Don Bluth
Don Bluth | |
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Born | Donald Virgil Bluth September 13, 1937 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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Children | 1 |
Relatives | Toby Bluth (brother) |
Family | Pratt family |
Awards | Inkpot Award (1983)[1] |
Website | www |
Donald Virgil Bluth (
Early life and Disney years
Bluth was born in
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
Bluth returned to college and earned a degree in English literature from Brigham Young University. In 1964, Bluth illustrated Affairs of the Harp, a
Independent years
1981–1985: Early critical success
For
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,
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
1986–1995: Affiliation with Steven Spielberg
Teaming up with producer Steven Spielberg, 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.[22] The second Spielberg-Bluth collaboration The Land Before Time (1988) 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 (1989) and was not involved with An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), 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 (1992), Thumbelina (1994), A Troll in Central Park (1994), and The Pebble and the Penguin (1995), which were all critical and box office failures.
1997–2000: Work at Fox Animation Studios
Bluth scored a hit with
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.[27] 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.[28] It also stands as Bluth's most recent theatrical film as a director.
2015–present: Return to animation
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.[29] Bluth plans for the film to provide more backstory for Dirk and Daphne and show that she is not a "blonde airhead".[30] 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.[31] Two months later, Indiegogo campaign reached its goal of $250,000, 14 days after the campaign launched.[32] As of February 2018, the total exceeded $728,000.[33]
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.[34] Bluth was listed as a producer.[35]
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.[36][37][38]
Unproduced projects
This poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Don Bluth" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2019) |
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
The earliest of Bluth's unfinished film projects is a
]After
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.[44] 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.[41][45]
Other unrealized projects also included plans for an animated short film centered around a magical talking pencil starring
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.[47][non-primary source needed]
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.[51]
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.[52][53][non-primary source needed]
Recent work
In 2002, Bluth and video game company
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.[59] 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. Despite this, he was credited as the director.[60]
In 2011, Bluth and his game development company
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. His memoir, Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life, was released on July 19, 2022.[61]
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.[62]
Filmography
Filmmaking credits
Title | Year | Functioned as | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Director | Producer | Writer | Other credits | ||
The Small One (short film) | 1979 | Yes | Yes | No | animator: auction scene - uncredited |
Banjo the Woodpile Cat (short film, direct-to-TV) | 1980 | Yes | Yes | Yes | animator |
The Secret of NIMH | 1982 | Yes | Yes | Story | layout artist / directing animator / visual development artist (uncredited) |
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 / title designer (uncredited) |
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
Title | Year(s) | Role | Characters | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sleeping Beauty | 1958 | 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 | 1974 | 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 | 1976 | animator | Rabbit | |
The Rescuers | 1977 | directing animator | Bernard and Miss Bianca | |
Pete's Dragon | 1978 | 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
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 | No | No | animator |
See also
- Sullivan Bluth Studios
- Fox Animation Studios
- Threshold Entertainment
- Vanguard Animation
- Worker Studio
- Columbia TriStar Feature Animation
References
- Comic Con. December 6, 2012.
- 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 (...).
- ^ "Don Bluth". Mormons in Business. Archived from the original on January 15, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ William Addams Reitwiesner. "The Ancestors of Mitt Romney". Retrieved July 24, 2012.
- ^ Cardwell, Lynda (February 1, 1984). "Laser disc arcade games could become wave of the future". The Gadsden Times. pp. A8. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
- ^ "Shut Up and Talk: Don Bluth and Gary Goldman". Channel Awesome. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
- ^ Cawley 1990, p. 11.
- ^ Cawley 1990, p. 13.
- ^ a b Culhane, John (August 1, 1976). "The Old Disney Magic". The New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
- ^ Pratt, Samual O (1964). Affairs of the Harp. Illustrated by Don Bluth. New York: Charles Colin.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-39167-5.
