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105-539: Donald Virgil Bluth ( / b l uː θ / BLOOTH ; born September 13, 1937) is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He is best known for directing the animated films The Secret of NIMH , An American Tail , The Land Before Time , All Dogs Go to Heaven , Anastasia and Titan A.E. , for his involvement in the LaserDisc games Dragon's Lair and Space Ace , and for competing with former employer Walt Disney Productions during

210-495: A Kickstarter campaign in hopes of resurrecting hand-drawn animation by creating an animated feature-length film of Dragon's Lair . Bluth plans for the film to provide more backstory for Dirk and Daphne and show that she is not a "blonde airhead". 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. Two months later, Indiegogo campaign reached its goal of $ 250,000, 14 days after

315-406: A LaserDisc ). 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

420-460: A Saturn Award for Best Animated Film of 1982. Though only a moderate success at the box office, it turned a solid profit through home video and overseas releases. It was followed in 1998 by a direct-to-video sequel, The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue , which was made without Bluth's involvement or input and met with poor reception. In 2015, a live-action/animated remake was reported to be in

525-492: A cult following long after its theatrical debut. This was followed by another VHS release under the MGM/UA Family Entertainment label in 1994, along with a Philips CD-i video disc version that same year, which was available exclusively through Warner Home Video worldwide. The film was released on DVD for the first time on November 17, 1998, which was reprinted numerous times in the ensuing years, both as

630-548: A birdcage, she overhears a telephone conversation between the Fitzgibbons' patriarch and the staff of NIMH and learns that the institute intends to exterminate the rats in the morning. Brisby then escapes from the cage and runs off to warn them. As a rainstorm approaches, the rats begin moving the Brisby home, with the children and Auntie Shrew inside, using a rope and pulley system. Disregarding Sullivan's protests, Jenner soon sabotages

735-624: A degree in English literature from Brigham Young University. In 1964, Bluth illustrated Affairs of the Harp , a harp maintenance manual by Samuel O Pratt, with dozens of anthropomorphic cartoon harp characters he called "Harpoons". In 1967, Bluth returned to the animation industry, and joined Filmation working on layouts for The Archie Show and Sabrina the Teenage Witch . In 1971, he returned full-time to Disney as an animation trainee. His first project

840-404: A film based on NIMH . At Bluth, Goldman and Pomeroy's request, Aurora Productions acquired the film rights and offered Don Bluth Productions a budget of US$ 5.7 million and 30 months to complete the film, tighter in both budget and schedule than most Disney animated features at the time. "The amulet was a device, or symbol, to represent the internal power of Mrs. Brisby. ... In many ways, it

945-468: A film based on the book, explaining that Disney has already a mouse named Mickey Mouse and they had recently made a similar film about mice named The Rescuers (1977). However, Bluth also presented the novel to the other staff that would work for Don Bluth Productions later on and they all loved it. Two months later, former Disney executive James L. Stewart, who now had started Aurora Productions , called Goldman and told him about Anderson's idea of making

1050-532: A film version of Dragon's Lair . After apparently sitting in development for over a decade, the project raised over $ 570,000 via a successful crowdfunding campaign in January 2016. 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 October 2004, Polydor Records released the song " Mary ", by the Scissor Sisters , which

1155-462: A grade of "A", calling it "a wonderful adaptation" of the original book, adding that "Bluth and his animators, bless them, chose to revive an endangered art form – classically detailed animation. They drew their characters exquisitely and gave them individual personalities. The entire ensemble – artists, actors, animals, and musicians – created something unique: the world's first enjoyable rat race." Similarly, Richard Corliss of Time magazine called

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1260-435: A kind man comes up to the boy and asks if Small One is for sale. He needs a gentle donkey to carry his wife to Bethlehem , insists he will take good care of him, and offers one piece of silver. The boy accepts, says goodbye to Small One, and watches as the couple and Small One leave on their journey as a bright star appears in the sky. By the early 1970s, several of Disney's senior animators had either died or retired, but

1365-416: A mature story with rapturous presentation." The film also has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 15 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the movie two "yes" votes on a July 15, 1982 episode of their television program Sneak Previews , stating that Don Bluth and his team had succeeded in their goal of matching

1470-453: A piano duet) totaling 10:09. Varese Sarabande did release the soundtrack on CD prior to the 1995 re-released reissue in 1986 with the artwork as the same as the LP jacket, but with a black background and a different track arrangement. Tim Hildebrandt spent two weeks painting The Secret of NIMH 's promotional poster. The film's distributor, MGM/UA Entertainment Co. , barely did any promotion for

