"Animation isn't dead, not by a long shot.  And neither are we. Computer-generated animation is the flavor of the month.  I will never draw another character and give the rights to someone else.  And I think that pretty much puts me out of the movie business!"

BIOGRAPHY

Don Bluth is recognized as one of the most prestigious Animators in the film business and is admired by his peers all over the world for his creative talent as well as his versatility in bringing his memorable characters to life.

While working on his films, Bluth wears many hats.  He designs all the characters, serves as the Key Storyboard Artist, and when the mood strikes him, he has also been known to write some clever songs to accompany his lively and amusing characters.

As if these duties don't keep him busy enough, he also writes and/or collaborates on most of the scripts for his projects.

Don Bluth, a direct descendant of the indian princess Pocahontas, was born in 1938 into a family of seven children in El Paso, Texas and grew up in a very creative environment. After watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - he found his calling. From the age of six on, he could always be found drawing. It soon became his dream to work for Walt Disney Studios and bring his drawings to life as he had seen accomplished in films. Bluth's family moved to Santa Monica, California, and upon graduation from high school, he took a portfolio of his drawings to the Disney studio in Burbank. He accepted a position in the animation department as an Inbetweener (someone who does the drawings in between the Animator's key drawings to complete a movement). He worked there from 1955 through 1956 on the classic motion picture, Sleeping Beauty.

Making the decision to continue his formal education, Bluth enrolled at Brigham Young University, studying English Literature. However, during this time he continued to work during the summers for Disney.

After completing his education, he and his brother Frederick started a live theater in Santa Monica where they produced and directed popular musical comedies.  Although this venture proved to be exciting, after three years Bluth decided to commit to a career in animation.  His first job upon re-entering the animation field was for Filmation Studios in Los Angeles, a television animation production company.  He was hired as a Layout Artist, which in television production requires that the artist draw the stage or set design and the character poses for the Animators.  Bluth was extremely adept at this and was promoted to the head of the department where he continued to work for three years.

In 1971, he returned to the Disney Animation Department as an Animator. Bluth then began what would be considered a sky-rocket ride to the top of the animation field. He was promoted within two years to Directing Animator, followed by Director of Animation, and the following year he became a Producer/Director.

From 1971 to 1979 Bluth worked on many well-known Disney projects including, Robin Hood (1973),Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974), The Rescuers (1976), Pete's Dragon ( 1977) and The Small One ( 1978).

Inspired by many of Disney's classics and filled with the desire to restore that quality to animated films, Bluth began a short project in his garage with two fellow Disney Animators, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy. This short project known as Banjo the Woodpile Cat, began production in March, 1975.

For the next four and a half years the trio worked nights and weekends in all areas of production to accomplish the finished product. During this time they still kept their "day" jobs at Disney.

In early 1979, Bluth, Goldman and Pomeroy were approached by film industry businessmen who offered to fund them on a feature film. Banjo served as an excellent portfolio and showed that they could create the "classical" look.

On Bluth's birthday in September 1979, he and his partners resigned from Walt Disney Productions to start their own independent production company.  For their first feature film they selected Robert C. O'Brien's award-winning novel "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH". In 1982, they completed this feature with the altered title, The Secret of NIMH.

With the introduction of new laser disc technology, in 1983 Bluth and partners created the first interactive laser disc game, Dragon's Lair.  In 1984, they began work on An American Tail, in collaboration with Steven Spielberg.

In 1986, they moved their studio and employees to Dublin, Ireland. Their studio grew to be the largest in Europe.  Under the Don Bluth name, Bluth has created many prestigious animated films and laser disc video game projects including Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979), an animated sequence in Xanadu (1980), The Secret of NIMH (1982), Dragon's Lair video game (1983), Space Ace video game (1983), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989), Dragon's Lair II-Time Warp video game (1989), Rock-A-Doodle (1990), Thumbelina (1993) and A Troll In Central Park (1993).

Don Bluth has been an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1976.  He and creative partner Gary Goldman are currently Producers/Directors for Fox Animation Studios, Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona.  Their first production, Anastasia, was released in November of 1997.  Their second, Titan AE, was released in June 2000.  Its commercial failure unfortunately contributed to Fox's decision to close its animation studios.

Don and Gary now hope to get involved in animation for the World Wide Web, some of it along the lines of the popular Dragon's Lair and Space Ace computer games they created a decade ago and some of it animated stories, both short and feature length.  Perhaps, they said, by distributing their work directly over the Internet, they would be able to bypass the Hollywood studios.  "Unless you're in the distribution business, you're not in the movie business", Don said.  "We learned that the hard way."

