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Don Bluth | |
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 Bluth in 2025 | |
| Born | Donald Virgil Bluth (1937-09-13)September 13, 1937 (age 88) El Paso, Texas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Brigham Young University |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1955–present |
| Employers |
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| Notable work |
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| Relatives | Toby Bluth(brother) |
| Family | Pratt family |
| Awards | Inkpot Award (1983)[1] |
| Website | www |
| Signature | |
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Donald Virgil Bluth (/bluːθ/BLOOTH; born September 13, 1937)[2] is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He came to prominence working forWalt Disney Productions before creating his own film studio in the early 1980s. Bluth is best known for directing the animated filmsThe Secret of NIMH,An American Tail,The Land Before Time,All Dogs Go to Heaven, andAnastasia, and for his involvement in the well-knownLaserdisc gameDragon's Lair.Don Bluth Productions hired many animators away from Disney, and Bluth's films were a major competitor to Disney in the 1980s, leading up to theDisney Renaissance.
Bluth was born on September 13, 1937 inEl Paso, Texas, to Emaline (née Pratt) and Virgil Roneal Bluth.[3] His maternal grandfather wasRey Pratt from thePratt family, and his great-grandfatherHelaman Pratt was an early leader inthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as a grandfather ofGeorge W. Romney and great-grandfather ofMitt Romney. He is ofSwedish, 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 everyDisney comic book I could find".[5] At the age of six, his family moved toPayson, 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 toSanta Monica, California.[7] Bluth attendedBrigham Young University in Utah for one year, and then returned later to complete a degree in English.[8]
After graduating high school,[9] Bluth was hired in 1955 byWalt Disney Productions as an assistant toJohn Lounsbery forSleeping Beauty. In 1957, Bluth left Disney, recalling he found the work to be "kind of boring".[10] For two and a half years, Bluth resided inArgentina on amission forthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He returned to the United States where he opened a local theater inCulver City, producing musicals such asThe Music Man andThe Sound of Music.[8]
Bluth returned to college and earned a degree in English literature from Brigham Young University. In 1964, Bluth illustratedAffairs of the Harp, aharp maintenance manual by Samuel O Pratt, with dozens of anthropomorphic cartoon harp characters he called "Harpoons".[11] In 1967, Bluth returned to the animation industry, and joinedFilmation working on layouts forThe Archie Show andSabrina the Teenage Witch.[8] In 1971, he returned full-time to Disney as an animation trainee. His first project wasRobin Hood, in which he animated sequences ofRobin Hood stealing gold fromPrince John, rescuing a rabbit infant, and romancingMaid Marian near a waterfall.[12] ForWinnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, he animatedRabbit alongside John Lounsbery.[12] During production onThe Rescuers, Bluth was promoted to directing animator alongside the remaining members ofDisney's Nine Old Men. He then worked as an animation director onPete's Dragon. His last involvement with Disney was the shortThe Small One. Meanwhile, he produced his first independent film,Banjo the Woodpile Cat.
