Don Bluth Discussion Thread

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Babylicious

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There's a thread going on over in the entertainment section regarding the Nostalgia Critic's (or the guy with glasses, or John Solomon's... one of those jackasses) review of Rock-a-Doodle, one of Bluth's last (and, arguably, worst) animated features. Bluth's got one of the most interesting careers in the industry, so I thought it might be interesting to have a discussion thread devoted to him.

I'll start by saying that Secret of NIMH is far and away one of the most beautiful films (visually) I've ever seen, and that this attention to detail was prevalent in all of Bluth's features. even Rock-a-Doodle, which I've never really liked, had this; like the scene when the animals are in the water. They each react individually in a way they;re respective animal would act, and it all goes naturally, without it sticking out particularly unless we're watching for it. My problem is that, story-wise, his movies tended to be charming rather than epic and favor (often poor) humor when drama was necesarry; there was also a great deal of Narm in his movies. Ann Marie, from All Dogs Go To Heaven, for instance; I actually like that movie, but the girl is so syrupy sweet that it's just pathetic. Disney's most sugary heroine (Prob';y Penny from the Rescuers) never got as bad as that.


Er,, I',m rambling. What do you guys think?
 
His movies all had a sense of dread to them, like he was a little too dark for Disney's taste, hence his breaking ties with them. Plus, the man that created Dirk the Daring and Space Ace....sheer genius on his part.
 
I always wondered who was behind those not-Disney animated films from my childhood. It took years for me to figure out who Don Bluth was, but since I was a child I was able to figure out his formula too well.

Anthromorphic animals, some cheesy musicals, dark themes, add a dash of nightmare fuel and you've got the elements of a Don Bluth film.

It's been years since I've seen his films though, so I can't say which one was my favorite. Although I'll admit I didn't like Titan A.E. when it first came out, but the concept really appeals to me. Maybe I should give it a second chance.
 
Nice timing, I was looking up his films last night. XD Never saw Titan A.E. but I remember the trailer for it frightened me as a child, by just the concept of the world ending.

BUUUUUT, I honestly don't see what the Nostalgia Chick's problem was with Anastasia. It was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and it still is a great movie, and the music is catchy, IMO. I had a doll, talking storybook, a bunch of stuff for the movie. xD

Rock-a-doodle's gigantic loophole was pretty much the number 1 reason I don't think I'll ever like that film. The animation is lovely, but the story is... all over the place.
 
Dont forget characters who do all their facial acting with their lower lips, complete with lots of detailed wrinkle lines. Always seemed like a Bluth trademark to me.
 
I've never seen Titan AE so I have no idea about that one, and I only saw Anatasia once several years ago so I remember nothing of it. I used to like Pebble & the Penguin, Troll in Central Park, and Thumbelina when I was younger but now there kind of bleh. I still love All Dogs Go To Heaven, Secret of Nimh, Land Before Time, and Rock-a-Doodle.
 
I've seen just about all of the movies he's directed, with the exceptions of The Secret of NIMH (regretfully) and Bartok the Magnificent. I'm pretty much on everyone's bandwagon regarding most, but not all, of his 90's movies, by which I mean that I thought most of them sucked, but I love his 80's movies.

A fact I find hilarious (and yet shamefully sad) is how almost all of his good works got bad sequels and spinoffs that he didn't direct, with the exception of Bartok the Magnificent which he did direct.

Overall though, I'd like to see him return to make one last animated flick. It's a damn shame when long-time acclaimed animation directors end their careers with a lousy movie, such was Ralph Bakshi's case, or a box office bomb, which is Bluth's case.
 
Don Bluth movies all had one thing in common when I was a kid - they were guaranteed to drain me emotionally. Bluth's crew put so much effort into making their characters move and act exactly like you'd expect them to if they were real, and that alone was enough to make me think that they were. And so when a character in one of Bluth's movies was in some kind of life-threatening peril (which happened often), you can guarantee I was on the edge of my seven-year-old seat.

