Don Bluth

American filmmaker and animator (born 1937)

Don Bluth

Bluth at GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2023

Born|

Donald Virgil Bluth

(1937-09-13) September 13, 1937 (age 87)

El Paso, Texas, U.S.

Alma mater| Brigham Young University
Occupations|

* Film director
* animator
* producer
* writer
* production designer
* animation instructor

Years active| 1955–present
Employers|

* Walt Disney Animation Studios (1955–1979)
* Filmation (1967–1970)
* Sullivan Bluth Studios (1979–1995)
* Fox Animation Studios (1994–2000)

Notable work|

* The Secret of NIMH (1982)
* An American Tail (1986)
* The Land Before Time (1988)
* All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
* Anastasia (1997)
* Titan A.E. (2000)
* Dragon's Lair (1983)
* Space Ace (1984)

Relatives| Toby Bluth (brother)
Family| Pratt family
Awards| Inkpot Award (1983)[1]
Website| www.donbluth.com

Donald Virgil Bluth (/bluːθ/ BLOOTH; born September 13, 1937)[2] is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He is best known for directing the animated films The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Anastasia and Titan A.E., for his involvement in the LaserDisc games Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, and for competing with former employer Walt Disney Productions during the years leading up to the films that became the Disney Renaissance.

## Early life

[edit]

Bluth was born on September 13, 1937 in El Paso, Texas, to Emaline (née Pratt) and Virgil Roneal Bluth.[3] His maternal grandfather was Rey Pratt from the Pratt family, whose own father Helaman Pratt was an early leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as a grandfather of George W. Romney and great-grandfather of Mitt Romney. He is of Swedish, English, Irish, Scottish, and German descent.[4]

As a child in El Paso, he rode his horse to the town movie theater to watch Disney films. Bluth later said, "then I'd go home and copy every Disney comic book I could find".[5] At the age of six, his family moved to Payson, Utah, where he lived on a family farm. Bluth has stated that he and his siblings do not communicate with each other as adults.[6] In 1954, his family moved to Santa Monica, California.[7] Bluth attended Brigham Young University in Utah for one year.[8]

## Career

[edit]

### Early work

[edit]

After leaving university, Bluth was hired in 1955 by Walt Disney Productions as an assistant to John Lounsbery for Sleeping Beauty. In 1957, Bluth left Disney, recalling he found the work to be "kind of boring".[9] For two and a half years, Bluth resided in Argentina on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He returned to the United States where he opened a local theater in Culver City, producing musicals such as The Music Man and The Sound of Music.[8]

Bluth returned to college and earned a degree in English literature from Brigham Young University. In 1964, Bluth illustrated Affairs of the Harp, a harp maintenance manual by Samuel O Pratt, with dozens of anthropomorphic cartoon harp characters he called "Harpoons".[10] In 1967, Bluth returned to the animation industry, and joined Filmation working on layouts for The Archie Show and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.[8] In 1971, he returned full-time to Disney as an animation trainee. His first project was Robin Hood, in which he animated sequences of Robin Hood stealing gold from Prince John, rescuing a rabbit infant, and romancing Maid Marian near a waterfall.[11] For Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, he animated Rabbit alongside John Lounsbery.[11] During production on The Rescuers, Bluth was promoted to directing animator alongside the remaining members of Disney's Nine Old Men. He then worked as an animation director on Pete's Dragon. His last involvement with Disney was the short The Small One. Meanwhile, he produced his first independent film, Banjo the Woodpile Cat.

### 1981–1985: Departure from Disney and early critical success

[edit]

For The Fox and the Hound, Bluth animated several scenes of the character Widow Tweed. During production, creative differences between Bluth and studio executives had arisen concerning artistic control and animation training practices. On his 42nd birthday in 1979, Bluth resigned from the studio to establish his own animation studio, Don Bluth Productions, along with Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy, and nine fellow Disney animators.[12][13] To this end, Don Bluth Productions demonstrated its ability in its first production, a short film titled Banjo the Woodpile Cat, and this led to work on an animated segment of the live-action film Xanadu. The studio's first feature-length film was The Secret of NIMH. Bluth employed 160 animators during the production and agreed to the first profit sharing contract in the animation industry.[13] Though only a moderate success in the box office, the movie received critical acclaim. Later, with the home video release and cable showings, it became a cult classic.[14] Nevertheless, due to the modest gross and an industry-wide animation strike, Don Bluth Productions filed for bankruptcy.[15]

