Don Bluth News & Discussion

Discussion of non-Disney entertainment.
streetsofgold
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Don Bluth News & Discussion

Post by streetsofgold »

The former disney employee was as disney as roy e disney was. Making tradional cartoons with traditional stories. What he lacked was a sustaining narritive and a good ending to his movies. As some just wonder into averageness like "secret of nihm" and "american tale".

Others just plain sucked, like the hugley disney aping "thumbelina".

Don is a facisnating bloke. No doubt I love to watch pretty much any of his films from time to time, not forgetting

Land before time
rock-a-doodle (I havn't seen this one for years- great animation, but the plot i cannot remember at all?)
titan AE
Anastasia
american tale
All dogs go to heaven etc........

I LOVE and always have loved "all dogs go to heaven". The ending is so heartbreaking. Also, the film is adult enough to appeal to cartoon haters too. Plus dom deluise is always funny as a sidekick called itchy.

Love the film, the atmosphere, the songs, the story (superb story for a cartoon), the fact that it does not have a happy ending.

Love it. Whats ur fav bluth film and ur thoughts on him? Where is he now? The word was he made fox animation bankrupt with "titan AE"? Is this true?
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Post by brownie »

Ha, I was going to say Thumbelina. I love that movie. :P I remember when I first saw it in theaters, my dad and I were the ONLY ones there!

Well, I thought it was good.

A lot of his stuff seems boring to me...but I remembering liking Rock-a-doodle I need to rent that again.

The Land Before Time is a good one, too.
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Post by Siren »

It's so hard for me to choose ONE

Each of my favorites had different aspects.

Secret of NIMH is the closest to the top. First off, I love rats, so right away, that movie just makes me love it. Another thing, both the book and the movie came out at a time when single motherhood was not something high in the media. Not like today. Mrs. Brisby (Frisby in the book), is widowed. You can compare the family aspect of the movie to a human family's life. The father goes off to war, dies, and the mother and left behind to take care of the children and struggles to keep her head above water. But instead of money, it is literal. She is literally struggling for her children's lives. And the devotion and self sacrifice, no matter what the danger or pain, a mother can show. Mrs. Brisby is by far the best animated mother I have ever seen. Dumbo and Bambi's mothers come to mind as well. But once locked up, Dumbo's mother went into depression and stopped fighting. In all truth, an elephant can break a chain easily if they put their mind to, but the story did not call for it. Bambi's mother didn't seem to actually sacrifice herself. She was just running for her life, hoping he'd make it. If perhaps she veered off from the same path he took to distract the hunters, then I could see that being as more a self-sacrifice. But Mrs. Brisby faces unbelievable dangers to save her children. The Rats of NIMH, The Great Owl, and Dragon the cat. Even facing her fear of flying. All to save her kids. God, I need to watch that movie again. :D
The Great Owl sequence was some of the most superior animation EVER, IMO. And the scenes of the rats and mice in NIMH were emotional and intense. Nicodemous was a fantasic character. And the Stone added a fairytale, magical quality to what otherwise, was a semi-realistic story.

Let's see....

Titan A.E. would be a second. Though I couldn't go nearly as deep into this as NIMH, this was just a very cool movie. Not many movies start by blowing up the earth. Most movies are about saving it from being blown up. I enjoyed the Akima character. No matter what drifter colony (which I guess was compared to a slum or ghetto), she lived in, she always had faith and hope that the human race would have a foothold again.
Cale had a great character evolution through the movie as well. I didn't see the betrayl by Korso coming at all. The music was fantastic. The 3D animation with the 2D was flat, but the ice crystals scene was superb. I loved the Stith character, she was a new and interesting design And of course...Planet Bob :lol: What I also liked was the 2 companion books to the movies. Both were prequels. One about Cale and one on Akima. I read those before I saw the movie. GREAT stories. Wish some of it was included in the movie.

Anastasia...See Anasatia thread for my comments on that

Land Before Time was another fantastic movie and story by Bluth. Abour friendship, prejudice, and faith. LBT was what Disney lost several times. The animation was so beautiful. And that scene when Littlefoot asked his mother something like, "If you haven't seen the Great Valley, how do you know it's there?"...And his mother cranes her neck around, and for a bit, you head is out of range of the screen and then it appears on the right side. When I first saw that was a kid was like :shock:. The thought process on that. To have this small area, this small detail, to show you how MASSIVE these animals were. It was fantastic! And ever since LBT, so many movies and tv shows have come out that have obviously either been inspired by LBT or simply ripped it off.