1575-597: A positive review of the film, critic Roger Ebert observed that its creators "consciously include[d] the three key ingredients in the big Disney hits: action, romance, and music". Anastasia became Don Bluth's most commercially successful film and it established 20th Century Fox as a Disney competitor until 2019, when Disney purchased the company. Despite the success of Anastasia , Bluth resumed his string of box office failures with Titan A.E. , which made less than $ 37 million worldwide in 2000 despite an estimated $ 75 million budget. In 2000, 20th Century Fox Studios shut down

1680-430: A re-issue of Pinocchio (1940). The story is based on a 1947 children's book of the same name by Charles Tazewell and was a project for the new generation of Disney animators including Don Bluth , Jerry Rees , Henry Selick , Gary Goldman , and John Pomeroy . The story tells of a young boy outside Nazareth , who must part with his best friend, an old donkey named Small One. He brings it to market , but no one

1785-667: A result of its release and competition with other summer fare, NIMH became only a moderate success, grossing nearly $ 14.7 million in North America, though it was more successful on home video, cable, and foreign releases, ultimately turning a profit. The Secret of NIMH debuted on Super 8 film and several home video formats in 1983, including VHS , Betamax , CED Videodisc , Video8 and LaserDisc , which were distributed by MGM/UA Home Video in North America and Warner Home Video in Europe, Australia and Japan. A Video 2000 version

1890-422: A special 'fantastic' quality". This was most apparent in the magic amulet given to Mrs. Brisby, which was meant to be a visual representation of her character's internal power, something harder to show on film. The object was also meant to introduce a spiritual aspect to the plot, with the director remarking: "The stone or amulet is just a method of letting the audience know that Mrs. Brisby has found 'Courage of

1995-490: A stand-alone release or bundled with other animated films from MGM or 20th Century Fox . Don Bluth and Gary Goldman later oversaw a high-definition restoration of the film, which was released on June 19, 2007, in a 2-disc DVD set called the "Family Fun Edition". Improvements in the transfer over the 1998 DVD include color correction and dirt and dust removal and included special features such as audio commentary from both individuals and an interview featurette. A Blu-ray version

2100-537: 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. Some of the film's concepts were later realized as the 2014 French animated film Mune: Guardian of the Moon . After his partnership with Spielberg ended, Bluth began planning another film titled The Little Blue Whale with screenwriter Robert Towne . The planned film

2205-531: A two-story, 5,500-square-foot (510 m ) facility in Studio City, California , several months later. While they were still working at Disney, they produced the 27-minute short film Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979) as a side project to gain other production skills that the company and their animation program were not addressing. Bluth asked Ron W. Miller , Walt Disney 's son-in-law and the president and CEO of

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2310-479: A veteran storyboard artist, to collaborate with Young. Larson had assumed he would be directing the film and brought Burny Mattinson to help reboard the story, as well as veteran animator Cliff Nordberg to help assist on the animation. According to Mattinson, the team left on Friday for the weekend, and returned on Monday to have their work tossed out because studio management had selected Don Bluth to direct. Then-animator Betsy Baytos claimed Larson, in reaction to

2415-627: Is done with pencil tests and then traced and colored in Clip Studio Paint . Bluth's memoir, Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life , was released on July 19, 2022. His first children's picture book, Yuki, Star of the Sea was released on On April 1, 2024. It tells the story of a whale who is captured and taken to Hollywood to become a movie star. 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

2520-509: Is edited in two places: This short is also featured on the DVD Walt Disney Animation Collection: Classic Short Films: Volume 7: Mickey's Christmas Carol released on September 29, 2009. It was also released on Region 2 on the 2002 UK DVD Walt Disney Presents Countdown to Christmas . The title was also made available for streaming and download in the digital format . It is also available on

2625-451: Is in need of a "scrawny donkey", except for a tanner . In the Galilean countryside near the city of Nazareth , Herodian kingdom , a young boy and his father own four donkeys. One donkey, Small One, is so old and weak, he cannot adequately do his job of carrying the wood collected by the boy's father. The boy loads Small One with the smallest sticks, and helps him to carry them. One evening,