In His Own Words

Through his reps: "Don started at Disney in 1955. He was a ruff inbetweener in John Lounsbery's unit on Sleeping Beauty. He had wanted to work for Disney since he was a child. Well, maybe at 18, he was still a "child". It was a thrill. He couldn't believe that he was actually working in the very place he'd always dreamed about. He started out in the inbetween "bullpen" and eventually was picked to work under Mr. Lounsbery's assistant. The problem he encountered, was that Lounsbery liked Don's drawings better than his assistant's drawings. Within 6 months Don was promoted to assistant animator. A very uncomfortable position, since he replaced his supervisor. Don only worked there for a year. His youthful exuberance drew him outside for more demostrative activities. Sitting in one place, drawing all day, was very difficult for the 18 year-old. He did continue working there in the summers up thru 1961, while attending BYU in Salt Lake City. While at Disney, Don's mentor was John Lounsbery. Milt Kahl also had a great influence on his drawing style. Don moved up the ladder quickly in the '50s and again when he returned in the early '70s. The studio, in the 70's, was not the same. Don felt that Walt was sorely missed. The enthusiasm wasn't there. The content of the films seemed shallow and production values were being economized. It was a different place. The Nine Old Men were now only six. Ward Kimble and Les Clark were not in the animation department anymore and Marc Davis was working on concepts for the parks. Woolie Reitherman was Producer/Director and Eric Larson had split duties between Directing Animator and chief mentor to the new young animation talent coming into the studio. Louns was still there, as were Milt, Frank, Ollie. They were still the kings of animation, in Don's eyes, and he listened closely to their counsel. They were glad to see him back and had high hopes of him becoming a leader in the animation department. This was the case for a while, but when given Pete's Dragon to direct the animation, then Small One to Produce and Direct, the pressure of the Disney management and small budgets to do large projects created some conflicts for him. There was very little gratitude for the effort made to get these pictures made with an untrained crew and a few veterans. Plus, they were not really interested in bringing back the production values of the old films. They were looking for more economy. He only received complaints from upper management, that he had just barely made the deadline or that he went over budget by 3 to 5%. When he started on Pete's Dragon, there was 900 feet of animation planned (10 minutes). It had an animation budget of $1.8 million. By the time we started animation, the company wanted 1800 feet of animation, but offered no increase in the budget. The final cost of the animation was $1.895 million and Don got criticised for going over budget, $95,000. The position does have a lot of responsibility, but when you double the production requirements and not give an inch on the budget, it's difficult when you get criticized. At the time, this production was a tall order, requiring us to work 7 days a week for the last 6 months of the project, to make sure the film was ready for its Thankgiving release (1977). It originally had a Christmas release date, so we had to get the film done one month earlier than scheduled. After Small One, Don asked to just be an animator. They made him a Directing Animator for the production of The Fox and the Hound. He resigned on his 42nd birthday, September 13,1979, on the heels of confirmation that money had been placed to finance The Secret of NIMH and complete Banjo the Woodpile Cat. The rest has been a roller coaster ride."
 
 

ABORTED PROJECTS & OTHER INSIGHTS

On September 28, 2001, Don Bluth's spokesperson sent Animated Movies the following email: "Regarding projects we have worked on that never reach the big screen, the first that comes to mind is the Fox Animation project, Bartok the Magnificent (1999).  Fox really liked the film but foreign distribution had a problem with it's length, only 70 minutes.  They felt it was too short to be sold as a Feature in the foreign territories.  Strange because The Land Before Time (1988) was only 69 minutes long.  Disney's Bambi (1942) was 69 minutes and Dumbo (1941) was only 61 minutes in length and still went out as a feature film.  Back in 1982, we had done about 6 months of development on East of the Sun, West of the Moon with Aurora Productions, the same company that financed The Secret of NIMH.  Due to a 73-day union strike, the project was shelved and financing disappeared.  In 1984, we did a lot of development on Beauty and the Beast, based on the original story and a script by Don and John Pomeroy.  It was never funded and An American Tail came to us that same year."

