This is definitely one of the weakest Disney movies, and it certainly didn't help that the Disney studios were on a low. It is worse than oliver and Company, which I liked. I liked this one too, but it is not for children. I haven't read the books, but even without reading them, you could tell the voice actors weren't given much to work with. The characters are likable but badly underdeveloped, especially Taran, who I thought was a little bland. There were some truly splendid animated sequences, but most of them were inside the castle, like the death of the Horned King(highlight of the film for me), as well as Morva, and the Fairy Kingdom. Creeper and Gurgi were a little annoying at first, but I definitely preferred Gurgi. The music by Elmer Bernstein was very dramatic, such a shame because the story didn't match that. However, on a positive note, the most impressive elements of the movie, were the scene of the cauldron destroying the Horned King, the wonderful sombre intonation of John Huston in the prologue and a sinister voice-over by John Hurt as the Horned King(who was really frightening). Speaking of John Hurt, I have an issue with Roger Ebert rating this film over The Elephant Man(Hurt's best film). In my opinion The elephant Man is much better than this, which is a 6.5/10 from me. Bethany Cox
Review of The Black Cauldron