2730-670: Is of Swedish , English, Irish, Scottish , and German descent. 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 Disney comic book I could find". At the age of six, his family moved to Payson, Utah , where he lived on a family farm. Bluth has stated that he and his siblings do not communicate with each other as adults. In 1954, his family moved to Santa Monica, California . Bluth attended Brigham Young University in Utah for one year. After leaving university, Bluth

2835-410: 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

2940-660: The 4th annual Youth in Film Awards , being beaten by E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , while the home video release received an Award of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board . In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated this film for its Top 10 Animation Films list . A direct-to-video sequel directed by Dick Sebast and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation titled The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to

3045-601: 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. Sullivan Bluth Studios also helped boost animation as an industry within Ireland. Bluth and his colleagues taught an animation course at Ballyfermot Senior College . Teaming up with producer Steven Spielberg , Bluth's next project

3150-544: The multiplane camera were also manufactured for this production. To achieve the film's detailed full animation while keeping to the tight budget, the studio strove to keep any waste of time and resources to a minimum. The crew often worked long hours with no immediate financial reward (though they were offered a cut of the film's profits, a practice common for producers, directors and stars of live action films, but never before offered to artists on an animated feature); producer Gary Goldman recalled working 110-hour weeks during

3255-418: The video game crash of 1983 . Many art designs, filmed animation tests and videos of these unfinished projects still circulate online. The earliest of Bluth's unfinished film projects is a Disney -produced animated short film adaptation of the fairy tale The Pied Piper of Hamelin from the early 1970s. After The Secret of NIMH , Bluth began developing an animated feature film adaptation of Beauty and

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3360-405: The 1978 film The End in their respective homes, independently of each other. Elizabeth Hartman was cast as Mrs. Brisby, with Goldman calling her performance in A Patch of Blue "so believable and sincere that we all felt that she was right for the part". Pomeroy suggested Derek Jacobi , who starred in the 1976 miniseries I, Claudius , to play the part of Nicodemus. Peter Strauss , whom

3465-480: The 2003 game I-Ninja was planned, which had input from Bluth. 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. A project called Pac-Man Adventures was originally planned in partnership with Namco around 2003 but

3570-604: The Beast . While a few scenes were produced in 1984, the film's production was officially cancelled in 1989, when Don Bluth and the film's distributor Columbia Pictures heard the news of Disney beginning work on their own animated adaptation . That same time, Bluth began developing an animated adaptation of East of the Sun and West of the Moon . Ultimately, the film was never made due to a loss of financial backing. Following Don Bluth's partnership with Steven Spielberg, 1986's An American Tail

3675-556: The Fox Animation Studio facility in Phoenix, making Titan A.E. the last American-made traditionally animated film released by 20th Century Fox in theaters to be fully animated and not a live-action/animation hybrid until the release of 2007's The Simpsons Movie . It also stands as Bluth's most recent theatrical film as a director. In 2002, Bluth and video game company Ubisoft developed the video game Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to

3780-468: The Great Owl, who tells her to visit a colony of rats that live beneath a rose bush on the farm and ask for the services of Nicodemus, their wise and mystical leader. Brisby enters the rose bush and encounters an aggressive guard rat named Brutus, who chases her away. She is led back in by Ages and is amazed to see the rats' use of electricity and other technology. Brisby meets Justin, the friendly captain of

3885-457: The Heart'. Magic? Maybe. Spiritual? Yes". In the same vein, Nicodemus was made into a wizard to "create more mystery" about himself and the rats' colony. Among other changes, the antagonist Jenner was given much more prominence in the film, being only mentioned as a traitor who leaves in the book, to "add drama" to the narrative by giving it a more visible enemy. Justin also now succeeds Nicodemus as

3990-462: 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, but 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 were seeking funding for

4095-508: The Laughing Men from The Sword in the Stone (1963) and Mowgli from The Jungle Book (1967) was recycled for the short film. The Small One was released on December 16, 1978, accompanying a reissue of Pinocchio (1940). Charles Solomon , in his Los Angeles Times review, wrote: "The film has its flaws: The script and the songs are a bit saccharine, and the human characters, except for

4200-508: 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. In 1983, he, Rick Dyer , Goldman, and Pomeroy started the Bluth Group and created the arcade game Dragon's Lair , an on rails game which let the player choose between simple paths for an animated- cartoon character on screen (whose adventures were played off

