Don Bluth
- Animation Department
- Director
- Producer
Don Bluth was one of the chief animators at Disney to come to the
mantle after the great one's death. He eventually became the animation
director for such films as
The Rescuers (1977) and
Pete's Dragon (1977).
Unfortunately, the quality of animation that Disney was producing at
this point was not up to par with the great works of Disney, and there
was rumor that the production unit at Disney might be shut down
indefinitely. In retaliation, Bluth and several other animators led a
walkout, and went off to form their own independent animation firm.
Bluth's first animated feature may still be his best.
The Secret of NIMH (1982) was
an animated film based on the children's book "Mrs. Frisbee and the
Rats of Nimh". The film dealt with a widowed field mouse named Mrs.
Brisbee and her plight to move her house before the farmer plants his
field. The rats of Nimh, an organization of super intelligent rats,
band together to help her. "The Secret of NIMH" was a visually
ravishing film that hearkened back to the glory days of Disney. While
animation buffs raved, the film did little business at the box office.
(The growing number of VCR's in America would help the film reach a
cult status on home video). Undaunted, Bluth persevered. He created the
video games
Dragon's Lair (1983) and
Space Ace (1983), both of
which allowed the player to control an actual cartoon. He later teamed
up with Steven Spielberg for the films
An American Tail (1986) and
The Land Before Time (1988).
While Bluth's ambition to restore animation to its previous glory was
being realized, the Disney studio, whose recent films had failed to
match Bluth's at the box office, was finally ready to return to true
quality. With the release of
The Little Mermaid (1989) and
Beauty and the Beast (1991),
Bluth had to compete with a Goliath. After his next film,
All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989),
received mixed opinions and failed to be more than a minor box office
success, Bluth fell into a failing streak of films that were
comparatively mediocre when placed alongside his previous work,
including Rock-A-Doodle (1991), and
Thumbelina (1994). Bluth later joined
forces with 20th Century Fox where he made his first commercial hit in
some time, Anastasia (1997). He
followed up with the ambitious but hollow science fiction fantasy
Titan A.E. (2000). While Bluth has yet
to reach the glory of his earlier work, he nonetheless deserves credit
as a champion of animation, and for surviving as an independent film
maker.