In June 2002, Gary Goldman went on to detail that ""our second film was to be East of the Sun, West of the Moon. [We] started [working on it] in January of 1982. It is a children's fairy tale, but dark and could be called somewhat adult. We got about 6 months and $500k into it when there was a 73-day cartoonist union strike. The financial backers thought that the union would get the demands that they were making and that the labor costs would have gone up substantially. This may or not have been the case but the money walked and the project still belongs to Aurora Productions. They've never reapproached us about doing this film. It was a terrific project and we had some very good elements conceived. Another film we really wanted to do was Robert Towne's Little Blue Whale. It was an original story by top screenwriter Towne. We worked with him on the story for about 7 or 8 months while making the video games in '83 and '84. It never got written. We made an 8 minute animatic with about 90 seconds of animation of the opening of the film, with a dramatic birth of a whale (from the baby whale's perspective) and some experimental animation of the baby and the mother bonding. Dan Kuenster did a lot, if not all, of this animation. We were very excited about working with Robert. That film definately didn't talk down to children. We have a trunk full of projects we want to do. We had another whale story that we worked on right after All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989), which was based on an incident in Barrows Alaska, where a baby Gray Whale and its mother were trapped by early ice. Another adult Gray came back for them and got caught in the ice situation as well. This is a true incident and it brought the Russians and Americans together in a very dramatic and emotional rescue of these three giant mammals. It was abandoned for reasons we cannot discuss."

Don Bluth and Gary Goldman's representative said in October 2001 that the project "that was the biggest disappointment would be The Pebble and the Penguin.  Mainly because of all the changes that MGM/UA made to the story after we had completed our work on the film.  The changes brought the film down intellectually and prevented the crew from accomplishing all the production values planned for it. The film has only 3 finished sequences that reflect our vision of the project.  Most of the crew told us to avoid seeing it as it would be very disappointing(we new this when MGM/UA insisted on the changes).  Oh well..."

Asked about the feature that make them proudest, they commented that "The Secret of N.I.M.H. [is probably] our proudest moment, with Anastasia, a close second. There are some beautiful scenes in both. However, it was probably the experience of making those films, that sums up our feelings about these two titles. It was the enthusiasm and dedication of the crews on both projects that made them special. On both films, half of the crew was fairly new to animation, so a lot of training was going on. Plus, we were priviledged to watch everyone 'grow' in their skills and achieve great things, professionally and personally. [We probably had the most fun with] the video games, Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. We didn't really know or understand what the editorial process was going to be, or really, how the game play would turn out. So, we just had fun with it. The comradery was fantastic. A lot of experimentation and freedom took place with the animation. Some of the crew even got to voice the characters. Dan Molina, the editor, was the voice of Dirk. Vera Lanpher, the head of Key Clean-up, was the voice of Princess Yum Yum (Daphne). On Space Ace, animator Lorna Pomeroy (Cook) was the voice of Kimberly, animator Jeff Etter was the voice of Ace and animator/storyman Will Finn was the voice of Dexter. Don [Bluth], himself, was the evil Borf."

Would he ever consider pushing himself into unfamiliar, dark animated story territory? "We've toyed with film concepts like Dracula and even developed it for a few months. It was abandoned, but we really got excited about the possibilities. The script was written by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). A project like this could be a problem for distributors, but it's not out of the question. In our past efforts, we have attempted to go in a more adult approach, NIMH, Anastasia and Titan A.E. The results were not great. So, it is difficult to jump on this idea, it is already difficult to raise money for animation. The most successful animated films are for families. Aan animated film with a more adult approach will eventually hit the mark and ring the bell. Shrek worked for the adult audience and the families as well. Animation and family films rated G or PG, actually dominate the revenue taken in by film distributors. From around 1988 to date, only 3% of the films made, fit the G or PG rating. However, these few films took in 78% of the revenue and 58% of the profits, compared to the other 97% of the films made. Of course this number includes the huge hits like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, Toy Story I and II, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc and Shrek. Looks like families rule. We'll see where it goes from here."