I think I might also have to credit Bluth with spawning my interest in underwater effects in cartoons and animation. His movies feature so many realistic underwater scenes, it got me interested in drawing my own, and things like bubbles and currents and the flow of hair and clothes are all things I still strive to master. (I don't like to brag, but I think I'm gettin' good at it.)
 
It's a real shame no one will hire him. He's currently looking for funds to create a Dragon's Lair movie, but who knows if that will ever happen. And if it did, I don't really think it would be very good.
 
To tell you the truth, I would settle for another of his gorgeous, fully-animated arcade games like Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Timewarp, and Space Ace. I used to feed Timewarp every quarter I had when it was in the arcades, and it remains the best "episode" of that cartoon. I once found one at the Dave & Buster's here in Atlanta, like, 14 years ago and my sister had to literally drag me away from it. I would have played it until they closed!
 
Hah, I was just going to make a thread on this subject too. =]

Anyhow, hmm.

I've never really been too much of a hardcore fan of Bluth's works, but I do appreciate the work put into them. I love Secret of NIMH, and really, that's a hard act to follow. Sadly, you could see his decline into mediocrity after Rock-a-Doodle and well, Anastasia was the only more 'recent' films of his I liked, history inaccuracy be damned.

I actually like the fact there's a darkness and drama to them, but in some instances (like American Tail), it was too over the top and forced for my liking.

Martin and DarthGonzo pointed out the things I NEVER cease to find in a Bluth film. And here I thought it was just me noticing those things.

Also, his movies seem to have at least one 'Big-Lipped Alligator Moment' in them, which is funny since one of his movies started that trope.
 
I'm not really a Bluth fan, though I grew up watching his movies as they came out in the theater (or on VHS); as a kid, something like Land Before Time and An American Tail was rather draining on me - I can't say I was traumatized but I'm surprised I wasn't. I guess it just didn't register that much when, say, Littlefoot's mom died (although it did make me sad). As an adult, because I know how dark and emotional they can be, I don't make time to see them because I can never seem to get in the "mood" (or I am but don't want to make things worse).
 
One of the all time great animators and directors of his time. Even though I've never seen Secret of NIMH( shame as Im an animation grad ) but I remember being given designs from that movie for one of my classes back when I was in school. Land Before Time is still one of my all time favorite animated movies and my favorite of his.

Even though I didn't know his name as a youngster I could tell his style and so I knew his movies weren't Disney( Guess my eye was developing even back then ). I wish he hadn't been so creatively...not there in the 90s. Aside from Anastasia( which I never saw ) his other movies were just so bad. It's a shame how things turned out for him but even his bad movies still had that Bluthiness that a lot of animated movies don't have.
 
Don Bluth has some pretty good movies(Land Before Time and Secret of NIMH), but in my opinion, most of them are pretty inferior (Troll in Central Park, Pebble and the Penguin). I remember how I loved Rock-a-doodle when I was 6 years old. YEARS later, I discovered it on youtube. I was amazed at how laughable it was.:p
 
Five bucks at Wal-Mart. Just sayin:p I actually liked one or two of the LBT sequels, but none of them were as good as the original... now the ADGTH sequel, I can imagine that one being better than it's predecessor.
 
I've loved all of Don Bluth's movies except A Troll In Central Park and Bartok The Magnificent (both of which I felt were terrible and unworthy of having his name tied to them).I also enjoyed American Tail 2 and All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 (even though other people worked on them, I thought both were good...AT 2 was excellent IMO).
 
I've been a big Don Bluth fan over the years. Mostly Secret of NIMH and his two Fox movies... Really loved those Fox movies--in large part because by that point I was old enouggh to recognize the Bluth name and to make an effort to see them in theaters...

One thing about one of those movies though... While channel surfing a while back, I caught a brief look at Fox's old live-action Anastasia movie. It was Anya and the Grand Dutchess, together at that ball, and I knew it was them, because Anya was wearing the exact same dress she was wearing in the animated flick! So now I'm wondering just how much of the animated movie was 'borrowed' from the classic movie.
 
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