Kids who have grown up on these later Disney films will no doubt find The Black Cauldron a bit slower and less memorable. Some may be truly disturbed by the images of the Horned King's undead army or some startling moments with a fierce dog. Which is one of the things I liked about it. The Brothers Grimm told fairy tales which were dark and sick and involved a lot of deviant behavior. Disney has made millions cleaning up these stories, sanitizing their content for wholesome children everywhere.
Fear can be as cathartic for children as it is for adults.
And personally, even as a kid, I seriously dug the darker, more twisted stories from Washington Irving and Poe. I imagine other kids will, too, especially the ones who fast-forward through those Celine Dion songs in the other Disney movies. The Black Cauldron feels experimental, particularly in light of the formula Disney has embraced since Aladdin . I found that refreshing. The cliffhanger scenes are engaging and give the sense of real danger.