What about the future of traditional animation? "Over the years, classical animated motion pictures have garnered good box office revenues and received Academy awards for Best Song, Best Musical Score and, once, even got a nomination for Best Picture (Beauty and the Beast). There are more animated motion pictures in home video libraries than live action. There is respect for animation. However, many, maybe even most, of the general public believe that they are movies for children or the family only. They are missing some really great entertainment. Some adults just have an adversion to animation. If you could get them to sit down and actually watch, they would probably be surprised. NIMH surprised a lot of adults. Snow White still works, even with its old-fashion 1930's score. My favorites are Pinocchio and Bambi. Others are Cinderella or Lady and the Tramp or Peter Pan. What adult cannot be entertained by 101 Dalmatians or Jungle Book? I suspect that if they just sat down and watched, they would be entertained. We are all just children in grown-up bodies. You are right in many respects, even the academy will not recognize animation in the feature film category, with the exception of the shorts branch. This year is the first year that the academy has included a "Best Animated Film" category. However, that is only because there were more than 5 produced in the same year. Next year, if there were only one (and it were to be the best movie - live action or animated), the academy would not let it compete. Actually, people show their respect by attending these films in the theatre. Animation is holding its own. FYI, between 1988 and 1997 only 3% of the movies produced were G or PG rated (many of these were animated). This 3% took in 78% of the film revenues and 58% of the profits. That means that they clearly got more audience that all of the more adult-themed films made (the other 97%). We are accepted and respected, it's just that we're not really recognized. However, notice that many of the big stars take their kids to the premiere exhibitions of these films (take a look at People magazine every time an animated motion picture premieres in Hollywood). We got respect. Animation will live on. Please remember that our industry is cyclical. It has had a long run on this last cycle (1986-2000). Right now the big animation boom is in CGI."
 
 

GARY GOLDMAN

When Gary Goldman met Don Bluth at Walt Disney Studios in 1972, they formed an instant and solid friendship.

Soon realizing that they both shared the desire of restoring the heritage of classical animation to today's animated films, their friendship eventually turned into a creative partnership that has lasted over 26 years.

Goldman was born in Oakland, California in 1944 and grew up in Watsonville. As a youth, he studied piano and enjoyed model-making and drawing.  Before devoting himself entirely to the arts, he served as an electronics technician in the United States Air Force.

He received his Associated Arts Degree from Cabrillo College near Santa Cruz, California, and in December 1971, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Life Drawing from the University of Hawaii.

In early 1972 he began his animation career when he joined Walt Disney Productions. His first assignment was as an Inbetweener to Frank Thomas on the film Robin Hood.  He then worked alongside Don Bluth as an Animator on Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too and The Rescuers.

He was a Directing Animator on Pete's Dragon, The Small One and The Fox and the Hound.

Goldman and Bluth began to probe the possibility of creating their own animated projects.  United by the same goal of restoring the lost techniques of classical animation, Goldman, Bluth and animator John Pomeroy produced (in Don's garage) the classically animated television special, Banjo the Woodpile Cat. This won the National Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence and the Golden Scroll Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.

It was completed in 1979. That same year Goldman, along with Bluth and Pomeroy, resigned from Walt Disney Productions to establish themselves independently.  Under their independent banner, they have produced several feature films starting with The Secret of NIMH (1982), which won the Saturn Award for Best Animated Feature from the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Academy, and An American Tail (1986), which at that time earned the biggest boxoffice gross for the first release of an animated film in motion picture history, as well as two Grammy awards for the song "Somewhere Out There."

They also created the animated laser disc interactive video games Dragon's Lair (1983) and SpaceAce (1984). Dragon's Lair received the Inkpot Award for the First Interactive Laser Disc Arcade Game and an Arkie Award for Best Arcade Audio/Visuals. Today these games remain popular among video enthusiasts.

In 1986 Goldman and Bluth moved their entire operation, including 87 employees and their families, to Dublin, Ireland at the invitation of the Irish Government. Their third feature film, The Land Before Time, was their first production finished entirely in Ireland. It was released by Universal Pictures during Thanksgiving, 1988. It celebrated a record breaking opening weekend gross for an animated film of $7.5 million. This was followed by All Dogs Go To Heaven -the rest is history.

Gary Goldman is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he is on the Board of Trustees of the Phoenix Art Museum and is a member of the United Way, Alexis de Tocqueville Society.  Read an interview he gave for Titan AE here!
 

Gary told the story of his life in his own words, in a March 2003 post at DonBluth.com:

