The list of candidates for worst animated feature ever made by Disney is pretty short. Two films really, “Home on the Range” and “The Black Cauldron.” I think the latter earns the award just because the potential was there for so much more. The movie was based on a story by Lloyd Alexander who wrote the fantasy series “The Chronicles of Prydain,” which he based on Welsh mythology.
Now Disney looks to correct that mistake by revisiting Prydain after acquiring movie rights for a live-action movie based on the series. It’s been reported that Disney Studio executive Sam Dickerman has been assigned to the project, which is very early in production without even a director, producer, or writer.
There are five books in the series, “The Book of Three,” “The Black Cauldron,” “The Castle Llyr,” “Taran Wanderer” and “The High King.” The key characters are Taran and his companions Princess Eilonwy, the bard Ffewddur Fflam, and Gurgi a small furry animal. The primary story follows the battles between Prydain and its neighbor, Annuvin, the Land of Death.
Disney’s original animated film drew from the first two books, but also diverted from the story. After five years of development and some story changes ordered by the recently installed studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, it was released in 1985 and bombed at the box office after mixed reviews.
I’ve long thought that is a good opportunity for Disney and I’m glad they’re going live-action instead of animation. Are you a fan of Lloyd Alexander’s books? How do you think Disney will do with the new movie?
(h/t Variety)
John Frost it takes more than Spell Check to edit your articles. Check out “moving rights” and “divulged from the story”
Thanks. That’s what I get for proofing without my morning coffee
I have not read Lloyd Alexander’s books but I really liked the original animated “The Black Cauldron”. It had a true “fantasy feel”, that feeling I get only from stories like “The Hobbit” and playing Sierra’s old pc game “King’s Quest”. It is hard to translate fantasy books to a live movie, and I think an animated film series would have been able to do a better job to capture that feeling than the proposed live action. Just look at MTV’s the Shannara Chronicles, in my opinion these shows were a disaster and did not do the books any service at all. On the other hand, the first season of Game of Thrones captured the first book of George Martins series “Song of Ice and Fire” beautifully. I will give Disney a chance at Chronicles of Prydain but I am going to try and read the books first.
And is it just me or does it seem like lately the movies Disney are producing are really lacking in the story department? The scenery and animation and live action and special effects are amazing but the stories are really lacking. It feels as if those in charge just start storyboarding before they even have a good story in the first place. The Force Awakens and The Good Dinosaur are prime examples of this.
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