ForThe 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 ownanimation studio,Don Bluth Productions, along withGary Goldman,John Pomeroy, and nine fellow Disney animators.[13][14] To this end, Don Bluth Productions demonstrated its ability in its first production, a short film titledBanjo the Woodpile Cat, and this led to work on an animated segment of the live-action filmXanadu. The studio's first feature-length film wasThe Secret of NIMH. Bluth employed 160 animators during the production and agreed to the firstprofit sharing contract in the animation industry.[14] 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.[15] Nevertheless, due to the modest gross and an industry-wide animation strike, Don Bluth Productions filed for bankruptcy.[16]
His next film would have been an animated version of the Norwegian folk taleEast of the Sun and West of the Moon, but the financial resources were drawn back and it was never made.[17] In 1983, he,Rick Dyer, Goldman, and Pomeroy started the Bluth Group and created thearcade gameDragon's Lair, anon rails game which let the player choose between simple paths for an animated-cartoon character on screen (whose adventures were played off aLaserDisc). This was followed in 1984 bySpace Ace, ascience-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 forSpace Ace, but he also supplied the voice of the villain, Borf.[18] Work on aDragon's Lair sequel was underway when the video arcade businesscrashed. Bluth's studio was left without a source of income and the Bluth Group filed for bankruptcy on March 1, 1985.[14] A sequel calledDragon's Lair II: Time Warp was made in 1991, but it was rarely seen inarcades.[19]
An adaptation ofBeauty and the Beast was also planned to be directed by Bluth in 1984, but the project was canceled byColumbia Pictures upon discovering that Walt Disney Pictures had plans fortheir own adaptation.[20] In 1985, Bluth, Pomeroy, and Goldman established, with businessmanMorris Sullivan, theSullivan Bluth Studios. It initially operated from an animation facility inVan Nuys, California, but later moved toDublin, Ireland, to take advantage of government investment and incentives. Sullivan Bluth Studios also helped boost animation as an industry within Ireland.[21] Bluth and his colleagues taught an animation course atBallyfermot Senior College.[22]
Teaming up with producerSteven Spielberg, Bluth's next project wasAn 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.[23] The second Spielberg-Bluth collaborationThe Land Before Time did even better in theaters, and both found a successful life on home video.[23][24] The main character inAn American Tail (Fievel Mouskewitz) became the mascot forAmblimation whileThe 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 withAn American Tail: Fievel Goes West, the first film produced by Spielberg's newAmblimation studio. AlthoughAll Dogs Go To Heaven only had moderate theatrical success, it was highly successful in its release to home video.[25] He also directed films, such asRock-a-Doodle,Thumbelina,A Troll in Central Park, andThe Pebble and the Penguin, which were all critical and box office failures; however,Rock-a-Doodle would find greater success on home video.[26][27]
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.[28]
Bluth scored a hit in 1997 withAnastasia, produced atFox Animation Studios inPhoenix, Arizona, which grossed nearly US$140 million worldwide.[29] In a positive review of the film, criticRoger 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 established20th Century Fox as a Disney competitor until 2019, when Disney purchased the company.[30]
Despite the success ofAnastasia, Bluth resumed his string of box office failures withTitan A.E., which made less than $37 million worldwide in 2000 despite an estimated $75 million budget.[31] In 2000, 20th Century Fox Studios shut down the Fox Animation Studio facility in Phoenix, makingTitan 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'sThe Simpsons Movie.[32] It also stands as Bluth's most recent theatrical film as a director.
In 2002, Bluth and video game companyUbisoft developed the video gameDragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair, an attempt to recreate the feel of the originalDragon'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 groundbreakingcel-shading techniques that lent the game a hand-animated feel.[33] As of 2012[update],[34] Don Bluth and Gary Goldman were seeking funding for a film version ofDragon's Lair.[35][36] After apparently sitting in development for over a decade, the project raised over $570,000 via a successful crowdfunding campaign in January 2016.[37] Bluth and Goldman continued to work in video games and were hired to create the in-game cinematics forNamco'sI-Ninja, released in 2003. In October 2004,Polydor Records released the song "Mary", by theScissor Sisters, which was accompanied by a music video for which Bluth did the animation.[38]
The following month,Dark Horse Books released Bluth'sThe Art of Storyboard.[39][40] This was followed in May 2005 by the companion book,The Art of Animation Drawing.[39] In 2009, Bluth was asked to produce storyboards for, and to direct, the 30-minute Saudi Arabian festival filmGift 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.[41] In 2011, Bluth and his game development companySquare One Studios worked withWarner Bros. Digital Distribution to develop a modern reinterpretation of the 1983 arcade classicTapper, titledTapper World Tour.
