Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...
,
animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games ...
,
production designer
In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...
, and animation instructor, best known for his animated films, including ''
The Secret of NIMH'' (1982), ''
An American Tail'' (1986), ''
The Land Before Time
''The Land Before Time'' is an American animated film series and media franchise created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, distributed by Universal Pictures and centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous ''The Land Befo ...
'' (1988), ''
All Dogs Go to Heaven'' (1989), ''
Anastasia
Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning " resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the mo ...
'' (1997), and ''
Titan A.E.'' (2000), for his involvement in the
LaserDisc game ''
Dragon's Lair'' (1983), and for competing with former employer
Walt Disney Productions
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...
during the years leading up to the films that became the
Disney Renaissance
The Disney Renaissance was the period from 1989 to 1999 during which Walt Disney Feature Animation returned to producing critically and commercially successful animated films that were mostly musical adaptations of well-known stories, much ...
. He is the older brother of illustrator
Toby Bluth.
Early life and Disney years
Bluth was born in
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...
, to Emaline (née Pratt) and Virgil Ronceal Bluth. His maternal grandfather was
Rey Pratt
Rey Lucero Pratt (October 11, 1878 – April 14, 1931) served the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for 23 years as president of its Mexican Mission and for six years as a general authority. Pratt helped establish the c ...
from the
Pratt family
The Pratt family is made up of the descendants of the Mormon pioneer brothers, Parley Parker Pratt and his brother Orson Pratt, whose father was Jared Pratt (1769–1839). It has many members in Utah, and other parts of the U.S. There are many ...
, whose own father
Helaman Pratt was an early leader in
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
as well as a grandfather of
George W. Romney and great-grandfather of
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...
. He is of
Swedish, English, Irish,
Scottish, and German descent.
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".
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. In 1954, his family moved to
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
. There, Bluth attended
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
in Utah for one year. Afterwards, in 1955, he was hired by
Walt Disney Productions
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...
as an assistant to
John Lounsbery for ''
Sleeping Beauty
''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
'' (1959). In 1957, Bluth left Disney, recalling he found the work to be "kind of boring". For two and a half years, Bluth resided in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
on a
mission for
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
. He returned to the United States where he opened a local theater in
Culver City
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...
, producing musicals such as ''
The Music Man
''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...
'' and ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...
''.
Bluth returned to college and earned a degree in English literature from Brigham Young University. In 1967, Bluth returned to the animation industry, and joined
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...
working on layouts for ''
The Archie Show
''The Archie Show'' (also known as ''The Archies)'' is an American musical animated sitcom television series produced by Filmation for CBS. Based on the Archie Comics, created by Bob Montana in 1941, ''The Archie Show'' aired Saturday morning ...
'' and ''
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeare ...
''.
In 1971, he returned full-time to Disney as an animation trainee. His first project was ''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
'' (1973), in which he animated sequences of
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
stealing gold from
Prince John, rescuing a rabbit infant, and romancing
Maid Marian
Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circums ...
near a waterfall.
For ''
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too'' (1974), he animated
Rabbit
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit sp ...
alongside John Lounsbery.
During production on ''
The Rescuers'' (1977), 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'' (1977). His last involvement with Disney was the 1978 short ''
The Small One''. Meanwhile, he produced his first independent film, ''
Banjo the Woodpile Cat''.
Independent years
Early critical success
For ''
The Fox and the Hound
''The Fox and the Hound'' is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. The 24th Disney animated feature film, the film tells the st ...
'' (1981), 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
Don Bluth Entertainment (formerly Sullivan Bluth Studios) was an Irish-American animation studio established in 1979 by animator Don Bluth. Bluth and several colleagues, all of whom were former Disney animators, left Disney on September 13, 1979, ...
, along with
Gary Goldman,
John Pomeroy, and nine fellow Disney animators.
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'' (1980). The studio's first feature-length film was ''
The Secret of NIMH'' (1982). Bluth employed 160 animators during the production and agreed to the first
profit sharing
Profit sharing is various incentive plans introduced by businesses that provide direct or indirect payments to employees that depend on company's profitability in addition to employees' regular salary and bonuses. In publicly traded companies th ...
contract in the animation industry.
