I’ve never actually seen Disney’s Black Cauldron. I made that decision when I was 11 and I’m sticking to it. The horror of seeing Dalben as a stuffed animal in a toy store was too great. I put my foot down and have never lifted it.
But I’m as fascinated by “what went wrong” as anyone else.
I was shocked to see Tim Burton’s name connected to the movie. From what I gather from various Websites, his input was a few grand ideas that didn’t get used. Like this one:
See it full-size along with other Burton/Cauldron art here. (And some other great Burton art.)
Honestly, this looks farther from my idea of Prydain than the actual movie did, but who knows … maybe it would have worked in a Spike Jonze/WTWTA kind of way.
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Berger & Burger 
I keep trying to get my kids to swear that they will avenge that horrible version of The Black Cauldron either by becoming renowned directors or producers and remaking it The Right Way— or by inventing time travel and burning every reel of that travesty. What I don’t understand about the failure is that the books read like scripts! They practically sing off the page! How could making a movie of Alexander’s fabulous dialog and action be HARD?
I’m with Sara. To be honest, I think that only Disney could have messed up “The Black Cauldron.” Any other studio would have felt some obligation to be vaguely faithful to the original.
Good call on not seeing it, Sam. If you think that Dalben is bad, just try to imagine what they did to Gurgi.