4305-436: The Rescue was released on December 22, 1998. Set several years after the events of the first film, the plot focuses on Mrs. Brisby's son Timothy as he struggles to live up to his father's prestigious reputation. Apart from Dom DeLuise and Arthur Malet reprising their roles as Jeremy and Mr. Ages, respectively, none of the original voice cast returned for the film. The film was made without Don Bluth's input or involvement and

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4410-417: 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. In 2011, Bluth and his game development company Square One Studios worked with Warner Bros. Digital Distribution to develop a modern reinterpretation of the 1983 arcade classic Tapper , titled Tapper World Tour . In October 2015, Bluth and Goldman started

4515-406: The assembly, causing it to fall apart and crush Nicodemus to death. Brisby soon arrives to warn the rats about NIMH's arrival, but Jenner attacks her and attempts to steal the amulet as Sullivan alerts Justin, who comes to Brisby's aid. Jenner fatally wounds Sullivan and engages Justin in a sword fight that ends with him being killed by the dying Sullivan. The Brisby home suddenly begins to sink into

4620-568: The book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH had reportedly been offered to Walt Disney Productions in 1972, but they were turned down. The Secret of NIMH was the first feature film to be directed by Don Bluth . On September 13, 1979, Bluth, fellow animators Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy and eight other animation staff left the feature animation department at Disney to set up their own independent studio, Don Bluth Productions . The studio worked, at first, out of Bluth's house and garage, but moved to

4725-418: The book, which was reduced to a short flashback in later revisions to bring Mrs. Brisby and her plight into the forefront. It also included (from the book) a female rat named Isabella (described as "a young, cute, somewhat motor-mouthed rat with a crush on Justin"), who was ultimately left out and much of her dialogue given to Nicodemus. A revised synopsis dated July 2, 1980, by an unattributed author would take

4830-459: The box office failure of Titan A.E. and subsequent closure of Fox Animation Studios . In 2005, a live-action Hitchhiker's film was released by Touchstone Pictures . 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

4935-448: The boy to insist that Small One is "good enough to be in a king's stable". This prompts the auctioneer and the crowd to laugh and poke fun. When the auctioneer attempts to sit on Small One, shoving the boy out of the way, Small One rouses the strength to buck and kick the auctioneer off him, sending him crashing into the stage and knocking it over. The boy and Small One run away, and sit at a street corner hopelessly weeping. At this moment,

5040-414: The boy's father says that he has to sell Small One because he cannot do enough work to cover the cost of his care. Devastated by the news, the boy volunteers to take the donkey to be sold so that he can try to find him a kind master. The father agrees and tells him that he has to sell him for one piece of silver. The next morning, the boy takes Small One to the market. At first they are tricked into visiting

5145-595: The boy, are far less interesting in their design and movements than the animals, but The Small One is characterized by the same qualities of light, perspective and atmosphere that made the great Disney films so vivid." That same year, on December 23, the film had its television premiere on HBO . On September 27, 2005, Disney released The Small One for the first time on Region 1 DVD as part of Walt Disney's Classic Cartoon Favorites: Volume 9: Classic Holiday Stories . This DVD also featured Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952). The short

5250-525: 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. Blitz Games planned a video game adaptation of Titan A.E. for the PlayStation and PC in fall 2000 in North America, following the film's summer release. Development on both platforms had begun in March 1999 under

5355-499: The campaign launched. As of February 2018, the total exceeded $ 728,000. 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 . Bluth was listed as a producer. 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

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5460-500: The casting process as "exciting, fun, and sometimes strange". He stated that focusing on the characteristics of each character, the voices and acting abilities were crucial, saying that using voices that added to a film's texture was part of the team's philosophy in the development of a film. Goldman found the most memorable casting decision to be Dom DeLuise for Jeremy the Crow, which Goldman, Bluth, and Pomeroy all considered when they watched

5565-416: The company at the time, to view Banjo , but Miller declined. As Goldman recalled, "that pulled the enthusiasm rug out from under us. We had hoped that the studio might like what we were doing and agree to buy the film and allow us to finish the short film in the studio, which would allow us to recoup what we had spent in terms of money and the many hours that we and the other members of the team had invested in

5670-515: The continuous success of their recently released animated films convinced studio executives that the animation department was still lucrative but in desperate need for new talent. Veteran animator Eric Larson (of Disney's Nine Old Men ) was selected to head the training program, in which he selected and trained graduates from colleges and art schools across the United States. Eventually, 25 new artists were hired between 1970 and 1977. Ron Husband