- ^ Harmetz, Aljean (September 20, 1979). "11 Animators Quit Disney, Form Studio". The New York Times. p. C14. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Cawley 1990, pp. 57–58.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Cawley, John. "Space Ace". The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Cataroo.com. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Bluth, Don (1984). Exposure sheet: Official newsletter of the Don Bluth Animation Fan Club. Vol. 5. Tarzana, Los Angeles: Don Bluth Studios.
- ^ "Estudios Irlandeses – Drawing Conclusions: Irish Animation and National Cinema". estudiosirlandeses.org (in European Spanish). Retrieved February 12, 2017.
- ^ Melena Ryzik (March 3, 2010). "An Animated Irish Invasion". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
- ^ a b Cawley, John. "An American Tail". The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Cataroo.com. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- ^ Cawley, John. "The Land Before Time". The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Cataroo.com. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Anastasia (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (November 21, 1997). "Anastasia". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ "Titan A.E. (2000)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Dragon's Lair: The Movie (Canceled)". Kickstarter.
- ^ "Dragon's Lair Movie Won't Depict "Sexualized" Version of Princess Daphne". GameSpot. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- ^ "Dragon's Lair Returns". Indiegogo.
- ^ "Dragon's Lair Returns". Indiegogo.
- ^ "Dragon's Lair Returns". Indiegogo.
- ^ "Netflix requires rights to the Dragon's Lair film". /Film. March 27, 2020.
- ^ "Dragon's Lair movie coming to Netflix, with Ryan Reynolds starring". Polygon. March 28, 2020.
- ^ Lee, Lavalle (September 11, 2020). "BLUTH FABLES – NEW CONCEPT BY THE NEWLY FORMED DON BLUTH STUDIOS". Traditional Animation. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ^ Hakim, Nicole (September 11, 2020). "Don Bluth Launches New Studio, Hopeful for a 'Renaissance of Hand-Drawn Animation'". CBR. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (September 11, 2020). "Don Bluth Forms New 'Totally Transparent' 2D Studio". Animation Magazine. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ^ "Sections of Piper Short" – via YouTube.
- ^ @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.
- ^ a b Cawley 1990, p. 149.
- ^ Culhane, John (July 4, 1982). "Special Effects Are Revolutionizing Film". The New York Times.
- ^ ""Jawbreaker" Story". Archived from the original on April 30, 2019.
- ^ Cawley 1990, pp. 149–150.
- ^ "The Little Blue Whale – Color Keys (part 1): Storyboards 4–45". SCAD Libraries.
- ^ "The Magic Pencils – Character Sketch". SCAD Libraries.
- ^ @DonBluth (November 10, 2015). "Don Bluth's game concept posters made in 1984. Support Dragon's Lair Kickstarter!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Douglas C., Perry (June 22, 2000). "Titan A.E." IGN. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
- ^ Gestalt (November 8, 2000). "Philip Oliver of Blitz Games". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
- ^ "Titan A.E. Canned". IGN. July 26, 2000. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
- ^ "I-Ninja 2 Cancelled". Unseen64. December 3, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
- ^ "Pac-Man Adventures -- Don Bluth's Character and Environment designs". SCAD Libraries.
- ^ @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.
- ^ "Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair". Metacritic. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Kelly, Kevin (May 1, 2007). "Don Bluth trying to make Dragon's Lair movie". Joystiq. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Dragons Lair Returns | Indiegogo". Indiegogo. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
- ^ Paolo (October 2, 2004). "Don Bluth animates Scissor Sisters video". Animated Views. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ "Gift of the Hoopoe -Recent film of Don Bluth?". Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
- ^ @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.
- ^ Trimble, Lynn (July 7, 2016). "Don Bluth Front Row Theatre in Scottsdale Needs $50,000 to Stay Open".
Further reading
- Cawley, John (1990). The Animated Films of Don Bluth. Image Pub of New York. ISBN 0-685-50334-8. Archived from the originalon October 26, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
- Grant, John Grant (2000). Masters of Animation. ISBN 0-8230-3041-5.
External links
- 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 & 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
- Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database