Princess Eilonwy is first seen in the movie when she breaks into Taran's dungeon cell in the Horned King's castle. She is about the same height as Taran, slender, with long blond hair, and big blue eyes. If you had read the books, you will learn the Eilonwy is not only a Princess of Llyr, but a trainee enchantress. In the movie, this is displayed by the golden bauble she carries with her everywhere ( and mysteriously disappears during parts of the film ). Eilonwy tells Taran that the bauble was the reason the Horned King kidnapped her, he thought her bauble could lead him the the Black Cauldron. But since that wasn't true, he locked her in the dungeon like Taran. But Eilonwy was clever enough to discover an entire labyrinth of diserted tunnels connecting the dungeons.
The Disney Eilonwy is very much like the Alexaner Eilonwy. She is stubborn, snippy, and always ready to slap Taran down whenever he does something foolish, such as save her life. Through out the books, Eilonwy shows no mercy for constantly reminding Taran that he is nothing but an Assistant Pig-Keeper. In reality, Eilonwy is passionatly in love with Taran, and she has had these feelings since she set her eyes on him. Readers find this out in the last pages of the fifth book. She creates this attitude to hide her feelings. Her love for Taran spills over a little in the movie.
Disney wanted to keep Eilonwy the same character, but tone down her personality. Her stubborn and snippy attitude would have been terribly irritating on the screen.