In October 2015, Bluth and Goldman started aKickstarter campaign in hopes of resurrecting hand-drawn animation by creating an animated feature-length film ofDragon's Lair.[42] Bluth plans for the film to provide more backstory for Dirk and Daphne and show that she is not a "blonde airhead".[43] The Kickstarter funding was canceled when not enough funds had been made close to the deadline, but anIndiegogo page for the project was created in its place.[44] Two months later, Indiegogo campaign reached its goal of $250,000, 14 days after the campaign launched.[45] As of February 2018, the total exceeded $728,000.[46] A live-actionDragon's Lair film starringRyan Reynolds was announced to be released in 2020, but it ended up being postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[47] Bluth was listed as a producer.[48]
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 calledBluth's Fables, an anthology of short stories written, narrated, and drawn by Bluth. The stories are intended to stylistically resembleAesop's Fables andnursery rhymes. The studio's productions are live-streamed first, and then uploaded toYouTube.Bluth's Fables is done with pencil tests and then traced and colored inClip Studio Paint.[49][50][51] Bluth's memoir,Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life, was released on July 19, 2022.[52] His first children's picture book,Yuki, Star of the Sea, was released on April 1, 2024. It tells the story of anorca who is captured and taken to Hollywood to become a movie star.[53]
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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 thevideo game crash of 1983. Many art designs, filmed animation tests and videos of these unfinished projects still circulate online.
The earliest of Bluth's unfinished film projects is aDisney-produced animated short film adaptation of the fairy taleThe Pied Piper of Hamelin from the early 1970s.[54][55] AfterThe Secret of NIMH, Bluth began developing an animated feature film adaptation ofBeauty 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 distributorColumbia Pictures heard the news of Disney beginning work on theirown animated adaptation.[56] That same time, Bluth began developing an animated adaptation ofEast of the Sun and West of the Moon.[57] Ultimately, the film was never made due to a loss of financial backing.[14] Following Don Bluth's partnership with Steven Spielberg, 1986'sAn American Tail was released as Bluth's second film instead. During production ofEast of the Sun and West of the Moon, Bluth also animated ademo reel ofJawbreaker, a proposed television series by Phil Mendez of a boy who finds a magical tooth.[58] 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 ofThe Velveteen Rabbit, a story about an abandoned toy rabbit in pursuit of its child owner. The second film wasSatyrday, based on a story by Steven Bauer about a young boy in a fantasy world who defends the moon and sun from evil forces.[59] Some of the film's concepts were later realized as the 2014 French animated filmMune: Guardian of the Moon.[citation needed] After his partnership with Spielberg ended, Bluth began planning another film titledThe Little Blue Whale with screenwriterRobert Towne. The planned film was about a little girl and her animal friends who try to protect a little whale from evil whalers.[56][60] Other unrealized projects also included plans for an animated short film centered around a magical talking pencil starringDom DeLuise,[61] animated film adaptations of the booksQuintaglio Ascension,The Belgariad, andThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The latter productions were canceled following the box office failure ofTitan A.E. and subsequent closure ofFox Animation Studios. In 2005, alive-actionHitchhiker's film was released byTouchstone Pictures.
Following the success ofDragon'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 the1983 video game crash, these projects were abandoned. The sequel toDragon's Lair,Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, would be shelved until its eventual release in 1991.[62]Blitz Games planned a video game adaptation ofTitan A.E. for thePlayStation andPC in fall 2000 in North America, following the film's summer release.[63] Development on both platforms had begun in March 1999 under the film's original titlePlanet Ice,[64] and an early playable version was showcased at the 2000Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.[63] 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.[65] A sequel to the 2003 gameI-Ninja was planned, which had input from Bluth. Work on the sequel started soon after the first game's release, but its studioArgonaut Games had some economic problems and eventually closed down in October 2004. The few aspects remaining fromI-Ninja 2's development are some concept drawings.[66] A project calledPac-Man Adventures was originally planned in partnership withNamco around 2003 but was scrapped due to financial problems on Namco's part leading to their merger withBandai in 2007 and whatever development assets were left over was made intoPac-Man World 3 with no involvement from Bluth.[67][68]
| 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 | Story | |
| 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 | No | Yes | No | |
| 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 episodeArchie 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 | 1974 | 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 | [citation needed] | |
| Circus Sam(short film) | 2019 | animator | [citation needed] |
| 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 |
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 (...).
The film developed a cult following which only increased with easy access via video and cable showings.
That failure [ofSecret of NIMH] caused Aurora to back out of producing Bluth's next film,East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
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.
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