His next film would have been an animated version of the Norwegian folk tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, but the financial resources were drawn back and it was never made.[16]

In 1983, he, Rick Dyer, Goldman, and Pomeroy started the Bluth Group and created the arcade game Dragon's Lair, an on rails game which let the player choose between simple paths for an animated-cartoon character on screen (whose adventures were played off a LaserDisc). This was followed in 1984 by Space Ace, a science-fiction game based on the same technology, but which gave the player a choice of different routes to take through the story. Bluth not only created the animation for Space Ace, but he also supplied the voice of the villain, Borf.[17] Work on a Dragon's Lair sequel was underway when the video arcade business crashed. Bluth's studio was left without a source of income and the Bluth Group filed for bankruptcy on March 1, 1985.[13] A sequel called Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp was made in 1991, but it was rarely seen in arcades.[18]

An adaptation of Beauty and the Beast was also planned to be directed by Bluth in 1984, but the project was canceled by Columbia Pictures upon discovering that Walt Disney Pictures had plans for their own adaptation.[19]

In 1985, Bluth, Pomeroy, and Goldman established, with businessman Morris Sullivan, the Sullivan Bluth Studios. It initially operated from an animation facility in Van Nuys, California, but later moved to Dublin, Ireland, to take advantage of government investment and incentives. Sullivan Bluth Studios also helped boost animation as an industry within Ireland.[20] Bluth and his colleagues taught an animation course at Ballyfermot Senior College.[21]

### 1986–1995: Affiliation with Steven Spielberg

[edit]

Teaming up with producer Steven Spielberg, Bluth's next project was An American Tail, which at the time of its release became the highest grossing non-Disney animated film of all time, grossing $45 million in the United States and over $84 million worldwide.[22] The second Spielberg-Bluth collaboration The Land Before Time did even better in theaters, and both found a successful life on home video.[22][23] The main character in An American Tail (Fievel Mouskewitz) became the mascot for Amblimation while The Land Before Time was followed by thirteen direct-to-video sequels and the animated series (none of which had any involvement from Bluth or Spielberg).

Bluth ended his working relationship with Spielberg before his next film, All Dogs Go to Heaven and was not involved with An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, the first film produced by Spielberg's new Amblimation studio. Although All Dogs Go To Heaven only had moderate theatrical success, it was highly successful in its release to home video.[24] He also directed films, such as Rock-a-Doodle, Thumbelina, A Troll in Central Park, and The Pebble and the Penguin, which were all critical and box office failures; however, Rock-a-Doodle would find greater success on home video.[25][26]

### 1990s–2000: Youth theater and Fox Animation Studios

[edit]

In the 1990s, Bluth began hosting youth theater productions in the living room of his Scottsdale, Arizona, home. As the popularity of these productions grew and adults expressed their wishes to become involved, Bluth formed an adult and youth theatre troupe called Don Bluth Front Row Theatre. The troupe's productions were presented in Bluth's home until 2012, when their administrative team leased a space off Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale and converted it into a small theater.[27]

Bluth scored a hit in 1997 with Anastasia, produced at Fox Animation Studios in Phoenix, Arizona, which grossed nearly US$140 million worldwide.[28] In a positive review of the film, critic Roger Ebert observed that its creators "consciously include[d] the three key ingredients in the big Disney hits: action, romance, and music". Anastasia became Don Bluth's most commercially successful film and it established 20th Century Fox as a Disney competitor until 2019, when Disney purchased the company.[29]

Despite the success of Anastasia, Bluth resumed his string of box office failures with Titan A.E., which made less than $37 million worldwide in 2000 despite an estimated $75 million budget.[30] In 2000, 20th Century Fox Studios shut down the Fox Animation Studio facility in Phoenix, making Titan A.E. the last American-made traditionally animated film released by 20th Century Fox in theaters to be fully animated and not a live-action/animation hybrid until the release of 2007's The Simpsons Movie.[31] It also stands as Bluth's most recent theatrical film as a director.

