Pick Your Poison

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander are, simply put, amazing. Children’s books they may be, but still worth reading for us older ones. Way better than Harry Potter (bloody hype!). I strongly recommend them, even to adults (though a liking for sf and a slightly childish mindset are beneficial).

Now, visiting a friend and browsing his DVD collection, I spotted the film version of the first two books and immediately asked to borrow it. Watched it the same night, and man, what a disappointment.

Title: The Black Cauldron
Year: 1985
Director: Ted Berman and Richard Rich (Disney)
Actors worth mentioning: None - animated
Grade: 1

I won’t spoil either book or film by recounting the many many far too many discrepancies between the film and the books. This was truly awful. I considered shutting it off half way through, but managed to watch it all. I cannot stress enough how BAD this film was. It ruined everything there is to like about the books, and turned it into a made-for-tv, standard crap film.

I concede that a child, having no previous knowledge about the books, might find this enjoyable. Hell, my friend liked it! Therefore, I reluctantly award it a 1. But be warned - this is not one of those films that are so bad they’re good. This is just bad.

Ok. Deep breath. </rant>

As far as the books go, they’re way high up on my wish list. (to anyone relevant reading this: my birthday is coming up real soon. *hint hint* )