"I graduated from high school at 17, in 1962. I went into the Air Force and attended one year of electronics technical school at the Air Force technical training center in Biloxi, Mississippi. I was stationed in Japan (Fuchu AFB and a transmitter site in Nishi Funabashi, near the current site of Disneyland, Japan) from July 1963 to June 1965, I worked as an electronics technician. When that tour of duty was complete, I extended my 4 years for an additional 7 months to get an assignment in Europe. I was assigned to Wiesbaden AFB in Germany about 25 miles west of Frankfurt. When I returned to my home in northern California in February 1967, I worked for my father at his service station in the evenings and at a firm that built two-way radios for cars, during the day. I repaired those radios that did not work at the end of assembly. In September of that same year, I started courses at a community college (Cabrillo College), near Santa Cruz, CA. I was married in April of 1968. Between my 1st and 2nd year I visited Warner Bros in LA (Burbank) and met with animation director Robert McKimson. I showed my first year portfolio and asked his advise about getting into animation. He told me to finish my education and take as much life drawing classes as I could get. He told me NOT to draw cartoons, rather to get a formal academic education with as many drawing skills as I could develop, then come back to him and they would teach me about animation and cartooning. I graduated with an AA in Art in June 1969. However, I couldn't get into the college of choice at that time. So, I worked for Granite Construction Company in Watsonville, CA, in several capacities, ditch-digger, grade checker, pipe layer, flagman, raker (for hot paving material) on a road crew for the next year. My wife and I had a child in September of 1969. I worked for the construction company for 14 months then moved from California and started courses at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu (the school was recommended by an artist-friend of the family). I attended the U of H from Sept.1970 to Dec.1971, graduating with a Fine Arts degree (BFA) in Life Drawing and a minor in Art History. I worked as a bartender four days a week and collected the G.I. bill while attending school. I went thru my junior and senior years of school in 16 months (anxious to get into my career) - I had a family to support. With all the art courses and my work, I averaged about three hours sleep a night. I graduated in Dec.1971 and returned to the mainland to find work. I turned 27 on Nov. 17, 1971. I first inquired about work in the San Francisco area (like the Children's Television Workshop). I met with a friend of my brother's, who worked as a syndicated cartoonist. His name was Leroy Holly. He was once an inbetweener at Warner Bros back in 1957-59. He left the animation industry to work for Hank Ketchum (Dennis the Menace). When I met with him, he had his own strip called Ponytail. He reviewed my portfolio and recommended that I do what he did and go to LA and get some experience in the animation business. I went down to LA in January of 1972. First I called Warner Bros to see if I could meet with Mr. McKimson again. Warner Animation was closed. I met an animation producer by the name of Ed Love at DePati/Freling, the studio where they used to do the Pink Panther TV series. The place was empty except for the receptionist and Mr. Love. He reviewed my life drawing portfolio and sent me to Walt Disney Productions to interview for their animation training program. I was hired to start work at Disney on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1972. I met Don Bluth that first week at Disney. The rest has been a roller coaster ride. "
 
 

DON BLUTH GOES INDEPENDENT

by Jerry Beck, published on the Animation World Network in 1996.

A personal remembrance of when Don Bluth quit Disney, formed an independent studio and inspired the current feature animation boom.

"The 1970s was a decade in which TV animation plunged to its depths, with the likes of Hanna-Barbera and Filmation dominating Saturday mornings with the worst of their wares. Although Hollywood was barely interested in animated film, the period began with considerable promise, with such independent films as Ralph Bakshi's Fritz the Cat and Heavy Traffic, John Wilson's Shinbone Alley and René Laloux' Fantastic Planet. But as the decade progressed, Disney sunk to an all-time low with the release of Robin Hood, and ambitious attempts like Richard Williams' Raggedy Ann and Andy, Murukami-Wolf-Swenson's Mouse and His Child and Sanrio's Winds of Change proved to be bitter disappointments.

I graduated from high school in 1974 and planned a career as a cartoonist and animator. But things were so bad in those days that I grew frustrated with animation and pursued research into its wonderful past.

All was not lost. Disney's The Rescuers showed the possibilities offered by a new team of young animators; this, along with early artwork released on The Fox and the Hound offered some hope. Then came a story in The New York Times about a defection at Disney's.

Quitting in the Name of Disney
Directing animator Don Bluth and two colleagues, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy, three of the most talented of the young Turks at Disney (publicized heavily in the promotion of The Rescuers) had defiantly quit. They left because of what they felt was a lack of regard by their superiors about the quality of the artwork, a deteriorating production process, and management's declining respect for the artists who built the studio. They quit in the name of Walt Disney, whom the three felt would never tolerate the way the current regime had let the animation department fall to such a low level.

The next day, 11 other animators quit to join Bluth and company. It was a bold move and it shook up Disney's animation department; finding capable Disney-trained character animators to replace these renegades wasn't easy. And it would cause a major delay in the release of The Fox and the Hound.

Bluth established his own studio, with the backing of Aurora Productions, a company headed by a group of ex-Disney executives, and started production on a feature, The Secret of NIMH.

