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Taran has many friends. Gurgi has no friends.
―Gurgi[src]

Gurgi is a major character from Disney's 1985 animated feature film The Black Cauldron. He is portrayed as a gopher wood troll creature, whose speech distortions somewhat resemble those of Donald Duck.

Background[]

Personality[]

Ooh, great prince! Give poor, starving Gurgi munchings and crunchings! Nice apple! Gurgi's lucky day! La la la la la [...] Gurgi not know where apple is - uh-oh...
―Gurgi's love of apples

Funny and clever to a fault, Gurgi is portrayed to be very cowardly throughout most of the film but surprises viewers by rescuing his friends and sacrificing himself into the Cauldron to stop its evil power. He, however, is revived by the Witches of Morva. He has a huge love for apples, which he refers to as "munchings and crunchings".

Physical appearance[]

Gurgi appears as a small, gopher-like creature with blue eyes and shaggy, light brown fur.

Appearances[]

The Black Cauldron[]

Gurgi has come to be your friend.
―Gurgi

Gurgi first appears when Taran is off searching for Hen Wen. When Taran tries to flush out the pig with an apple, Gurgi leaps down from a tree and snatches the apple out of Taran's outstretched hand, knocking him over in the process. Gurgi follows Taran for a while, hoping to steal the apple, though the boy doesn't want Gurgi around. The two finally split ways when Taran intends to enter the Horned King's castle. Gurgi insists neither of them should go, infuriating Taran further. Taran ultimately deems Gurgi to be a coward in addition to being a thief and sends him away. He also gives Gurgi the apple, claiming it was all he wanted.

When Taran escapes from the castle with Eilonwy and Fflam, Gurgi meets up with Taran again and befriends Eilonwy. They journey into the underground realm of the Fair Folk and to Morva, by which time he had eaten the apple, but when the heroes are taken captive by the Horned King's forces, Gurgi runs away again. Eventually, Gurgi musters up the courage to sneak into the Horned King's castle and rescue his friends. When Taran attempts to jump into Cauldron, Gurgi stops him for he doesn't want Taran to die for the sake of his friends. Gurgi then makes a noble but grave decision: he sacrifices himself by jumping into the Cauldron so that Taran and the others can escape the Horned King's castle alive. His selfless actions destroy the Cauldron's dark magic and kill the Horned King. When the Witches of Morva offer another exchange deal, Taran trades the Cauldron for Gurgi's life, not bothering to get the magic sword back because he now considers his friends more important than being a great warrior. When Gurgi does awaken, he happily departs with his friends.

Once Upon a Studio[]

In the short, Gurgi appears during "When You Wish Upon a Star", with Dumbo, Timothy Q. Mouse, Duchess, Thomas O'Malley, Marie, Berlioz, Toulouse, Basil of Baker Street, Olivia Flaversham, David Q. Dawson, Flit, Mama Odie, Tong and Boun as they surround Pocahontas as she sings. Gurgi then joins in on singing the last line while sitting on the left wing of Pedro as the group photo is successfully take for Disney's 100th anniversary.

Disney Parks[]

When the film was first released, a quick-service eatery at Magic Kingdom was named Gurgi's Munchies and Crunchies, although it was replaced with Lumiere's Kitchen in 1993.

Gurgi and Taran appear in one of the Sardi's style drawings at Shanghai Disneyland's Mickey & Pals Market Café to represent the film as part of the gallery's effort to represent every movie in the Disney Animated Features Canon up to the park's opening.

Gallery[]

Wiki
The Disney Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Gurgi.

Trivia[]


v - e - d
The Black Cauldron logo
Media
The Black CauldronSoundtrackVideo gameChronicles of PrydainVideo
Disney Parks
Disney Animation BuildingCinderella Castle Mystery Tour
Fireworks: Wonderful World of AnimationWondrous Journeys
Characters
TaranPrincess EilonwyFflewddur FflamGurgiDallbenHen WenTalyllynMooseHorned KingCreeperCauldron BornHorned King's GuardsGwythaintsKing EidillegDoliFair FolkOrddu, Orwen, and OrgochThe Hunter (deleted character) • Arawn (deleted character)
Locations
PrydainCaer DallbenThe Horned King's CastleMarshes of Morva
Objects
The Black CauldronMagic SwordMagic HarpGolden Pelydryn
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