An American Tail. This was one I loved at first, but it wore off later. It is a great story, beautiful animation, and wonderful songs, but I just kinda got over it. One thing I noticed and asked Bluth about once....Take note that Anastasia and Fieval wear the same types of hats. I wasn't sure if this was like a nod to American Tail when Anastasia had that hat or if it was a common Russian hat. Turns out it was a common Russian hat :)

And Bluth deffinetly seems to have a soft spot for orphans. Pete's Dragon, Rescuers, Banjo, Land Before Time, Anastasia, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Titan A.E....the list goes on and on. :P

I love Bluth's work though. There is nothing I haven't liked from him.
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Post by brownie »

Oh, and I forgot A Troll in Central Park.
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Post by JiminyCrick91 »

Wow I loved so many (but have not seen them in ages) like Troll in Central Park,Thumbelina,Anastasia (and Bartok the Magnificent),The Pebble and the Penguin,An American Tail (and the 2nd even thou he was not directing) Heck ALL OF THEM!

but I have never seen but always wanted to see the Dragon's Lair games.
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Post by DEREKG »

No brainer!!!

SECRET OF NIMH.....

One of my favorite cartoon's ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :thumb:

God, I can't wait for the day they remaster it. :roll:

It so truly deserves it!!!!


Next to Nimh, I like The Land Before Time too.....

I also was into Dragons Lair and Space Ace in the arcade's.

I miss the 80's. :cry:
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Post by anger is pointless »

the secret of nimh

an american tail

the land before time

all dogs go to heaven

their all classics and i love them all
GO WIDE SCREEN AND SEE THE WHOLE MOVIE THE WAY IT WAS INTENDED
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Post by orestes. »

An American Tail has always been my favourite. My sister had the VHS copy of it growing up and I remember at first I was a little wary of it but it grew on me. :)

All of his movies are enjoyable but I can't rewatch them as much as Disney. I actually own none of his movies on DVD. I want a couple but haven't bought any yet. (well I almost forgot I have Bartok the Magnificent)
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

I love all these movies, so it's hard to decide. I like Titan AE, but the animation was kind of bad in some areas and the main guy character (I forget his name at the moment) looks just like Dimitri from Anastasia only with blond hair.

I think I'll go with The Land Before Time. It's the only movie that has talking dinosaurs that I can enjoy. And I'm pretty sure that I cried more at the death of Little Foot's mother than I did in any other movie when I was a kid (and still do). I've always found most of Don Bluth's characters have more realistic personalities than a lot of Disney's characters.

I liked Thumbelina, but I hated all the animal characters. They could've animated them better and made them less annoying. And the music in that movie was beautiful. I found it funny that the movie had 2 voice actors from The Little Mermaid even though it came out around the same time. But Jodi Benson made a perfect voice for Thumbelina (especially since she sings in nearly every song).
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Post by JiminyCrick91 »

Disney's Divinity wrote:
I liked Thumbelina. I found it funny that the movie had 2 voice actors from The Little Mermaid even though it came out around the same time.
Um The Little Mermaid was in the late 1989 and Thumbelina was in 1994 I dont think that counts as "around the same time"
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Post by brownie »

I was about to say..

How could I have seen Thumbelina in theaters if I didn't even exist? :lol:
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

JiminyCrick91 wrote:
Disney's Divinity wrote:
I liked Thumbelina. I found it funny that the movie had 2 voice actors from The Little Mermaid even though it came out around the same time.
Um The Little Mermaid was in the late 1989 and Thumbelina was in 1994 I dont think that counts as "around the same time"
I thought it came out early 1990, if it had that would be considered "around the same time." Obviously, I didn't know it came out in 1994. :roll:
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Post by streetsofgold »

Iam still looking for "all dogs go to heaven" on cd. I got "american tale" and "land before time" soundtracks. Both of them have some stunning moments.