### 2002–2011

[edit]

In 2002, Bluth and video game company Ubisoft developed the video game Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair, an attempt to recreate the feel of the original Dragon's Lair LaserDisc game in a more interactive, three-dimensional environment. Reviews were mixed, with critics both praising and panning the controls and storyline, but the visuals were noteworthy, using groundbreaking cel-shading techniques that lent the game a hand-animated feel.[32] As of 2012[update],[33] Don Bluth and Gary Goldman were seeking funding for a film version of Dragon's Lair.[34][35] After apparently sitting in development for over a decade, the project raised over $570,000 via a successful crowdfunding campaign in January 2016.[36][non-primary source needed]

Bluth and Goldman continued to work in video games and were hired to create the in-game cinematics for Namco's I-Ninja, released in 2003.

In October 2004, Polydor Records released the song "Mary", by the Scissor Sisters, which was accompanied by a music video for which Bluth did the animation.[37]

The following month, Dark Horse Books released Bluth's The Art of Storyboard.[38][39] This was followed in May 2005 by the companion book, The Art of Animation Drawing.[38]

In 2009, Bluth was asked to produce storyboards for, and to direct, the 30-minute Saudi Arabian festival film Gift of the Hoopoe. He ultimately had little say in the animation and content of the film and asked that he not be credited as the director or producer. Despite this, he was credited as the director.[40]

In 2011, Bluth and his game development company Square One Studios worked with Warner Bros. Digital Distribution to develop a modern reinterpretation of the 1983 arcade classic Tapper, titled Tapper World Tour.

### 2015–present: return to animation

[edit]

In October 2015, Bluth and Goldman started a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of resurrecting hand-drawn animation by creating an animated feature-length film of Dragon's Lair.[41] Bluth plans for the film to provide more backstory for Dirk and Daphne and show that she is not a "blonde airhead".[42] The Kickstarter funding was canceled when not enough funds had been made close to the deadline, but an Indiegogo page for the project was created in its place.[43] Two months later, Indiegogo campaign reached its goal of $250,000, 14 days after the campaign launched.[44] As of February 2018, the total exceeded $728,000.[45][non-primary source needed]

A live-action Dragon's Lair film starring Ryan Reynolds was announced to be released in 2020, but it ended up being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[46] Bluth was listed as a producer.[47]

In 2020, Bluth launched a new animation studio called Don Bluth Studios with animator and vice president of the company Lavalle Lee, founder of traditionalanimation.com. His goal is to bring a "renaissance of hand-drawn animation", in the belief that there is an audience demand for it. His first project is called Bluth's Fables, an anthology of short stories written, narrated, and drawn by Bluth. The stories are intended to stylistically resemble Aesop's Fables and nursery rhymes. The studio's productions are live-streamed first, and then uploaded to YouTube. Bluth's Fables is done with pencil tests and then traced and colored in Clip Studio Paint.[48][49][50]

Bluth's memoir, Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life, was released on July 19, 2022.[51][non-primary source needed]

His first children's picture book, Yuki, Star of the Sea was released on On April 1, 2024. It tells the story of a whale who is captured and taken to Hollywood to become a movie star.[52]

## Unproduced projects

[edit]

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|

Throughout Bluth's career, there were many projects that ended up unproduced or unfinished due to studio closures, his severed partnership with Steven Spielberg, or the video game crash of 1983. Many art designs, filmed animation tests and videos of these unfinished projects still circulate online.

### Unproduced films

[edit]

The earliest of Bluth's unfinished film projects is a Disney-produced animated short film adaptation of the fairy tale The Pied Piper of Hamelin from the early 1970s.[53][54][non-primary source needed]

After The Secret of NIMH, Bluth began developing an animated feature film adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. While a few scenes were produced in 1984, the film's production was officially cancelled in 1989, when Don Bluth and the film's distributor Columbia Pictures heard the news of Disney beginning work on their own animated adaptation.[55] That same time, Bluth began developing an animated adaptation of East of the Sun and West of the Moon.[56] Ultimately, the film was never made due to a loss of financial backing.[13] Following Don Bluth's partnership with Steven Spielberg, 1986's An American Tail was released as Bluth's second film instead. During production of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Bluth also animated a demo reel of Jawbreaker, a proposed television series by Phil Mendez of a boy who finds a magical tooth.[57] The series however, was not greenlit.