5775-401: The explicit goal in mind of returning feature animation to its " golden era ", concentrating on strong characters and story and experimenting with unusual and often more labor-intensive animation techniques. Bluth believed older techniques were being abandoned in favor of lower production costs and the only way that animation could survive was to continue traditional production methods. Among

5880-402: The film "something gorgeous to look at". The Secret of NIMH won Best Animated Film of 1982 at the 10th annual Saturn Awards , where it also received a nomination for Best Fantasy Film, losing to The Dark Crystal . In his acceptance speech, Bluth remarked: "Thanks. We didn't think anyone had noticed". The film was also nominated for Best Family Feature for Animation, Musical or Fantasy at

5985-462: The film closer to its completed form, which ended with the mysterious disappearance of the rats, leading the characters and audience to wonder if they ever really existed, or were just an elaborate illusion. Bluth himself would later make several changes to the story, most notably with the addition of mystical elements not present in the original novel. He explained that "regarding magic, we really believe that animation calls for some magic, to give it

6090-528: The film written by Jerry Goldsmith and performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra . One song, "Flying Dreams" was vocally performed by Paul Williams and Sally Stevens . It was Goldsmith's first composition for an animated feature, which he admitted was such a departure from his normal work that in the end he approached the project like a live action score, employing the same kind of extended themes and structural development. What made

6195-431: The film". Before they started making Banjo , Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH was read by artist and story writer Ken Anderson , who called it "a wonderful story". He gave the book to Bluth for him to read and make a film out of after Bluth finished the animation direction of Pete's Dragon (1977). Bluth later showed the novel to Disney animation director Wolfgang Reitherman , who turned down Bluth's offers to make

6300-470: The film's original title Planet Ice , and an early playable version was showcased at the 2000 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. In July 2000, a spokesman from the game's publisher, Fox Interactive , announced that development on the title had been halted largely due to the film's poor box office performance which was "only one of many different factors" that led to its cancellation. A sequel to

6405-554: The film, leading Aurora to finance the advertising campaign themselves. The financiers had expected the film to open in wide release in 1,000 venues, but MGM opted for a limited opening weekend in 100 theaters, with its widest release in only 700. Although it faced competition with the blockbuster E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (directed by future Bluth partner Steven Spielberg ), it performed better in those theaters alone in its opening week than Poltergeist , Rocky III , Firefox , and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . However, as

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6510-419: The film, which was supervised by Goldman. Goldman found the sound work by Horten his second favorite part of the production process, recalling that some of his "most beautiful efforts" had to make way for the recordings of Goldsmith's music: "I remember hearing David's orchestration of ambient sounds and specific sound effects for the 8-minute tractor sequence without Jerry's music cue. It was amazing. But then, so

6615-536: The film, with the understanding that their investment would be the first to be repaid. The film was the sixth animated feature to be presented in the Dolby Stereo sound system. In animating Justin and Jenner's sword fight, the animators referenced similar sequences in films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and The Vikings (1958). The Secret of NIMH: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack contains songs from

6720-451: The final six months of production. Around 100 in-house staff worked on the film, with the labor-intensive cel painting farmed out to 45 people working from home. Many minor roles, including incidental and crowd voice work, were filled in by the in-house staff. The final cost of the film was $ 6.385 million. The producers, Bluth, Goldman and Pomeroy and the executive producers at Aurora mortgaged their homes collectively for $ 700,000 to complete

6825-785: The guard ; Jenner, a ruthless and power-hungry member opposed to Nicodemus; and finally Nicodemus himself. From Nicodemus, she learns that many years ago the rats, along with her husband and Ages, were part of a series of experiments at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH for short). The experiments boosted their intelligence, as well as making them capable of speech, rationalization and abstract thought, thereby enabling them to escape, as well as extending their lifespans and slowing their aging processes. However, they are unable to live as typical rats would and need human technology to survive, which they have accomplished only by stealing, placing them at great risk of discovery. To avoid being at

6930-691: The high quality animation of Disney's heyday while also incorporating a deeper plot and greater variety of settings than other recent animated films. In his print review for the Chicago Sun-Times , Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, calling it "an artistic success", praising the quality of its animation and saying that it "contains that absolute rarity among feature-length animated cartoons, an interesting premise." Ebert found that NIMH may not resonate as well on an emotional level with younger viewers, since "it has so many characters and involves them in so many different problems that there's nobody for

