Donald Virgil "Don" Bluth is an American animator, film director, producer, writer, production
designer, video game designer and independent studio owner who is known for his departure
from The Walt Disney Company in 1979 and his subsequent directing of animated films such
as The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, and
Anastasia, and his involvement in the laserdisc game Dragon's Lair.
He is also known for competing with Disney during the years leading up to the films that
would make up the Disney Renaissance.
He is the older sibling of illustrator Toby Bluth.
Early life and the Disney years Bluth was born in El Paso, Texas, the son
of Emaline and Virgil Ronceal Bluth.
His great-grandfather was Helaman Pratt, an early leader in The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints.
He is of English, Scottish and German descent.
As a child in El Paso he rode his horse to the town movie theater to watch Disney films;
Bluth said later, "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.
In 1954 at the age of 17 his family moved to Santa Monica, California, where he attended
part of his final year of high school before returning to Utah and graduating from Springville
High School.
Bluth attended Brigham Young University in Utah for one year and after got a job at The
Walt Disney Company.
He started in 1955 as an assistant to John Lounsbery for Sleeping Beauty.
In 1957 Bluth left Disney only two years after being hired.
Afterwards Bluth spent two and a half years in Argentina on a mission for the LDS Church.
He returned to the United States where he opened the Bluth Brothers Theater with his
younger brother Fred, though he occasionally worked for Disney.
Bluth returned to college and got a degree in English Literature from Brigham Young.
Bluth returned to the animation business and joined Filmation in 1967 working on layouts
for The Archies and other projects.
He returned full-time to Disney in 1971 where he worked on Robin Hood, Winnie the Pooh and
Tigger Too, The Rescuers and directing animation on Pete's Dragon.
His last involvement with Disney was the 1978 short The Small One.
Then he made and produced his first short, Banjo the Woodpile Cat, which takes place
in his hometown Payson, Utah during the 1940s as Banjo travels to Salt Lake City to find
the urban world.
Independent years Early critical success
On his 42nd birthday in 1979, Bluth, with Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy, and 9 fellow Disney
animators, set out to start his own animation studio, Don Bluth Productions.
He drew a few scenes for The Fox and the Hound but left early in production.
Bluth was disheartened with the way the Disney company was run.
He wanted to revive the classical animation style of the studio's early classics.
To this end, his studio, 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, an adaptation of Mrs.
Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, the 1972 Newbery Medal winner.
Bluth employed 160 animators during the production and agreed to the first profit sharing contract
in the animation industry.
Though 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 its modest result in the box office, and an industry wide animation
strike, the 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 was never made when the financial resources were drawn
back.
In 1983 teaming with Rick Dyer, from Advanced Microcomputer Systems, Bluth, Goldman and
Pomeroy started the Bluth Group and created the groundbreaking arcade game Dragon's Lair,
which let the player control a cartoon-animated character on screen.
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.
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.
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.
Bluth and his colleagues taught an animation course at Ballyfermot Senior College.
Affiliation with Steven Spielberg 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.
The second Spielberg-Bluth collaboration The Land Before Time did even better in theaters
and both found a successful life in home video.
The main character in An American Tail became the mascot for Amblimation while The Land
Before Time was followed by twelve direct-to-video sequels.
Bluth broke with Spielberg before his next film, All Dogs Go to Heaven.
Although All Dogs Go To Heaven had moderate theatrical success, it was highly successful
in its release to home video.
Like The Land Before Time, The Secret of NIMH and An American Tail, All Dogs Go to Heaven
was followed by a theatrical sequel, a television series, and a Christmas Carol adaptation,
none of which Bluth and his studio had involvement with.
Through the 1990s, Bluth films such as Rock-a-Doodle, Thumbelina, A Troll in Central Park, and The
Pebble and the Penguin were critical and box office failures.
Work at Fox Animation Studios Bluth scored a hit with Anastasia, produced
at Fox Animation Studios in Phoenix, Arizona, which grossed nearly US $140 million worldwide
and gained favorable critical reviews.
In his positive review of the movie, critic Roger Ebert observed that its creators "consciously
include[d] the three key ingredients in the big Disney hits: action, romance and music."
Anastasia's success established 20th Century Fox as a Disney competitor.
Despite the success of Anastasia, Bluth resumed his string of box-office disappointments with
the futuristic space adventure Titan A.E..
The movie 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.
Recent work 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.
However, the visuals were noteworthy, using groundbreaking cel-shading techniques that
lent the game a hand-animated feel.
As of 2012, Don Bluth and Gary Goldman are seeking funding for a film version of Dragon's
Lair.
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 2004, Bluth did the animation for the music video "Mary", by the Scissor Sisters.
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, possibly to improve the film's sales by attaching
his name.
On February 3, 2011, it was announced that Bluth and his game development company Square
One Studios were working with Warner Bros. Digital Distribution to develop a modern reinterpretation
of the 1983 arcade classic Tapper, titled Tapper World Tour.
On March 22, 2011, Anastasia was released to Blu-ray Disc.
The high-charting release and an increase in sales for other Bluth-directed titles,
has sparked interest for a return to his as-yet unconfirmed 12th directorial feature.
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.
Additional books are planned.
As an educator In early 2009, Bluth launched his website,
DonBluthAnimation.com, in which he focuses on animation education through video tutorials,
short films and live video seminars.
As a theatre director Bluth currently runs an Adult and Youth Theatre
in Arizona, called Don Bluth Front Row Theatre.
The theatre group was unique and unusual as productions were presented in the living room
of Bluth's Scottsdale, Arizona home.
They now run in a small theater off Shea Blvd in Scottsdale.
Filmography Director
The Small One Banjo the Woodpile Cat
The Secret of NIMH Dragon's Lair
Space Ace An American Tail
The Land Before Time All Dogs Go to Heaven
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp Rock-a-Doodle
Thumbelina A Troll in Central Park
The Pebble and the Penguin Anastasia
Bartok the Magnificent Titan A.E.
Other roles Sleeping Beauty
The Sword in the Stone Fantastic Voyage
Archies and His New Pals Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down
Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies Robin Hood
Journey Back to Oz Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh The Rescuers
Pete's Dragon Xanadu
The Fox and the Hound Dragon's Lair
Space Ace The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera
"Mary" by the Scissor Sisters Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair
Tapper World Tour Frequent collaborations
There have been multiple voice actors who have appeared in more than one of the films
directed by Bluth.
See also
Sullivan Bluth Studios Fox Animation Studios
Amblimation John Pomeroy
Gary Goldman Toby Bluth
References
Further reading John Cawley, The Animated Films of Don Bluth,
1991, Image Publishing, ISBN 0-685-50334-8 John Grant, Masters of Animation, 2001, Watson-Guptill
Publications, ISBN 0-8230-3041-5 External links
Official site Don Bluth's channel on YouTube
Don Bluth at the Internet Movie Database 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 & Gary Goldman: Long-running Fun An interview with Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Don Bluth Interview Part 1 and Part 2 about his influences and the making of Dragon's
Lair Don Bluth Biography at Cataroo.com