The name Eilonwy, coined by Lloyd Alexander, has roots in Welsh elemental meanings. 'Eilon' signifies 'fawn' and '-wy' denotes 'water' in Welsh.
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How is Eilonwy's character portrayed in Disney's The Black Cauldron?
In Disney's 1985 film, The Black Cauldron, Princess Eilonwy of Llyr is the secondary lead. She is depicted as courageous, skeptical, and verbose, frequently engaging in lengthy discussions with Taran, her romantic interest. Her character draws inspiration from Eilonwy in The Chronicles of Prydain series and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.
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Why is Eilonwy often referred to as the 'forgotten princess' of Disney?
Eilonwy, a princess by birth, is dubbed the 'forgotten princess' of Disney due to her exclusion from the official Disney Princess line-up and merchandise. Disney's disassociation from 'The Black Cauldron', the movie in which Eilonwy is a major character, due to its darker tones and lack of success, has contributed to her little-known status.
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What is the nature of Eilonwy's relationship with Taran in The Black Cauldron?
Eilonwy, the forgotten Disney princess, and Taran, a farm boy, meet in the Horned King's Castle in The Black Cauldron. Eilonwy, who is held captive, allows Taran to escape with her, marking the beginning of their relationship. Throughout the story, Eilonwy is Taran's love interest and is characterized by her bravery and talkativeness. She also encourages Taran, demonstrating her belief in his potential.
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Is there any official Black Cauldron merchandise featuring Eilonwy?
Indeed, official Black Cauldron merchandise does feature Eilonwy. This includes a Princess Eilonwy Doll. Furthermore, during the film's release, Eilonwy was a character that guests could interact with at Disney Parks.
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Background[]
Personality[]
Eilonwy is portrayed as brave, cynical, and talkative, as shown by her tendency to go off into rants at Taran for seemingly trivial reasons (though he can be snippy back in their mutual antagonism).
Despite her naturally strong-willed personality, she can be affectionate (for she tries to get Taran's spirits up in one scene and seems fond of Gurgi) and emotional, as shown by her anxiety after escaping from the Horned King's Castle and her genuine sadness at Taran's near-sacrifice during the film's climax; by the end of the film, Eilonwy has dropped her defenses significantly and she and Taran begin to be romantically involved.
Eilonwy appears to be addled once she first appears, confused and thinking her reasons for being imprisoned in the Horned King's Castle vague.
Physical appearance[]
Eilonwy is a 12-year-old girl with a delicate figure, fair skin, pink lips, blue eyes, and long, flowing blonde hair that goes past her hips. She wears a dark violet band on the back of her hair, a pink skirt with a light pink underskirt, a white petticoat, a dark violet bodice, long off-white pink puffy sleeves, and black ballet flats.
In the film, Princess Eilonwy is taken hostage by a wicked emperor known as the Horned King, who hopes that her magic bauble could find the legendary Black Cauldron. She and the handsome farm boy Taran first meet in the lower ruins under the Horned King's Castle (once the home of King Rhitta) when the addled princess is searching around and attempting to find a route to escape.
Instead of leaving, Eilonwy allows Taran to come with her and escape from the Castle. There, the two come across the mystic sword, Dyrnwyn (and Eilonwy expresses vague disgust at Taran merely taking a sword from a dead body) and free Fflewddur Fflam from his imprisonment. The group of friends later travels to the realm of the Fair Folk (thanks to Gurgi, who didn't lie to Taran and the gang) and reunites with the pig Hen Wen. The king of the Fair Folk sends Doli with them as an escort to the Marshes of Morva to retrieve the Cauldron.
After they receive the Cauldron by trading away Dyrnwyn (which Eilonwy briefly protests against), they are captured again by the Horned King who then unleashes the Cauldron Born. But Gurgi sneaks into the castle and rescue his friends without the Horned King noticing anything. Taran prepares to sacrifice himself, shocking Eilonwy, who pleads with him to reconsider, though Taran claims he has already made his decision, without her elaboration on it. After Gurgi takes over and sacrifices himself into the Cauldron, the friends trade the Cauldron back to the Witches of Morva in exchange for Gurgi back. The bargain is granted, and, thanks to Gurgi, Eilonwy and Taran end up kissing each other.
Eilonwy is seen watching in shock alongside Tarzan and Jane, as Goofy tries to figure out how to work the camera while on top of the ladder. She is later seen alongside Taran and Hen Wen watching Snow White, Mulan and Asha singing a verse of "When You Wish Upon a Star". They then join the rest of the featured Disney characters, before the group photo is taken.
During the release of The Black Cauldron, Taran and Eilonwy were walk-around characters at the parks. So far, they have never returned to the parks. They also appeared on murals within The Walt Disney Story attraction and the Gurgi's Munchies and Crunchies restaurant.
Eilonwy is a major character in The Chronicles of Prydain book series by Lloyd Alexander, upon which the film was loosely based.
Eilonwy is not included in the official Disney Princess line-up or in any of the merchandise. This is most likely due to Disney's general tendency to disassociate themselves from their movie due to its insuccess and much darker tones (maybe also because of her preteen age unlike the other Disney Princesses), despite the cult following it gained on home video releases. Plus, the cuts and the re-editing and reworking the film has gone through after its completion, even in part of the soundtrack, would make it an "incomplete" movie.
Princess Eilonwy has been nicknamed by fans as the "Forgotten Disney Princess" because of her little-known status and the fact she is not an "official" Disney Princess, despite being a princess by birth, like Kida Nedakh from Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
In the novels of The Chronicles of Prydain, Eilonwy had a habit of running around barefoot. Pre-production artwork for The Black Cauldron shows that Disney's version of Eilonwy was to be barefoot as well.
In The Chronicles of Prydain, Eilonwy's bauble does not float, nor does it change its color from anything other than the golden light it gives. It is also unbeknownst to Eilonwy herself but in the series, her bauble's real title is The Golden Pelydryn.
Another distinction from the movie and original series is that Eilonwy is a descendant from the Welsh mythological god Llyr.
The character of Eilonwy in the books is described as having red-gold hair, but she is a blonde in the film.
Unlike most Disney Princesses and heroines, both Eilonwy and Kida possess a magical item instead of animal sidekicks.
Hayley Mills was originally cast for the role of Princess Eilonwy and got to record some scenes, but for reasons unknown, she was replaced by Susan Sheridan.
In some products, Eilonwy's dress is blue.
In some products, the color of her dress is depicted as blue.
This blue dress was used as an Eilonwy alternate outfit in the game Disney Magic Kingdoms.
Eilonwy's name was coined by the author Lloyd Alexander based on Welsh names with elemental meanings such as white brow or elm. Eilon means "fawn" in Welsh, while the suffix -wy means "water".
Although she was revealed to be taken by the Horned King prior to her meeting Taran and her first appearance in the movie, Eilowny's kidnapping alone was never seen on-screen.
Eilonwy's parents are never seen. The novels state that her parents are already dead. This would make her an orphan - just like Taran. Also, this would technically make her a queen, not a princess, unless she is not ready to take the throne and has someone to fill in for her duties until she is of proper age or has an older sibling.