7035-652: The humans hot on their tails". The studio planned to turn the novel into a family franchise. The Russo brothers were attached as executive producers of the remake as of April 2019. A television series based on the books was in development at Fox as an event series in September 2021. The Small One The Small One (also known as A Christmas Miracle in the UK) is a 1978 American animated featurette produced by Walt Disney Productions and released theatrically by Buena Vista Distribution on December 16, 1978, with

7140-538: The illness as pneumonia , provides Brisby with medicine and warns her that Timothy must stay inside for at least three weeks to avoid death. On her way home, Brisby befriends Jeremy, a clumsy but friendly crow, before they both narrowly escape from the Fitzgibbons' family cat, Dragon. The next morning, Brisby discovers that the Fitzgibbons' patriarch and the farm's owner has started plowing early. Although her neighbor, Auntie Shrew, helps her disable his tractor, Brisby knows she must devise another plan. Jeremy takes her to meet

7245-486: The kids in the audience to strongly identify with." Siskel, writing for the Chicago Tribune , found the film "charming", but stated that the narrative was "littered with too many unimportant characters" and that Dom DeLuise "insert[ed] too much of himself" into the character of Jeremy. Despite this, Siskel found the film, particularly the second half, to be a "genuine pleasure" and felt that even adults will be drawn into

7350-455: The leader of the rats to give his character more of an arc and allow him an opportunity to "grow and change". Unlike the original work, Justin does not rescue Mrs. Brisby from the cage at the Fitzgibbons' house and she now helps her children without the rats' assistance by using the amulet, once again giving focus to her personal story. As Bluth put it, " The Secret of NIMH is really a story about Mrs. Brisby and her need to save her children. If

7455-421: The local tanner by a Roman guard at the city gates. Terrified, they run out of the shop when they discover he only wants the donkey's hide. As they wander the streets looking for a buyer, they encounter several townspeople, shop owners, and merchants, none of whom want to buy. At last, the boy leads Small One onto the stage at a horse auction. The auctioneer has no interest in selling a "scrawny donkey", which causes

7560-498: 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 and was not involved with An American Tail: Fievel Goes West , the first film produced by Spielberg's new Amblimation studio. Although All Dogs Go To Heaven only had moderate theatrical success, it

7665-409: The mercy of humankind again, the rats have settled on a decision for them to leave the farm and live independently in an area they refer to as Thorn Valley. Nicodemus then gives Brisby a magical amulet that will activate when the wearer is courageous. Meanwhile, Jenner, who wishes for the rats to remain in the rose bush, plots with his reluctant accomplice, Sullivan, to eliminate Nicodemus. Because of

7770-459: The muddy ground it landed on and Brisby and the rats are unable to raise it. All appears lost until Brisby's will to save her family gives power to the amulet, which she uses to lift the house and move it to safety. The next day, the rats, with Justin as their new leader, have departed for Thorn Valley as Timothy begins to recover. Jeremy then meets and falls in love with a female crow who is just as clumsy yet good-hearted as he is. The film rights to

7875-431: The news, "just shook his head and knew that he wasn't being appreciated. He felt the old days were gone". In retrospect, Bluth stated that " Small One was something I directed to get the crew busy until Pete's Dragon ... [Larson] might have [been involved] in the storyboard area. [But he] didn't get to direction. I think he elected to [teach]". Bluth supervised all aspects of the production, including heavily revising

7980-671: 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. Bluth scored a hit in 1997 with Anastasia , produced at Fox Animation Studios in Phoenix, Arizona , which grossed nearly US$ 140 million worldwide. In

8085-498: The rats save her children, then she hasn't grown in the film". During the film's production, Aurora contacted Wham-O , the manufacturers of Frisbee flying discs, with concerns about possible trademark infringements if the "Mrs. Frisby" name in O'Brien's original book was used in the film. Wham-O rejected Aurora's request for waiver to use the same-sounding name to their "Frisbee", in the film. Aurora informed Bluth & company that Mrs. Frisby's name would have to be altered. By then,

8190-436: The rats' relationship with Jonathan, they agree to help her move her home. First, they need to drug Dragon so that it can be done without interference. Only Brisby can do this, as the rats cannot fit through the hole leading into the house; Jonathan was killed by Dragon in a previous attempt, while Ages broke his leg in another. That night, she puts the drug into Dragon's dish, but the Fitzgibbons' son catches her. While trapped in