Two more films were planned during Bluth's partnership with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. The first film was an animated adaptation of The Velveteen Rabbit, a story about an abandoned toy rabbit in pursuit of its child owner. The second film was Satyrday, based on a story by Steven Bauer about a young boy in a fantasy world who defends the moon and sun from evil forces.[58] Some of the film's concepts were later realized as the 2014 French animated film Mune: Guardian of the Moon.[citation needed] After his partnership with Spielberg ended, Bluth began planning another film titled The Little Blue Whale with screenwriter Robert Towne. The planned film was about a little girl and her animal friends who try to protect a little whale from evil whalers.[55][59]

Other unrealized projects also included plans for an animated short film centered around a magical talking pencil starring Dom DeLuise,[60] animated film adaptations of the books Quintaglio Ascension, The Belgariad, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The latter productions were canceled following the box office failure of Titan A.E. and subsequent closure of Fox Animation Studios. In 2005, a live-action Hitchhiker's film was released by Touchstone Pictures.

### Unproduced games

[edit]

Following the success of Dragon's Lair in 1983, Don Bluth began plans for seven more arcade games: "The Sea Beast", "Jason and the Golden Fleece", "Devil's Island", "Haywire", "Drac", "Cro Magnon", and "Sorceress". Due to the budgeting issues and the 1983 video game crash, these projects were abandoned. The sequel to Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, would be shelved until its eventual release in 1991.[61][non-primary source needed]

Blitz Games planned a video game adaptation of Titan A.E. for the PlayStation and PC in fall 2000 in North America, following the film's summer release.[62] Development on both platforms had begun in March 1999 under the film's original title Planet Ice,[63] and an early playable version was showcased at the 2000 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.[62] In July 2000, a spokesman from the game's publisher, Fox Interactive, announced that development on the title had been halted largely due to the film's poor box office performance which was "only one of many different factors" that led to its cancellation.[64]

A sequel to the 2003 game I-Ninja was planned, which had input from Bluth.[citation needed] Work on the sequel started soon after the first game's release, but its studio Argonaut Games had some economic problems and eventually closed down in October 2004. The few aspects remaining from I-Ninja 2's development are some concept drawings.[65]

A project called Pac-Man Adventures was originally planned in partnership with Namco around 2003 but was scrapped due to financial problems on Namco's part leading to their merger with Bandai in 2007 and whatever development assets were left over was made into Pac-Man World 3 with no involvement from Bluth.[66][67][non-primary source needed]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Filmmaking credits

[edit]

Title  | Year  | Functioned as

|
|

Director | Producer | Writer | Other credits
The Small One (short film) | 1978  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | animator: auction scene - uncredited
Banjo the Woodpile Cat (short film, direct-to-TV) | 1979  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | animator
The Secret of NIMH | 1982  | Yes  | Yes  | Story  | Layout Artist / Directing Animator
An American Tail | 1986  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | Production Designer / Storyboard Artist / Title Designer
The Land Before Time | 1988  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | production designer / storyboard artist
All Dogs Go to Heaven | 1989  | Yes  | Yes  | Story  | production designer / storyboard artist / voice role: Policeman (uncredited)
Rock-a-Doodle | 1991  | Yes  | Yes  | Story  | storyboard artist / animator (uncredited)
Thumbelina | 1994  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | writer (Don Bluth's only writing credit)
A Troll in Central Park | Yes  | Yes  | Story  | voice role: Trolls - uncredited
The Pebble and the Penguin | 1995  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | (uncredited)
Anastasia | 1997  | Yes  | Yes  | No  |
Bartok the Magnificent (direct-to-video) | 1999  | Yes  | Yes  | No  |
Titan A.E. | 2000  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | Most recent theatrical film
Scissor Sisters – "Mary" (music video) | 2004  | Yes  | No  | No  | animation director
Gift of the Hoopoe (short film) | 2009  | Yes  | No  | No  | nominally director / storyboard artist
Dragon's Lair: The Movie | TBA  | Yes  | No  | Yes  | animated director / writer

### Animation department

[edit]

