Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.PCS 1/10/84; site mtgzz.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!cbdkc1!desoto!cord!hudson!bentley!ihnp1!ihnp4!drutx!mtuxo!mtgzz!leeper From: leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) Newsgroups: net.movies,net.sf-lovers Subject: THE BLACK CAULDRON (slight spoiler) Message-ID: <995@mtgzz.UUCP> Date: Wed, 31-Jul-85 12:27:44 EDT Article-I.D.: mtgzz.995 Posted: Wed Jul 31 12:27:44 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 2-Aug-85 02:02:05 EDT Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Holmdel NJ Lines: 77 Xref: watmath net.movies:7264 net.sf-lovers:9145 THE BLACK CAULDRON A film review by Mark R. Leeper Capsule review(*): This is the most ambitious animated fantasy from Disney since the 1950's. But budget constraints hurt the art and animation quality and shortened the film to the point that it gutted the logic. Too many of the characters are too cute. When you think of animated fantasy, what studio most often comes to mind? No question! Disney Studios. They created the standard. But even at Disney Studios, there are major and minor animated films. The majors tend to be classic stories, often fairy tales, that are made for perennial re-release. Oh, occasionally they put RESCUERS or 101 DALMATIONS into circulation, but their majors are films like SNOW WHITE, SLEEPING BEAUTY, PINOCCHIO, and three or four more you can probably name off the top of your head. For a decade, Disney Studios has worked on what seems to be their first major in a good long time. Now it is out. THE BLACK CAULDRON is an adaptation of parts of two books in Lloyd Alexander's "Prydain" series, itself based on the Mabinogion. THE BLACK CAULDRON has the same basic age-old plot that STAR WARS had. Boy from humble background (in this case, he's an assistant pig-keeper) dreams of glory in battle. Before he realizes it, he is swept into and becomes the key turning factor of a titanic battle. In this case, the battle is against a supremely evil supernatural being called "The Horned King." I don't know if we ever find out what he is king of, but he does have a few subjects that we see and will have a good deal more if he can unleash the power of the McGuffin of the title. There is a serious problem with THE BLACK CAULDRON--it has too much story. SLEEPING BEAUTY and SNOW WHITE had simple short plots you could tell in two or three sentences. They are ideal for animated films. An animated film takes a lot of work to make and Disney's tend to be 75 minutes or so. This one is 80 with a long credit sequence at the end. This means that the script does not have time to make things logical. Too many sequences are required to tell the story and so each sequence must be short. Let's look at at an example. The hero is backed up against a wall. Evil guards are throwing a hail of spears at him and he's clearly in trouble. Someone realizes that he (the hero) has a magic sword that cuts through metal, so they stop throwing spears. Why? This sword is not a shield. The magic sword is no better than a regular sword against that sort of an attack, but it is a good excuse for ending the sequence and getting to the next one. There are several other escapes that are similarly senseless. The visualizations of characters are classic Disney, which is to say that the images of evil are decent and the images of good are enough to put you in diabetic shock. The hero is callow, the heroine is pretty, the pig is cute and looks very little like a real pig. Then there is a cute creature that looks like a miniature cross between a sheepdog and Albert Einstein. The art style is an odd mixed bag of styles and at times somewhat below the Disney standard. In the early parts of the film it is much the usual Disney animation, though not as complex. At other times, they do a sort of pastel impressionistic background to save painting effort. A few scenes have live action mixed in to show flame or smoke. There was a lot of corner-cutting on the animation. On the other hand, Disney has the highest standards in the industry for print quality. The print was done on high-quality celluloid with no frame- long white flashes or dark specks from cheap film. When I saw a brand new print of KRULL, there were so many little flashes on the screen I though at first they were intentional. That never happens with a Disney film and it's time they got some recognition for that. On the whole, though, I am indifferent to this film, mostly because of a script that was so rushed that it killed the logic of the story. Rate it a straight 0 on the -4 to +4 scale. (*) Note: the suggestion to include capsule reviews is probably a good one. I will try it for at least a little while. Mark R. Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper