review called the film risky in its tackling of "such a downer of a story" and noted how "it's hard to imagine kiddies making space on the shelf next to their Pocahontases and Simbas for Quasimodo, no matter how sweet his nature." Despite this, it went on to have a successful run as a stage musical in Berlin, Germany, in 1999 and was rebooted again in San Diego, California, in 2014.

Because many of the more successful live-action adaptations have honored and changed the source material in a way that enhanced the story or cast it in a different light, the path has been paved for TheBlack Cauldron. And since it has the ready-made shadowy approach that a good segment of the Disney fandom is inclined towards in the present day, it could see itself benefiting from this treatment. Plus, with how much hype Disney villains have received over the years, especially at the Disney Parks' Halloween Parties, it could be compelling to see The Horned King in all his terrible glory brought to the big screen once again.

It's difficult to say whether Disney would take a gamble on redeveloping a flop. So far, all of their remakes have been of films that have already had a good rapport with audiences. But this would be their chance to take a creative gamble that could possibly have a major payoff. Now's truly the perfect time to capitalize on their Tim Burton-esque fan base and release TheBlack Cauldron from the vaults.