Title  | Year(s)  | Role  | Characters  | Notes

|
|
|
|

Sleeping Beauty | 1959  | inbetween artist  |  | uncredited
Fantastic Voyage (television series) | 1968–69  | layout artist  |  | 17 episodes
The Archie Show (television series) | 1969  | production designer  |  | special episode Archie and His New Pals
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (television series) | 1969–72  | layout artist  |  | 58 episodes
Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down (television series) | 1970  | layout artist  |  | episode "Computer Suitor"
Groovie Goolies (television series) | layout artist  |  | 16 episodes
Lost and Foundation (short film) | layout artist  |  |
Train Terrain (short film) | 1971  | layout artist  |  |
Journey Back to Oz | 1972  | layout artist  |  |
Robin Hood | 1973  | character animator  | Robin Hood, Skippy, Sis and Tagalong  |
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too | 1975  | animator | Rabbit |
Escape to Witch Mountain | 1975  | animator: titles  |  | uncredited
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh | 1977  | animator | Rabbit |
The Rescuers | 1977  | directing animator  | Bernard and Miss Bianca  |
Pete's Dragon | 1977  | animation director  | Elliott  |
Xanadu | 1980  | animator: animation sequence unit  |  |
The Fox and the Hound | 1981  | animator | Widow Tweed  | uncredited
You Are Mine (short film) | 2002  | storyboard artist  |  |
Circus Sam (short film) | 2019  | animator |  |

## Video games

[edit]

Title  | Year  | Functioned as

|
|

Director  | Producer  | Other credits
Dragon's Lair | 1983  | Yes  | Yes  | animator
Space Ace | Yes  | Yes  | voice role: Borf / game designer
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp | 1991  | Yes  | Yes  |
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair | 2002  | Yes  | Yes  | intro and ending: animation director / background artist
I-Ninja | 2003  | Yes  | No  | cinematics: director / storyboard artist
Tapper World Tour | 2011  | Yes  | No  | animator

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life (2022)
* Yuki - Star of the Sea: A Don Bluth Fable (2023)

## See also

[edit]

* Animation portal
* Disney portal
* 20th Century Studios portal

* Sony Pictures Animation
* Fox Animation Studios
* Don Bluth Entertainment
* Threshold Entertainment
* Vanguard Animation
* Worker Studio

