The Black Cauldron (1985)

The Black Cauldron poster

Walt Disney Pictures
Starring:
 Grant Bardsley, Freddie Jones
Directed by: Ted Berman, Richard Rich

Cat Out of the Bag Alert!  This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Disney’s dark fantasy film about a young pigkeeper named Taran (voiced Grant Bardsley) who finds himself battling the evil Horned King for possession of a black cauldron.

Featured Feline: The first scenes of the film take place on a small farm owned by an elderly man named Dallbin (voiced by Freddie Jones). Dallben owns an aging orange cat who is only ever referred to as Cat.

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat sleeping on books

Cat is present throughout the first scene, first seen waking up on a stack of books.

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat waking up on books

Cat then moves over to Dallbin’s desk and climbs up onto more books.

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat climbing up on books in front of Dallbin

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat crouching on books

Dallbin is worrying over the next moves of the Horned King but Cat just wants his breakfast.

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat at Dallbin's feet

Cat moves around Dallbin’s legs, marking him, and then walks under the man’s tunic.

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat walking around Dallbin

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat walking between Dallbin's legs

Meanwhile Taran is daydreaming and allowing a pot of food to boil over. Taran is full of bravado, certain he could be a great warrior. Dallbin laughs at the boy’s cockiness.

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat sitting on desk beside laughing Dallbin

Cat hopefully walks over to the pot and Taran spoons some of the contents into a bowl. Cat is about to take a bite then reacts as if he is going to be sick. Dallbin explains that the food is not for cat but for the pig, Hen Wen.

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat hungrily eyeing food in bowl

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat about to take bite from bowl of food

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat looking sick in front of bowl of food

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat eyeing bowl of food warily

After Taran goes out to feed Hen Wen, Dallbin looks into the pot. He happily informs Cat that there is just enough left for him, but Cat just shakes his head with disgust.

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat sitting on chair looking disgusted

Cat only appears once more when Dallbin is seeing Taran and Hen Wen off. The two stand in the doorway of the cottage looking concerned.

The Black Cauldron - orange and white Cat sitting beside Dallbin in doorway

Final Mewsings: Disney cats deserve to have names!

Many thanks to Nick Wale for spotting this somewhat obscure Disney cat!


Relevant Links:

IMDb logo  tcmlogo  Amazon logo  Amazon Instant Video logo

To discuss this film and other cats in movies and on television, join us on
Facebook and Twitter.


Share this with your cat and movie loving friends!