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. Nevertheless, due to the modest gross and an industry-wide animation strike, Don Bluth Productions filed for bankruptcy.
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.
In 1981, he,
Rick Dyer, Goldman, and Pomeroy started the Bluth Group and created the
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade vi ...
''
Dragon's Lair'', an
on rails game which let the player choose between simple paths for an animated-
cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...
character on screen (whose adventures were played off a
LaserDisc
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diameter typical ...
). This was followed in 1984 by ''
Space Ace'', a
science-fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
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. 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.
A sequel called ''
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp'' was made in 1991, but it was rarely seen in
arcades.
An adaptation of ''
Beauty and the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...
'' was also planned to be directed by Bluth in 1984, but the project was canceled by
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
upon discovering that Walt Disney Pictures had plans for
their own adaptation.
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
Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
History
In 1909, ...
, but later moved to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
, Ireland, to take advantage of government investment and incentives. Sullivan Bluth Studios also helped boost animation as an industry within Ireland. Bluth and his colleagues taught an animation course at
Ballyfermot Senior College
Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE; ) is an educational institution in Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland, a college of further and higher education.
Management
Ballyfermot College of Further Education is managed by the City of Du ...
.
Affiliation with Steven Spielberg
Teaming up with producer
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...
, Bluth's next project was ''
An American Tail'' (1986), 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.
The second Spielberg-Bluth collaboration ''
The Land Before Time
''The Land Before Time'' is an American animated film series and media franchise created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, distributed by Universal Pictures and centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous ''The Land Befo ...
'' (1988) did even better in theaters and both found a successful life on home video.
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 (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'' (1989), and was not involved with ''
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' (1991), the first movie 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. He also directed films, such as ''
Rock-a-Doodle'' (1992), ''
Thumbelina
Thumbelina (; da, Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" i ...
'' (1994), ''
A Troll in Central Park
''A Troll in Central Park'' (released in some countries as ''Stanley's Magic Garden'') is a 1994 American animated musical fantasy comedy film co-directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The film stars the voice talents of Dom DeLuise, Cloris Leach ...
'' (1994), and ''
The Pebble and the Penguin'' (1995), which were all critical and box office failures.
Work at Fox Animation Studios
Bluth scored a hit with ''
Anastasia
Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning " resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the mo ...
'' (1997), produced at
Fox Animation Studios in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
, which grossed nearly US$140 million worldwide. In a positive review of the movie, critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
observed that its creators "consciously include
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
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
as a Disney competitor until 2019, when Disney purchased the company, and with it, ''Anastasia'' became part of Disney's library, which lead to speculation and enthusiasm that ''Anastasia'' would be added to the
Disney Princess
''Disney Princess'', also called the ''Princess Line'', is a media franchise and toy line owned by the Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a lineup of female protagonists who ha ...
lineup.
Despite the success of ''Anastasia,'' Bluth resumed his string of box office failures with ''
Titan A.E.'' (2000), which made less than $37 million worldwide despite an estimated $75 million budget. In 2000, 20th Century Fox Studios shut down the Fox Animation Studio facility in Phoenix, making ''Titan A.E.'' the last traditionally animated film released by 20th Century Fox in theaters until the release of 2007's ''
The Simpsons Movie
''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. The film was directed by the show's supervising director David Silverman (animator), David Silverman and star ...
''. It also stands as Bluth's most recent theatrical film as a director.
Return to animation
On October 26, 2015, Bluth and Goldman started a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign in hopes of resurrecting hand-drawn animation by creating an animated feature-length film of ''
Dragon's Lair''. Bluth plans for the film to provide more backstory for Dirk and Daphne and show that she is not a "blonde airhead". 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.
On December 14, 2015, the Indiegogo campaign reached its goal of $250,000, 14 days after the campaign launched; the total exceeded $728,000.
On March 26, 2020, it was announced that a live-action ''Dragon's Lair'' film starring
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion.