While at Disney, Bluth led a group of animators to work after hours on a Disneyesque half hour short, Banjo the Woodpile Cat. It was done to learn the entire process of making a film, not just the character animation they were toiling on during the day. Banjo also taught them tricks and techniques they could use on their features. The art direction and special effects were in the classic Disney and Hollywood cartoon traditions, techniques and styles no longer being practiced anywhere in animation at that time.

When Disney management failed to take interest in this out-of-pocket, home made short, Bluth then used Banjo as a way to lure investors in his dream: to return the art of animation to its glorious Golden Age. With an offer from Aurora to challenge Disney, Bluth and his team made their bold move.

Bored to Tears, Then ...
Early in 1980, I was working in New York for United Artists as a salesman in their 16mm department, renting films to colleges and hospitals. One night, word spread in the local animation community that a representative of Bluth's new renegade studio (Executive Producer Mel Griffin) was going to give a presentation at the School Of Visual Arts. This turned out to be, perhaps, the first studio recruitment pitch open to the public. The studio rep, a business partner installed at Bluth by Aurora, began to talk of the studio's dream to return animation to it's glorious past. I remember that many animation students there were bored to tears at his speech and were there just because they were required to attend. Then he showed a clip from NIMH.

I'll never forget it. It was the sequence of Mrs. Brisby and Jeremy the crow (voiced by Don DeLuise) flying to the tree where the Great Owl (John Carradine) was. The entire sequence--with the cobwebs, the darkness, the great voice acting, the owl crushing a spider and eating a moth--was the greatest thing I had ever seen! It looked like Disney animation from the forties, only darker. It was as lavish as anything from Bambi or Fantasia, only slightly subversive (skeletal remains of other animals the owl must have eaten, littered the background; the owl taking a chomp at a Disneyesque moth). The students (myself included) begged the man to run this footage again. Everyone was charged and excited. It wasn't just talk--Bluth was going to do it!

I had that sequence running in my mind for weeks. I had seen the future of animation and it's name was Don Bluth Productions. (It was a high that was only topped in later years, when I had seen advance scenes from The Thief and the Cobbler [Arabian Night], Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the genie ["Friend Like Me" sequence] in Aladdin, and experienced that rare "sense-of-wonder" deja vu.) Animation wasn't dead! Anything was possible! My personal faith in the medium was renewed. It was coming back and all anyone had to do to believe was to see this clip from (what was then called) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

In 1980, the Olivia Newton-John/Gene Kelly musical Xanadu was released. It contained a short animated sequence by Bluth which was a knockout. This studio was doing Disney better than Disney.

Supporting the Future of Animation
A few months later, in late 1980, I accidentally intercepted some interoffice mail heading for my boss. It was a deal memo stating that United Artists had just acquired Mrs. Frisby/NIMH and Banjo. I was working for the company that was supporting the future of animation!

Though my department had limited involvement with Bluth, I made it my business to have as much involvement as possible. The coolest animated feature in years was going to be released by United Artists, and it soon became apparent that I was the only person there who knew about it and cared.

United Artists had a checkered past with animated features. Yellow Submarine (1968), Lord of the Rings (1979) and later Rock & Rule (1983) were its best known releases. The studio enjoyed more success on television with its syndication of the pre-1948 Warner Bros. and Popeye cartoons, along with DePatie-Freleng's Pink Panther menagerie.

Because my department was immediately able to release Banjo in 16mm, we required still photos, slides and other materials from Bluth. We had a small staff, so when it came time to request these things I made the call to Gary Goldman and immediately hit it off with him. He invited me to visit the studio if I ever came to Los Angeles and I took him up on his offer.

The following summer I vacationed in L.A. and San Diego, but the highlight of my trip was visiting the Bluth studio, then heavily into production on NIMH. The feeling of optimism was infectious. This wasn't just an animated feature, it was a cause. I came away knowing I had to do more to help.

A Full-Fledged "Bluthie"
Back in New York, I connected with NIMH's unit publicist and concocted a slide presentation on the film which I presented at comic book conventions on the East and West Coasts. I was a full-fledged "Bluthie," preaching the gospel to whoever would listen.

In Spring 1982, I visited Bluth one more time and got a look at the most complete version of the film that one could see: the entire leica reel, mostly in color, except for the final reel. I was so happy to see this much incredible footage, I never asked about the final reel; besides, it gave me something to look forward to when the film was finished. But I should have suspected something. When I finally saw the finished film a few weeks later at a press screening, I was disappointed.