Particually "land before time" (both movies scored by the wonderful James Horner), its very underated and very rare unfortunately. "land before time" is gobsmacking in places.
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Post by Timon/Pumbaa fan »

All of his films bored me. He tries so hard to copy Disney's golden era and yet none of his films ever comes close when it comes to quailty. I even like Dreamworks better!
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Post by streetsofgold »

Timon/Pumba fan wrote:All of his films bored me. He tries so hard to copy Disney's golden era and yet none of his films ever comes close when it comes to quailty. I even like Dreamworks better!
To each his own but preferring dreamworks output is kinda a downer for me.

With the stunnign exception of "the prince of egypt", iam so sick to death of those "shrek" sorta movies. And thats thanx to pixar. The "lets appeal to adults" criterior. Shame.................

Bluth had enough original ideas to distance himself from just a disney imitator. Like "all dogs go to heaven", which is more adult then disney has ever done, even with the cute lil girl.
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Post by Timon/Pumbaa fan »

streetsofgold wrote:
Timon/Pumba fan wrote:All of his films bored me. He tries so hard to copy Disney's golden era and yet none of his films ever comes close when it comes to quailty. I even like Dreamworks better!
To each his own but preferring dreamworks output is kinda a downer for me.

With the stunnign exception of "the prince of egypt", iam so sick to death of those "shrek" sorta movies. And thats thanx to pixar. The "lets appeal to adults" criterior. Shame.................

Bluth had enough original ideas to distance himself from just a disney imitator. Like "all dogs go to heaven", which is more adult then disney has ever done, even with the cute lil girl.
While I admit I HATE Dreamworks(well not so much their live-action films, but their animated films) I have to admit, there are several films from Dreamworks animation that I enjoyed. I haven't enjoyed any of Don's films.

All Dogs Go to Heaven has got to be one of the worst films I've ever seen. In comparison it makes some of Disney's sequels look like masterpieces!
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Post by Siren »

Timon/Pumba fan wrote:All of his films bored me. He tries so hard to copy Disney's golden era and yet none of his films ever comes close when it comes to quailty. I even like Dreamworks better!
Actually, Disney copies Bluth.

Land Before Time...a movie that takes place near the end of the dinosaur's reign on earth. The earth changes, a small group of dinosaurs are split apart from their main group and journey together to "The Great Valley". At the time, this was an original story line.

Jump over a decade ahead and you have Disney's Dinosaur. A movie that takes place at the end of the dinosaur's reign on earth, about a dinosaur and his lemur family who join up with a herd. You have Kron, who pretty much is Cera's father, who refuses to listen to reason. Aladar is Littlefoot who leads the dinosaurs on the right back to "The Hatching Grounds", which just like The Great Valley is a giant, former volcano that is protected by rock walls and cliffs and the land there is lush and green.

Also Atlantis and Treasure Planet were taking bits and pieces of Titan A.E. as well.

So Disney is copying Bluth's formula more then anything. Also, Bluth and Disney had a soft spot for orphans. Most Bluth's movies are about orphans. Its not that he's copying Disney, he is keeping that forumla alive, since the Disney company seems to have forgetten it and released crap half the time. Disney rushes movies out, they don't take the time they should. They try to outdo themselves all the time. Bluth takes longer not just because of funds, but because he works so hard on the stories, which was the REAL core of the movie.

So you didn't like All Dog's Go to Heaven? Frankly, that wasn't one of my favorites either, but in no way was it
A.) Copying Disney
B.) Unoriginal
and C.) the worst movie on the planet....see Cinderalla II for that.

But in no way is he COPYING the golden era, he's trying to bring it back. He's one of the few people out there in the business that is keeping 2D animation alive!
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Don Bluth films

Post by GhostHost »

Secret of Nihm is a must for me to see. What about his other films, which should I watch:
Titan A.E.
Anastacia
Bartok the Magnificent
The Pebble and the Penguin
A Troll in Central Park
Thumbelina
Rock-a-doddle
All Dogs go to Heaven
The Land Before Time
An American Tail

Keep in mind, I am a 20 year old male, but that doesn't mean it has to be crude like DWs, just have intelligence and be fun for more than kids.

With their low IMDB ratings: Rock-A-Doddle, A Troll In Central Park, and The Pebble and the Penguin are probably quite weak.
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Post by Timon/Pumbaa fan »

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... =don+bluth

As for the films, The Land Before Time was okay, all the rest were boring! Haven't seen Secret of NIMH though!
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Post by brownie »

*bump*

I saw Secret of the NIMH recently for the first time, and I was surpised at how good it was. It was way better than I thought it would be.
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