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Inkpot Award". Comic Con. December 6, 2012.
2. ^ Bendazzi, Giannalberto (October 2015). "A Cat in the Heavy Traffic". Animation: A World History: Volume II: The Birth of a Style – The Three Markets. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-317-51990-4. "Among the directors of feature films, Don Bluth is noteworthy. Born in El Paso, Texas, on 13 September 1937, Bluth went to Disney in 1956 (...)."
3. ^ "Don Bluth". Mormons in Business. Archived from the original on January 15, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
4. ^ William Addams Reitwiesner. "The Ancestors of Mitt Romney". Retrieved July 24, 2012.
5. ^ Cardwell, Lynda (February 1, 1984). "Laser disc arcade games could become wave of the future". The Gadsden Times. pp. A8. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
6. ^ "Shut Up and Talk: Don Bluth and Gary Goldman". Channel Awesome. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
7. ^ Cawley 1990, p. 11.
8. ^ a b c Culhane, John (August 1, 1976). "The Old Disney Magic". The New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
9. ^ Cawley 1990, p. 13.
10. ^ Pratt, Samual O (1964). Affairs of the Harp. Illustrated by Don Bluth. New York: Charles Colin.
11. ^ a b Hunter, James Michael (2012). "The Mormon Influence at Disney". Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon. Praeger. pp. 58–61. ISBN 978-0-313-39167-5.
12. ^ Harmetz, Aljean (September 20, 1979). "11 Animators Quit Disney, Form Studio". The New York Times. p. C14. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
13. ^ a b c d Heintjes, Tom (May 1985). "Newswatch: Bluth animation firm goes bankrupt". The Comics Journal. No. 98\. p. 19. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
14. ^ Cawley, John. "The Secret of N.I.M.H." The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Cataroo.com. Retrieved July 30, 2012. "The film developed a cult following which only increased with easy access via video and cable showings."
15. ^ Cawley 1990, pp. 57–58.
16. ^ Beck, Jerry (June 1996). "Don Bluth Goes Independent". Animation World Magazine. Retrieved August 10, 2012. "That failure [of Secret of NIMH] caused Aurora to back out of producing Bluth's next film, East of the Sun, West of the Moon."
17. ^ Cawley, John. "Space Ace". The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Cataroo.com. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
18. ^ "Dragon's Lair II". The International Arcade Museum. Retrieved August 10, 2012. "This game ranks a 24 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records."
19. ^ Bluth, Don (1984). Exposure sheet: Official newsletter of the Don Bluth Animation Fan Club. Vol. 5\. Tarzana, Los Angeles: Don Bluth Studios.
20. ^ "Estudios Irlandeses – Drawing Conclusions: Irish Animation and National Cinema". estudiosirlandeses.org (in European Spanish). Retrieved February 12, 2017.
21. ^ Melena Ryzik (March 3, 2010). "An Animated Irish Invasion". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
22. ^ a b Cawley, John. "An American Tail". The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Cataroo.com. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
23. ^ Cawley, John. "The Land Before Time". The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Cataroo.com. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
24. ^ Cawley, John. "All Dogs Go To Heaven". The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Cataroo.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
25. ^ Berman, Marc (November 1, 1992). "Sell-Through Soaring". Variety. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
26. ^ Hopkins, Evan; Khan, Fawzia; Iacobucci, Jordan (May 6, 2024). "25 Animated Films '90s Kids Loved (But Totally Forgot About)". CBR. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
27. ^ Trimble, Lynn (July 7, 2016). "Don Bluth Front Row Theatre in Scottsdale Needs $50,000 to Stay Open".
28. ^ "Anastasia (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
29. ^ Ebert, Roger (November 21, 1997). "Anastasia". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
30. ^ "Titan A.E. (2000)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
31. ^ "20th Century Fox Feature Films (Fox Animation Studios) Animated Theatrical Cartoons (1977–)". The Big Cartoon Database. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
32. ^ "Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair". Metacritic. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
33. ^ Arrant, Chris (April 5, 2012). "EXCLUSIVE: Don Bluth Talks About His Return To "Dragon's Lair"". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on May 9, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
34. ^ Kelly, Kevin (May 1, 2007). "Don Bluth trying to make Dragon's Lair movie". Joystiq. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
35. ^ Weinberg, Scott (April 2, 2007). "Don Bluth Still Wants to Make a 'Dragon's Lair' Movie". Moviefone. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
36. ^ "Dragons Lair Returns | Indiegogo". Indiegogo. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
37. ^ Paolo (October 2, 2004). "Don Bluth animates Scissor Sisters video". Animated Views. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
38. ^ a b "Don Bluth's art of animation drawing". School of Visual Arts. Archived from the original on April 21, 2024. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
39. ^ Bluth, Don (2004). "Don Bluth's Art Of Storyboarding". Dark Horse Books. Retrieved April 21, 2024 - via Internet Archive.
40. ^ "Gift of the Hoopoe -Recent film of Don Bluth?". Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
41. ^ "Dragon's Lair: The Movie (Canceled)". Kickstarter.
42. ^ "Dragon's Lair Movie Won't Depict "Sexualized" Version of Princess Daphne". GameSpot. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
43. ^ "Dragon's Lair Returns". Indiegogo.
44. ^ "Dragon's Lair Returns". Indiegogo.
45. ^ "Dragon's Lair Returns". Indiegogo.
46. ^ "Netflix requires rights to the Dragon's Lair film". /Film. March 27, 2020.
47. ^ "Dragon's Lair movie coming to Netflix, with Ryan Reynolds starring". Polygon. March 28, 2020.
48. ^ Lee, Lavalle (September 11, 2020). "BLUTH FABLES – NEW CONCEPT BY THE NEWLY FORMED DON BLUTH STUDIOS". Traditional Animation. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
49. ^ Hakim, Nicole (September 11, 2020). "Don Bluth Launches New Studio, Hopeful for a 'Renaissance of Hand-Drawn Animation'". CBR. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
50. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (September 11, 2020). "Don Bluth Forms New 'Totally Transparent' 2D Studio". Animation Magazine. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
51. ^ @DonBluth (December 17, 2021). "I am very excited to announce the publication of my autobiography, "Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life". The pre-order is now available. I think, for anyone going into the art of animation, this is a must-read. I hope you enjoy it" (Tweet). Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022 - via Twitter.
52. ^ "Don Bluth Studios". www.donbluthstudios.com.
53. ^ "Sections of Piper Short" - via YouTube.
54. ^ @DonBluth (December 13, 2017). "ENROLL TODAY! Get a full year of ONLINE classes from Master Animator & Director Don Bluth! Classes start Feb 6th, 2…" (Tweet) - via Twitter.
55. ^ a b Cawley 1990, p. 149.
56. ^ Culhane, John (July 4, 1982). "Special Effects Are Revolutionizing Film". The New York Times.
57. ^ ""Jawbreaker" Story". Archived from the original on April 30, 2019.
58. ^ Cawley 1990, pp. 149–150.
59. ^ "The Little Blue Whale – Color Keys (part 1): Storyboards 4–45". SCAD Libraries.
60. ^ "The Magic Pencils – Character Sketch". SCAD Libraries.
61. ^ @DonBluth (November 10, 2015). "Don Bluth's game concept posters made in 1984. Support Dragon's Lair Kickstarter!" (Tweet) - via Twitter.
62. ^ a b Douglas C., Perry (June 22, 2000). "Titan A.E." IGN. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
63. ^ Gestalt (November 8, 2000). "Philip Oliver of Blitz Games". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
64. ^ "Titan A.E. Canned". IGN. July 26, 2000. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
65. ^ "I-Ninja 2 Cancelled". Unseen64. December 3, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
66. ^ "Pac-Man Adventures -- Don Bluth's Character and Environment designs". SCAD Libraries.
67. ^ @DonBluth (December 16, 2015). "Check out these storyboard concept cut scenes for an interactive Pac-man game back in 2004" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 11, 2021 - via Twitter.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Cawley, John (1990). The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Image Pub of New York. ISBN 0-685-50334-8. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
* Grant, John Grant (2000). Masters of Animation. Watson-Guptill. ISBN 0-8230-3041-5.

