Okay, Is The Black Cauldron Actually...Good?

Alright, alright, hear me out. I know, I KNOW. The Black Cauldron is practically Disney's Voldemort, the movie that shall not be named. Box office bomb, almost killed the animation department, blah blah blah. Everyone says it's terrible and a massive flop. But I watched it again recently, and... I kinda liked it? Or at least, I respect what it tried to do, even if it fumbled the landing a bit. Think about it: this was Disney trying to be dark. Like, genuinely unsettling. The Horned King is genuinely terrifying! That scene where he raises the Cauldron-born? Nightmare fuel! And yeah, Taran is kind of a whiny simp, but at least he's trying to be brave. Gurgi's sacrifice is actually pretty damn moving, even if he spends 90% of the movie being annoying. And let's be real, the animation, despite the reported budget overruns and cuts, IS still pretty impressive for the time. The Cauldron itself looks genuinely menacing, and the designs for the creatures (especially the Cauldron Born) are way more creative than your typical Disney fare. My theory? The Black Cauldron was just ahead of its time. Had this come out 10 years later, in a post-Burton Disney era, maybe it would have been appreciated more. People would have been like "WOW! They're not afraid of being dark!" Instead, it got released when everyone expected singing princesses and happy endings. It's like serving steak at a vegan convention, y'know? So, yeah, it's flawed. The pacing is wonky, the story feels rushed in places, and the characters aren't exactly Shakespearean. But I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that The Black Cauldron isn't the total disaster everyone makes it out to be. It's a fascinatingly flawed experiment, and honestly, kind of underrated? Fight me.