When I read Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three, it didn't make me want to read the immediate sequel by this title. And by all accounts, the adaptation from both novels was one of the worst Disney animations. Nevertheless, I got curious to judge for myself. Besides, I wanted to break up my October viewings with something gothic yet ostensibly family-friendly.
Adolescent Taran (Grant Bardsley) longs to be a warrior but must settle for assisting old Dallben (Freddie Jones) in the care of spoiled pig Hen Wen. The job gets less boring when Hen Wen panics over a prophetic vision, readable by means of water and magic. The ancient undead Horned King (John Hurt) has learned of Hen Wen and sent minions to coerce her to reveal the location of a legendary cauldron that can reanimate his skeletal army, enabling world domination. Taran tries to take the pig where she won't be found, but it wouldn't be much of a story if he succeeded.
As usually happens in such fantasies, the protagonist makes a few new friends along the journey. Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan) is quite willing to help a fellow captive of the Horned King, and despite her and Taran locking horns at some point, they might just become more than friends. Elder bard Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne) is a bit of a comic relief, not least when his lyre breaks strings in reaction to his lies. Gurgi (John Byner), a Gollum-esque fluffy little biped of undetermined species, is too much a cowardly scoundrel to hang around consistently, but the heroes come to like him too. They also receive surprise assistance from tiny fairies under King Eidilleg (Arthu Malet), with beleaguered grump Doli (also Byner) guiding them part of the way.
For most of the picture, the Horned King's active minions are right-hand goblin Creeper (Phil Fondacaro), a bunch of human thugs, a nasty dog, and two dragon-like flyers. Creeper offers the most humor among them, but if you want more fun semi-antagonists, there's a weird trio (Eda Reiss Merin, Adele Malis-Morey, and Billie Hayes) with an impressive cauldron collection. The most memorable witch has a cleavage gag that helps cement the PG, a first for Disney.
OK, the rating was mainly for violence and a general pervasive darkness. Two heroes even attempt mortal self-sacrifice. It doesn't look too frightful in the wake of the '90s, other than a jump scare.
Disney takes as many liberties with the source material as usual. Some key characters and developments are omitted or simplified; some are added for benignity. From what I recall of Volume 1, these changes may have been for the best.
I'm relieved to say that the movie never annoyed me. Some moments get pretty exciting. Hen Wen may be cuter than Pua. Even Gurgi's endearing enough to earn his keep. That said, no scene achieves outright greatness in terms of any emotion, and the pacing is up and down for 80 minutes.
TBC is not an overlooked classic, but neither was it a waste of my time. It's just emblematic of one of the least successful periods in Disney history. Personally, I prefer it to some more popular animations around that time. If you're old enough to take an '80s PG, you may give it a whirl.
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