## External links

[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Don Bluth.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Don Bluth.

* Official website
* Don Bluth's channel on YouTube
* Don Bluth at IMDb
* The Dot Eaters entry on Bluth and the development of Dragon's Lair
* Remembering NIMH An interview with Don Bluth Studios about the making of The Secret of NIMH
* Don Bluth Interview Part 1 and Part 2 about his influences and the making of Dragon's Lair
* Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database

* v
* t
* e

Don Bluth

Films directed|

* The Secret of NIMH (1982)
* An American Tail (1986)
* The Land Before Time (1988)
* All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
* Rock-a-Doodle (1991)
* Thumbelina (1994)
* A Troll in Central Park (1994)
* The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
* Anastasia (1997)
* Bartok the Magnificent (1999)
* Titan A.E. (2000)

| Short films|

* The Small One (1978)
* Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979)
* "Mary" (2004)

|

Video
games|

| Dragon's Lair|

* Dragon's Lair (1983)
* Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp (1991)
* Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair (2002)

|

* Space Ace (1983)
* I-Ninja (2003)
* Tapper World Tour (2011)

Characters|

* Mrs. Brisby
* Anya

Related
articles|

* Sullivan Bluth Studios
* Fox Animation Studios
* Gary Goldman
* John Pomeroy
* Morris Sullivan

* v
* t
* e

Rats of NIMH

Novels|

* Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
* Racso and the Rats of NIMH
* R-T, Margaret, and the Rats of NIMH

Films|

| Theatrical|

* The Secret of NIMH

|

Direct-to-video|

* The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue

Characters|

* Mrs. Brisby

Creators|

* Robert C. O'Brien
* Jane Leslie Conly
* Don Bluth
* Dick Sebast

See also|

* National Institute of Mental Health
* Jerry Goldsmith
* John B. Calhoun
* Lee Holdridge

* v
* t
* e

Inkpot Award (1980s)

1980|

* Terry Austin
* Murray Bishoff
* Pat Boyette
* John Byrne
* National Film Board of Canada
* Ernie Chan
* Chris Claremont
* Shary Flenniken
* Mike Friedrich
* Rick Geary
* Don Glut
* S. Gross
* Al Hartley
* B. Kliban
* Jerry Muller
* Joe Orlando
* Fred Patten
* Don Phelps
* Richard Pini
* Wendy Pini
* David Raskin
* Scott Shaw!
* Jim Shooter
* John Stanley
* B. K. Taylor
* Osamu Tezuka
* Adam West
* Wally Wood