8295-413: The scoring process hard for Goldsmith was that he had to score scenes that were unfinished: "I was on the phone constantly with them. My dupe [copy of the film] was in black and white, and they'd bring their color copy over so I could see it. They were constantly adding footage, and it was constantly, 'What's going on here?' and 'What's happening here?'" David M. Horton spent a year on the sound design for

8400-457: The story by the end, giving it three stars out of four. Vincent Canby of The New York Times noted the film's animation was "something of a technical and stylistic triumph" comparable to that of Disney's golden age, but expressed dismay at the narrative, finding it too complicated and lacking in an "easily identifiable central character". In his review for the 1990 VHS re-release, Jeff Unger of Entertainment Weekly gave The Secret of NIMH

8505-451: The storyline that it frustrated Young. His friend Steve Hulett remembered: "He thought they had missed a lot of the points that he and Vance had made in their original boards." Young left the production and worked on The Fox and the Hound (1981). Given the allotted production budget, Bluth composed two songs himself with a third song composed by assistant director Richard Rich . Animation of

8610-405: The studio to establish his own animation studio , Don Bluth Productions , along with Gary Goldman , John Pomeroy , and nine fellow Disney animators. To this end, 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

8715-526: The team previously saw in another miniseries from 1976, Rich Man, Poor Man , was cast as Justin. Paul Shenar was assigned to play Jenner since the staff liked his "dark, powerful voice". Shakespearean actor John Carradine was "perfect for the dark, ominous Great Owl", while Aldo Ray was assigned to voice Jenner's reluctant accomplice, Sullivan, whom Goldman said "also had a great distinctive voice". The production of The Secret of NIMH lasted from January 1980 to early June 1982. The studio set out with

8820-605: The techniques experimented with on The Secret of NIMH were rotoscoping , multiple passes on the camera to achieve transparent shadows, backlit animation (where animated mattes are shot with light shining through color gels to produce glowing areas for artificial light and fire effects) and multiple color palettes for characters to fit in different lighting situations, from daylight, to night, to warm environments, to underwater. Mrs. Brisby had 46 different lighting situations; therefore there were 46 different color palettes, or lists of color, for her. Two modern, computerized versions of

8925-437: The voice work had already been recorded for the film, so the name change to "Mrs. Brisby" necessitated a combination of re-recording some lines and, because John Carradine was unavailable for further recordings, careful sound editing had to be performed, taking the "B" sound of another word from Carradine's recorded lines, and replace the "F" sound with the "B" sound, altering the name from "Frisby" to "Brisby". Goldman described

9030-435: The works. A television series adaptation was also revealed to be in development since 2021. Mrs. Brisby , a widowed field mouse, lives in a cinder block with her children on a farm owned by the Fitzgibbons family. Brisby longs to move her family out of the field as plowing time approaches, but her son Timothy has fallen ill, putting it to a halt. Brisby visits Mr. Ages, a friend of her late husband, Jonathan, who diagnoses

9135-646: The years leading up to the films that became the Disney Renaissance . Bluth was born on September 13, 1937 in El Paso, Texas , to Emaline (née Pratt) and Virgil Roneal Bluth. His maternal grandfather was Rey Pratt from the Pratt family , whose own father Helaman Pratt was an early leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as a grandfather of George W. Romney and great-grandfather of Mitt Romney . He

9240-467: 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 on home video. The main character in An American Tail (Fievel Mouskewitz) became

9345-541: Was Robin Hood , in which he animated sequences of Robin Hood stealing gold from Prince John , rescuing a rabbit infant, and romancing Maid Marian near a waterfall. For Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too , he animated Rabbit alongside John Lounsbery. During production on The Rescuers , Bluth was promoted to directing animator alongside the remaining members of Disney's Nine Old Men . He then worked as an animation director on Pete's Dragon . His last involvement with Disney

9450-499: Was The Secret of NIMH . Bluth employed 160 animators during the production and agreed to the first profit sharing contract in the animation industry. Though only 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 the modest gross and an industry-wide animation strike, Don Bluth Productions filed for bankruptcy. His next film would have been an animated version of

9555-604: Was Jerry's 8-minute music cue, it remains extremely powerful. We were able to combine a lot of David's sounds, treating them like part of the orchestra. It came out great, but I couldn't help but feel empathy for David". The album was released on July 2, 1982, on vinyl and a re-released reissue on March 3, 1995, on CD with a rearranged track listing. Intrada Records issued a remastered limited edition album on CD on August 17, 2015, with one previously unreleased cue ("At Your Service", running 3:39) and three demos of "Flying Dreams" (as performed by Sally Stevens, Paul Williams and as

