Is Disney ready to dive back into terrifying “The Black Cauldron”?

Do you remember Disney’s 1985 animated film, The Black Cauldron? No? That’s okay—neither do most people. The film, based on the books The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, was a terrifying and dark children’s movie and a financial stain on the Disney name, only amassing $21 million (of the $44 million budget) during its theater run.

Reasons for the flop vary, but the film’s overstuffed budget was a big one. At the time, it was the studio’s most expensive animated feature, but marketing a truly scary and dark movie to small children just didn’t pay off. Disney was also amidst management turmoil, and several years from starting the golden age with The Little Mermaid in 1989.

Check out the trailer for The Black Cauldron and see if it jogs your childhood nightmares memories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHiyYSuveJ4

According to Variety, Disney has decided to bring The Black Cauldron back in the form of a live-action movie. The story is actually quite good and has a lot of potential, so a live-action rebooted film could end up doing well. We all know Disney is a creative and financial powerhouse capable of churning out hit after cinematic hit, so the chances of Cauldron actually being amazing are high.

Per Variety, “Sam Dickerman is the Disney executive on the project, which has not yet been set with a producer, director or writer.” So it’s early days for the project, but they have a ton of great material to peruse first.

Drawing on Welsh mythology, the five books in The Chronicles of Prydain series follow the life of Taran—a boy who is a pig-keeper but dreams of becoming a hero. Set in Prydain, the children’s fantasy centers around Taran as he matures from a young boy to an adult as he takes on multiple adventures with his companions (Princess Eilonwy, Fflewddur Fflam, Gurgi, and Doli).

As a fan of all things Disney, I’ll be patiently waiting to see what kind of magic they can conjure up for this Cauldron reboot.