But the studio still held such promise. MGM/UA did a lousy job releasing the film, doing it regionally instead of nationally all on the same date. Summer 1982 also saw the release of Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extraterestrial, which blew away all other family entertainment. The Secret of NIMH failed at the box office.

That failure caused Aurora to back out of producing Bluth's next film, East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Bluth's studio stayed alive animating two innovative video games, Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, which created a short-lived sensation in the summer of 1984. Luckily, through Jerry Goldsmith, who wrote the music for NIMH, Spielberg caught on to Bluth and An American Tail was released in 1986.

Xanadu, The Secret of NIMH, Dragon's Lair and Space Ace pointed toward a potential that has not been realized by the subsequent Bluth productions. But it was Bluth, Goldman, Pomeroy and 11 other renegades from Disney who, in 1979, caused a chain reaction which led to today's feature animation boom. They shared a dream for animation's future which has just begun to happen."
 
 

THE ANIMATION PROCESS, BY DON BLUTH

Don Bluth and Gary Goldman detail on their official website the step-by-step process involved in the making of a full length feature film from start to finish.
 

1) Concept - the idea or situation for the story

2) Treatment - Out line of the story and its characters, 1 to 3 pages

3) Script - flushed out story with location descriptions, character development, with dialogues, start to finish, 70 to 85 pages.

4) Character design - designing each character in the story with costumes and appropriate props to help describe each personality visually.

5) Storyboard - illustrating, scene by scene, with the script and recording of voices as guide.

6) Recording actors' voice tracks (before and after storyboarding - works both ways).

7) Editorial sound - assemble "radio tracks" of the voice recordings for timing approvals and use in storyboard assembly and for animators when working on their "acting" for each scene.

8) Editorial picture - scan in and assemble storysketches cutting scenes in sync with voice "radio track".

9) Approval by director(s)/Producer(s) of individual sequences and scenes to go into animation production - approval of the storyboards.

10) "Bluebook notes", director's notes on each and every scene, purpose of scene, dialogues, number of characters, hook ups to other scenes, special effects, notes about backgrounds, color changes, dissolves to other scenes, multiplication of characters for crowd situations and any othe special notes to artists to be involved with each scene.

11) Layout - drawing of set designs and individual backgrounds for each scene in the film. Scenes per film average between 900 for The Secret of NIMH (82 minutes) to 1350 scenes in Anastasia (95 minutes). Our average scene length is about 6 feet/4 seconds.

12) Color Key - color art direction - miniature paintings using layouts (blown-down) to thumbnail size (2 X 3 inches) to determine colors that will express the mood of a sequence. Happy or "up", sad, violent and scary, meloncholy, etc. Night shots vs daylite shots. Going for imaginative uses of color and pushing the emotions in the continuity of the film.

13) Ruff character animation - first rough animation of key poses for the movement of the characters for each scene. Sometimes with live-action reference (which must be shot before handing out animation)

14) Ruff inbetween - assistant animation filling in the breakdowns and inbetweens "between" the key poses provided by the animator.

15) Scanning - scanning the drawings into the computer for use in scene planning and editorial.

16) Scene Planning - Scene Planners manipulate the camera elements to create camera moves, trucks, pans, cross-dissolves, wipes etc., multiplying and placing characters in each scene. Create special elements called for by the director.

17) Editorial - cut in ruff animated scenes with appropriate camera moves

18) Ruff Sweatbox notes- director's approval or call for corrections of the ruff animated scene. Okay to clean up scene. Notes to call for cleanup of the characters, confirm lip-sync call for designated special effects and notes to color model and Background artist alerting them to the fact that the animation is approved and is coming thru the system.

19) Clean Up animation, key each extreme pose and prepare scene for cleanup breakdown and inbetween. Double check each drawing with the director and the animator that drew the ruffs. Confirm lipsync and levels on exposure sheet.

20) Clean up inbetween - same process as ruff but now cleaning up and creating a single line final drawing for use in registration where necessary, prop reg or layout reg or for closed-in areas for ink & paint.

21) Special Effects animation - Water, rain, snow, splashes, lightning, smoke fire, shadows, tone mattes, highlites, sparkles, pixie dust, magic or any environmental phenomena to accent the believability of each and every scene.

22) Special Effects inbetween & clean up. Self explanatory.

23) CGI Animation - sometimes this department has primary contributions and will begin at the same time as character animation (item 13). We use a lot of CGI special effects and prop animation. This animation will be combined in compositing and cleanup scene planning.

24) Clean up Scanning - scan in cleaned up character and special effects drawings.