1981|

* Jerry Bails
* L. B. Cole
* Jim Fitzpatrick
* Dick Giordano
* Dave Graue
* Paul Gulacy
* Mary Henderson
* Karl Hubenthal
* Bil Keane
* Frank Miller
* Doug Moench
* Monkey Punch
* Dennis O'Neil
* Gary Owens
* Richard Rockwell
* Allen Saunders
* Julius Schwartz
* Mike Sekowsky
* Bill Sienkiewicz
* Dave Sim
* Alex Toth
* Morrie Turner
* Bill Woggon

1982|

* Bob Bindig
* Brian Bolland
* Russ Cochran
* David Cockrum
* Max Allan Collins
* Chase Craig
* Archie Goodwin
* Mike Grell
* Bruce Hamilton
* Jack Katz
* Howard Kazanjian
* Hank Ketcham
* Walter Koenig
* Richard Kyle
* Lee Marrs
* Frank Marshall
* John Pound
* Tony Raiola
* Steven Spielberg
* Leonard Starr
* Robert Williams

1983|

* Douglas Adams
* Maeheah Alzmann
* Jim Aparo
* Don Bluth
* Floyd Gottfredson
* Norman Maurer
* George Pérez
* Arn Saba
* Dan Spiegle
* Joe Staton
* James Van Hise
* Cat Yronwode

1984|

* Murphy Anderson
* Román Arámbula
* Greg Bear
* Fae Gates Desmond
* Stan Drake
* John Field
* Rick Hoberg
* Greg Jein
* Ollie Johnston
* Brant Parker
* Robert Shayne
* Curt Swan
* Frank Thomas
* Jim Valentino
* Al Williamson

1985|

* Brent Anderson
* Ben Bova
* David Brin
* Jack Cummings
* Jack Davis
* Alan Moore
* Dan O'Bannon
* Tom Orzechowski
* John Rogers
* Alex Schomburg
* Walt Simonson

1986|

* Poul Anderson
* Marion Zimmer Bradley
* Dave Gibbons
* Jean "Moebius" Giraud
* Gilbert Hernandez
* Jaime Hernandez
* Denis Kitchen
* Steve Leialoha
* Marty Nodell
* Harvey Pekar
* Mark Stadler
* Dave Stevens

1987|

* Steve Ditko
* Harlan Ellison
* Larry Geeck
* Ward Kimball
* Deni Loubert
* Bill Messner-Loebs
* Mike Peters
* Bill Schanes
* Steve Schanes
* Robert Silverberg
* Art Spiegelman
* Bernie Wrightson
* Ray Zone

1988|

* Frank Alison
* Robert Asprin
* Mike Baron
* Lynda Barry
* John Bolton
* Jules Feiffer
* Raymond E. Feist
* Matt Groening
* Gary Groth
* George R. R. Martin
* Mike Pasqua
* Steve Rude
* Marie Severin
* Matt Wagner

1989|

* Richard Alf
* Robert Crumb
* Howard Cruse
* Kevin Eastman
* Lee Falk
* Ron Goulart
* Walt Kelly
* Peter Laird
* Syd Mead
* Andre Norton
* Jerry Robinson
* Diana Schutz
* Janet Tait
* Ron Turner
* Gahan Wilson

* Complete list
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s

* v
* t
* e

Winsor McCay Award (2000s)

2000|

* Norman McCabe
* Hoyt Curtin
* Lucille Bliss

2001|

* Bill Justice
* Pete Alvarado
* Bob Givens

2002|

* Gene Hazelton
* Floyd Norman
* Sherman Brothers

2003|

* Gene Deitch
* John Hench
* Thurl Ravenscroft

2004|

* Don Bluth
* Virginia Davis
* Arnold Stang

2005|

* Corny Cole
* Fred Crippen
* Tyrus Wong

2006|

* Andreas Deja
* Genndy Tartakovsky
* Bill Plympton

2007|

* John Canemaker
* Glen Keane
* John Kricfalusi

2008|

* Mike Judge
* John Lasseter
* Nick Park

2009|

* Tim Burton
* Jeffrey Katzenberg
* Bruce Timm

* Complete list
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Japan
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Korea
* Poland
* Israel

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC

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