He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...
would be released on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
later in the year, although it ended up being postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. Bluth will be listed as a producer.
On September 11, 2020, it was announced that Bluth had 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 will stylistically resemble
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...
and
nursery rhyme
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes.
From ...
s. The studio's productions will be live-streamed first, and then uploaded to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
. ''Bluth's Fables'' is done with pencil tests and then traced and colored in
Clip Studio Paint
Clip Studio Paint (previously marketed as Manga Studio in North America), informally known in Japan as ,A clipping of the Japanese pronunciation of its name, ''Kurippu Sutajio Peinto''. is a family of software applications developed by Japanese ...
.
Unproduced projects
Throughout Don Bluth's career, there were many projects that ended up unproduced or unfinished due to studio closures, Bluth's severed partnership with Steven Spielberg, or the
video game crash of 1983
The video game crash of 1983 (known as the Atari shock in Japan) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985, primarily in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including ma ...
. Many art designs, filmed animation tests and videos of these unfinished projects still circulate online.
Unproduced films
The earliest of Bluth's unfinished film projects is a
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
-produced animated short film adaptation of the fairy tale ''
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany.
The legend dates back to ...
'' from the early 1970s.
After ''
The Secret of NIMH'', Bluth began developing an animated feature film adaptation of ''
Beauty and the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...
''. 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
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
heard the news of Disney beginning work on their
own animated adaptation. That same time, Bluth began developing an animated adaptation of ''
East of the Sun and West of the Moon''. Ultimately, the film was never made due to a loss of financial backing.
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
A showreel (also known as a demo reel, sizzle reel, or work reel) is a short video showcasing a person's previous work used by many kinds of people involved in filmmaking and other media, including actors, animators, lighting designers, editors, a ...
of ''Jawbreaker'', a proposed television series by Phil Mendez of a boy who finds a magical tooth.
The series however, was not greenlit.
After acquiring the rights to
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
songs in the mid-1980s,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...
approached Bluth with a movie idea called ''Strawberry Fields Forever''. The film would have had animated ''
Fantasia
Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcor ...
''-style vignettes featuring Beatles songs, similar to ''
Yellow Submarine''. Bluth agreed to the idea, and even planned to produce the film in
computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...
. Had the movie been made, it would have predated the ground-breaking 1995 Pixar film ''
Toy Story'' by about eight years. The project fell through when surviving Beatles members denied permission to use their images in the animated film. Only a scene of test footage featuring a group of "Beatle's gangsters" survives.
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. Some of the film's concepts were later realized as the 2014 French animated film ''
Mune: Guardian of the Moon''. After his partnership with Spielberg ended, Bluth began planning another film titled ''The Little Blue Whale'' with screenwriter
Robert Towne
Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz;'' Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'' by Peter Biskind page 30, 1999 Bloomsbury edition November 23, 1934) is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He started with writing films for Roger ...
. The planned film was about a little girl and her animal friends who try to protect a little whale from evil whalers.
Other unrealized projects also included plans for an animated short film centered around a magical talking pencil starring
Dom DeLuise, animated film adaptations of the books ''
Quintaglio Ascension'', ''
The Belgariad'', and ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...
''. 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
Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...
.
Unproduced games
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.
Blitz Games
Blitz Games Studios Limited was a British video game developer based in Leamington Spa. Founded in 1990 by the Oliver Twins, who ran the company until its closure in 2013, it is best known for producing games such as ''The Fairly OddParents'', ...
planned a video game adaptation of ''Titan A.E.'' to be released for the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
and
PC in fall 2000 in North America, following the film's summer release.
Development on both platforms had begun in March 1999 under the film's original title ''Planet Ice'', and an early playable version was showcased at the 2000
Electronic Entertainment Expo
E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publishe ...
in Los Angeles.
In July 2000, a spokesman from the game's publisher,
Fox Interactive
Fox Interactive was an American video game publisher based in Los Angeles, California. The company published games based on 20th Century Fox properties, yet also published several original titles, such as '' Croc: Legend of the Gobbos''.
Histo ...
, 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.