9660-466: Was about a little girl and her animal friends who try to protect a little whale from evil whalers. Other unrealized projects also included plans for an animated short film centered around a magical talking pencil starring Dom DeLuise , animated film adaptations of the books Quintaglio Ascension , The Belgariad , and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy . The latter productions were canceled following

9765-497: Was accompanied by a music video for which Bluth did the animation. The following month, Dark Horse Books released Bluth's The Art of Storyboard . This was followed in May 2005 by the companion book, The Art of Animation Drawing . 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

9870-447: Was also released exclusively in Europe. With a $ 79 purchase price in the United States, the VHS edition sold approximately 25,000 copies within the first few months. On September 6, 1990, the film was re-released on both VHS and LaserDisc in a new advertising campaign with lower retail prices. It was this new wide availability on video, as well as broadcasts on cable, that helped NIMH garner

9975-435: Was an extension of Mrs. Brisby ... a visual extension of an internal (and harder to show in a film) power". —Don Bluth, explaining the amulet's inclusion in the film One of the earliest drafts of the film was written by Steven Barnes , who received a creative consultant credit in the final product and was closer to the original novel. The story would have focused more on the rats and their time at NIMH as it did in

10080-524: Was highly successful in its release to home video. He also directed films, such as Rock-a-Doodle , Thumbelina , A Troll in Central Park , and The Pebble and the Penguin , which were all critical and box office failures; however, Rock-a-Doodle would find greater success on home video. In the 1990s, Bluth began hosting youth theater productions in the living room of his Scottsdale, Arizona, home. As

10185-611: Was hired in 1955 by Walt Disney Productions as an assistant to John Lounsbery for Sleeping Beauty . In 1957, Bluth left Disney, recalling he found the work to be "kind of boring". For two and a half years, Bluth resided in Argentina on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He returned to the United States where he opened a local theater in Culver City , producing musicals such as The Music Man and The Sound of Music . Bluth returned to college and earned

10290-512: 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 . 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 . In 1985, Bluth, Pomeroy, and Goldman established, with businessman Morris Sullivan ,

10395-454: Was panned by critics and fans upon release. In 2009, Paramount Pictures was working with Neil Burger on a remake of The Secret of NIMH ; nothing has materialized since. In 2015, MGM re-acquired the rights to produce a new film based on the original novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH . The film was to be produced by the team of Daniel Bobker and Ehren Kruger , with screenplay by Ice Age series writer Michael Berg . The film

10500-441: Was promoted to Disney's first African-American animator while working on the project. The idea for The Small One originated from Pete Young, then an apprentice story artist, who found the book among the studio's optioned properties in their library. He developed the initial storyboards at home, and pitched it to Ron Miller who claimed it to be a story with "heart". To help polish the storyboards, Miller selected Vance Gerry ,

10605-442: Was released as Bluth's second film instead. During production of East of the Sun and West of the Moon , Bluth also animated a demo reel of Jawbreaker , a proposed television series by Phil Mendez of a boy who finds a magical tooth. The series however, was not greenlit. 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 ,

10710-403: Was released on March 29, 2011, which retained the special features of the "Family Fun Edition". The Secret of NIMH received positive reviews upon its release. It holds an approval rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 68 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The consensus states: " The Secret of NIMH seeks to resurrect the classical style of American animation and succeeds, telling

10815-573: 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. The Secret of NIMH The Secret of NIMH was released in the United States on July 2, 1982, by MGM/UA Entertainment Co. under the United Artists label. It was praised by critics for its elegant and painstakingly detailed animation, compelling characters, and deep and mature plot, and won

10920-403: Was the short The Small One . Meanwhile, he produced his first independent film, Banjo the Woodpile Cat . For The Fox and the Hound , Bluth animated several scenes of the character Widow Tweed. During production, creative differences between Bluth and studio executives had arisen concerning artistic control and animation training practices. On his 42nd birthday in 1979, Bluth resigned from

11025-457: Was to be James Madigan's directorial debut. Planned as a CGI / live-action hybrid in the style of films like The Smurfs and Alvin and the Chipmunks , the film was to be "an origin story in which an imperiled mouse protagonist befriends a comical crew of lab rats as they turn hyper-intelligent. They escape a secret laboratory and become the great minds of vermin civilization, forced to outwit

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