Don Bluth discussion

Post by **Ben** » November 7th, 2005, 2:04 pm

Don't worry...I knew (as I went on to elaborate on)...but there are some that might have fallen!

Post by **PatrickvD** » November 7th, 2005, 3:05 pm

I only liked Land Before Time... and perhaps Thumbelina

Post by **ShyViolet** » November 7th, 2005, 5:00 pm

I actually like All Dogs Go the Heaven. Yeah it's muddled and confused, and there's a lot of weirdness in it. But still. I just think it's sweet. It had some beautiful animation too.

I think the story problems in Bluth films are due to frequent and erratic changes in storyline, from what I've read of how the process worked.

And compared to Fern Gully All Dogs is a masterpiece a la Walt Disney.

Post by **ShyViolet** » November 7th, 2005, 5:57 pm

Also I'd like to add that there is something uniquely old-fashioned about Bluth's approach and his design...not only because it's 2d now. At the time he was making films 2d was still going strong. No...it's the softness about his themes and art that I like. Unfortunately his films were maybe a little TOO soft, in that even The Swan Princess did better than Thumbelina in 1994. (And this was right when Lion King came out too).

I think eventually when 2d comes back there will be a whole Bluth revival and his best films will be celebrated.

Post by **Bambi** » November 7th, 2005, 10:55 pm

is don bluth the director of fivel goes west (or American tale) AND ALL the land before time collection? great...
i didnt liked the land before time 3 and up they are horrible my favorite favorite is the land before time1 its the best one.

Post by **Ben** » November 8th, 2005, 7:39 am

Don Bluth ONLY directed the first American Tail and the first Land Before Time.

Fievel Goes West was made by Spielberg's Amblimation studio in London, while the Land Before Time II - XVIIIVX were produced in house at Universal's television animation studio.

Post by **ShyViolet** » November 8th, 2005, 1:23 pm

Don Bluth ONLY directed the first American Tail and the first Land Before Time.

Who did the Secret of Nimh?

Post by **David** » November 8th, 2005, 3:42 pm

ShyViolet wrote:
Don Bluth ONLY directed the first American Tail and the first Land Before Time.
Who did the Secret of Nimh?

I believe he was only referring to those films to highlight that Bluth did not contribute to the direction of the sequels.

NIMH was directed by Don Bluth

Check http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0089940/ for his filmogrpahy.

Post by **ShyViolet** » November 8th, 2005, 6:36 pm

Oh, O.K. I thought so.

It would be great if the Bluth films got a FULL DVD release.

Post by **Bambi** » November 8th, 2005, 8:43 pm

Ben wrote:Don Bluth ONLY directed the first American Tail and the first Land Before Time.

Fievel Goes West was made by Spielberg's Amblimation studio in London, while the Land Before Time II - XVIIIVX were produced in house at Universal's television animation studio.

thats why i didnt liked the land before time 3 and plus...
and ... i confused american tale with fievel goes west...

Post by **Ben** » November 9th, 2005, 9:15 am

Yeah, I was just talking about the sequelized films that Bambi was referring to.

Gosh Violet, you seem to have been on a braindrain recently!

Post by **ShyViolet** » November 9th, 2005, 12:41 pm

Post by **Farerb** » August 20th, 2022, 3:03 pm

I rewatched some Don Bluth films lately and to be honest I was never a fan of him. I think The Secret of NIMH and An American Tail are decent, I like that they have a dark tone, but then he puts cute rodents acting childishly which completely ruins it, and I guess the plot could have been a little bit more refined in both films.

What's astounding though is that the same man who made those films, eventually made Thumbelina. I have a feeling that he was so disinterested in making that film and the only reason he did was a financial reason. It also feels like he didn't hold fairytale heroines in high regard, which was translated in Thumbelina herself, which is the most insipid heroine in any animated movie. He basically wanted to make a Disney Renaissance movie without understanding what made those movies great.

He eventually learned his lesson with Anastasia, but even that film isn't on the same level as the Disney films of that time. I'd say it could also have been as decent as NIMH and American Tail, but Rasputin completely sabotaged it, I also don't like the way he animated people, too much reliance on rotoscoping, which is very distracting.

Post by **Dacey** » August 20th, 2022, 3:27 pm

Anastasia is absolutely dazzling, Rasputin and all. Maybe James will finally watch it for its 25th anniversary?

Also, I have Bluth’s new book! Still need to read it, though.

Post by **Ben** » August 20th, 2022, 5:01 pm

It’s always good to note when Bluth was "forced" to be a team player and wasn’t the only captain of his ship. NIMH was based on a book, so the story and structure was already taken care of; Tail had a certain producer-director behind it who wasn’t going to let his first presented animated feature be anything but special (The Land Before Time less so, despite its fans, for various post-production reasons), and Anastasia was Fox's first big foray into feature animation, and I know there were a *lot* of people above Bluth who knew a thing or two about animation, including Bill Mechanic (one time of Disney) whose baby that was and had actually hired Bluth for the job. On almost every other project Bluth didn’t have to concede any ground, which is why those films never really live up to the sum of their parts. I’ve had the new book a couple of weeks too, and must try and make a start on it!

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