A sequel to the 2003 game ''
I-Ninja'' was planned, which had input from Bluth. Work on the sequel started soon after the first game's release, but its studio
Argonaut Games
Argonaut Games PLC was a British video game developer founded in 1982, most notable for the development of the Super NES video game ''Star Fox'' and its supporting Super FX hardware, as well as for developing '' Croc: Legend of the Gobbos'' an ...
had some economic problems and eventually closed down in October 2004. The few aspects remaining from ''I-Ninja 2'' development are some concept drawings.
A project called ''Pac-Man Adventures'' was originally planned in partnership with
Namco
was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...
around 2003, but was scrapped due to financial problems on Namco's part leading to their merger with
Bandai
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...
in 2007 and whatever development assets were left over was made into ''
Pac-Man World 3'' with no involvement from Bluth.
Recent work
In 2002, Bluth and video game company
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', ...
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. However, the visuals were noteworthy, using groundbreaking
cel-shading
Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3-D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimi ...
techniques that lent the game a hand-animated feel. , Don Bluth and Gary Goldman were seeking funding for a film version of ''Dragon's Lair''. After apparently sitting in development for over a decade, the project raised over $570,000 via a successful crowdfunding campaign in January 2016.
Bluth and Goldman continued to work in video games and were hired to create the in-game cinematics for
Namco
was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...
's ''
I-Ninja'', released in 2003.
In 2004, Bluth did the animation for the music video "
Mary", by the
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters were an American pop rock band formed in 2001. Its members include Jake Shears and Ana Matronic as vocalists, Babydaddy as multi-instrumentalist, Del Marquis as lead guitar/bassist, and Randy Real (who replaced Paddy Boom) ...
. The band contacted Bluth after having recalled fond memories of the sequence from ''
Xanadu''.
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. Nonetheless, he was credited as the director.
In 2011, Bluth and his game development company
Square One Studios
''Tapper World Tour'' is a reinterpretation of the 1983 Bally Midway arcade game '' Tapper'' for iOS. Players take the role of a bartender with the goal of serving drinks and collecting empty glasses and tips from a demanding group of patrons. Th ...
worked with
Warner Bros. Digital Distribution to develop a modern reinterpretation of the 1983 arcade classic ''
Tapper'', titled ''
Tapper World Tour
''Tapper World Tour'' is a reinterpretation of the 1983 Bally Midway arcade game '' Tapper'' for iOS. Players take the role of a bartender with the goal of serving drinks and collecting empty glasses and tips from a demanding group of patrons. T ...
''.
As an author
Bluth has authored a series of books for students of animation: 2004's ''The Art of Storyboard'', and 2005's ''The Art of Animation Drawing''. On December 17, 2021, Bluth announced he was publishing a memoir, ''Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life'', released on July 19, 2022.
As a theater director
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.
Filmography
Filmmaking credits
Animation department
Video games
See also
*
Sullivan Bluth Studios
*
Fox Animation Studios
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
*
The Dot Eaters entryon Bluth and the development of ''Dragon's Lair''
An interview with Don Bluth Studios about the making of ''The Secret of NIMH''
Don Bluth & Gary Goldman: Long-running FunAn interview with Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Don Bluth Interview Part 1an
Part 2about his influences and the making of ''Dragon's Lair''
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bluth, Don
1937 births
Living people
Animators from Texas
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
American film producers
American male screenwriters
American storyboard artists
American video game designers
American video game producers
American video game directors
Animation screenwriters
Brigham Young University alumni
Filmation people
Walt Disney Animation Studios people
People from El Paso, Texas
Writers from Phoenix, Arizona
Sullivan Bluth Studios people
20th Century Studios people
Blue Sky Studios people
Latter Day Saints from Arizona
Latter Day Saints from Texas
American production designers
Artists from Phoenix, Arizona
Film directors from Texas
Screenwriters from Texas
Inkpot Award winners
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Latter Day Saints from California
American Mormon missionaries in Argentina
American people of Swedish descent
American people of English descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of German descent
Video game artists
DreamWorks Animation people