25) Clean up Scene Planning - organize the scene according to exposure sheet and director's blue book notes and sent to compositing.

26) Compositing - composite scene in computer and make available to Editorial.

27) Editorial - cut in cleaned up scene with appropriate final special effects and camera moves.

28) Clean up Sweatbox notes - director's approval or call for corrections with notes to all that will still be working on the scene, including background, color model, Special effects, CGI, Art direction, sound editorial and final checking. This is where the scene is approved to go to color.

29) Animation Check - a quality control check to review the Exposure sheet and the assembly of all animation to what levels and to be sure that all elements are in their correct position with correct exposures for transparencies and other camera techniques to achieve scene requirements.

30) Color Model - The artists that work with the director(s) and Art Director to choose colors for the characters and special effects, including CGI animation. This department will work with animation check, special effects, scene planning, art direction and film directors to achieve the purpose of the scene with color.

31) Ink & Paint - painting the characters and special effects as directed by the approved colors approved by the director(s) in color model.

32) Final check - review each scene for correct level assembly, correct painting, correct exposures and make appropriate corrections to the color scenes before final compositing.

33) Final compositing - computer compositing of the final color scene. Here the directors can still make color changes to the backgrounds, characters, special effects and even framing of each scene.

34) Color editorial - cutting in the final color scene.

35) Color Sweatbox - directors' final approval of the colored version of the scene. Notes to approve the color or call for corrections.

36) Sound effects "spotting" - working with a sound design team of editors to agree where sound effects will apply. Foot steps, splash sounds, impacts, creative noises that characters or special effects would create when in motion. including clothes russle, rain impacts, waterfall sound effect, engine sounds, crowd sounds (walla), etc.

37) Music spotting - review the movie with the composer to talk about how the music accompanies the action and how the mood of the story continuity will change from sequence to sequence. Usually we have cut in temp music to show the composer what we thought would be appropriate for each section of the film. We pick music cues from old sound tracks (albums) from other composers/movies.

38) Film transfer - requires a compositing of the approved color scene in a high resolution 1080 X 1900 lines for transfer to film negative and printing.

39) Editorial - The film editor now creates a work "print" of the film for eventual negative cutting. This will apply to every scene in the movie.

40) Musical Score recording session. Usually takes about 5 days of double recording sessions (10 total) to create the musical score for the film. The composer usually requires 10 to 12 weeks to write the score.

41) Music editing - a music editor now cuts the music tracks to sync with the picture and prepare for the final dub or sound mix of the film.

42) Sound editing - sound editors (sound design) shares or reviews his/her sound effects with the directors in preparation for the final dub.

43) Final dub - usually around 5 weeks in a dubbing theater with mixers (3 - dialogue, music, and sound effects engineers) who will balance the sounds of the film to contribute to telling of the story.

44) Mix down - dubbing crew now creates sound tracks for various kinds of presentations, stereo, mono, Optical, digital formats plus M & Es (Music and Effects tracts only for foreign dubs in multiple languages.

45) Mix down Music - for sound track album, this is a duty of the composer and music mixer, it usually takes place just after the completion of the recording of the score.

46) Creation of Digital and optical elements to be combined with the final printing of the film on film for theater presentation.

47) Negative cutting - work prints with final approved color scenes on film are delivered to a Negative cutting company (usually located at the film developing and printing company like Technicolor, Deluxe Labs or Rank Labs), The negative will be assembled to the exact order of the work print, spliced and made available to the printer.

48) Answer Print - The Producer/Director and Art Director or Color Model designer will review the color prints for accuracy of color from scene to scene. This usually takes 3 to 5 days to perfect the final answer print. This will be the guide for checking all release prints.

49) Inter-positive - protection master of the original negative and element to create a duplicate negative.

50) Dupe Negative - a duplicate negative will be made from the interpositive to produce "Release Prints". Dupe negatives are good for about 50 prints. A new dupe negative will have to be made for every 50 prints required.

51) Release Print - one example of a release print is to be delivered with the answer print to the distributor.

52) Video Mastering - usually using the inter-positive or a dupe negative, a master video transfer will be made with the director and a color representative from the film production will be present while a scene to scene color correct correction/enhancement will be made for both Pan & Scan/full screen and wide-screen presentations.

53) Digital Mastering - scene to scene color correction for DVD and High Definition presentations.

54) Find a place to store all the art work. If you are not too tired, get another project up and running, there are a lot of people that may have to be layed off if you are not prepared to go on to the next production. It's best to start with several projects in mind.