Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Don Bluth is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Producer, Assistant Director, Production Design, Music and Animation American born on 13 september 1937 at El Paso (USA)

Don Bluth

Don Bluth
If you like this person, let us know!
Birth name Donald Virgil Bluth
Nationality USA
Birth 13 september 1937 (87 years) at El Paso (USA)
Creator of Fox Animation Studios
Creator of Sullivan Bluth Studios
Creator of Pacific Bay Entertainment

Donald Virgil "Don" Bluth (born September 13, 1937) is an American animator, film director, producer, writer, production designer, video game designer and independent studio owner who is known for his departure from The Walt Disney Company in 1979 and his subsequent directing of animated films such as The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), and Anastasia (1997), and his involvement in the laserdisc game Dragon's Lair. He is also known for competing with Disney during the years leading up to the films that would make up the Disney Renaissance. His movies tend toward rougher and more energetic portrayals than that of Disney films. Often, his films include a mystical element with mysterious, unexplainable forces at work throughout.

Biography

Deuxième enfant d'une famille qui en compte sept, il grandit dans un milieu très marqué par l'art. À 6 ans, il se découvre une vocation de dessinateur en voyant Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains.

Dès ce moment, le dessin devient sa priorité absolue. En 1954, sa famille déménage à Santa Monica en Californie où il passe toute son adolescence. En 1955, il se présente avec son portfolio aux studios Disney de Burbank : il est engagé comme intervalliste pour participer à l'élaboration de La Belle au bois dormant tout en poursuivant ses études de littérature anglaise.

Après une mission en Argentine pour l'Église de Jésus-Christ des saints des derniers jours, Don Bluth revient en Californie, monte un théâtre à Santa Monica avec son frère Frederick, le Bluth Brothers Theater dans lequel il produit des comédies musicales. Pendant trois ans, ils ont produit des talents locaux, Don assurant l'accompagnement au piano. Cependant, il décide rapidement de retourner à ses premières amours : après avoir obtenu son diplôme de littérature anglaise, il se lance à nouveau dans l'animation.

En 1968, il est engagé au département «layout» des studios de télévision de Los Angeles, dont il devient rapidement directeur. De 1971 à 1979, il est animateur aux Studios Walt Disney, travaillant sur les films Robin des Bois, Les Aventures de Bernard et Bianca, Peter et Elliott le dragon et Rox et Rouky.

Inspiré par les classiques Disney, Bluth s'associe à deux autres animateurs Disney, Gary Goldman et John Pomeroy et le trio décide d'appeler leur groupe Don Bluth Productions. Dès 1973, Don, Gary et John avaient réunis le matériel pour pouvoir écrire et diriger leur premier dessin animé. Après deux ou trois faux départs, le tournage débute en 1975 dans le garage de Bluth, occupant les week-ends et les nuits des trois hommes. Ils veulent ressusciter l'esprit des classiques Disney qu'ils ne retrouvent plus aux Studios Disney. Après environ cinq ans d'efforts, c'est en 1979 que le trio achève sa première production. Le fruit de leur travail, Banjo, The Woodpile Cat reçoit de nombreux prix dont le Prix d'excellence du National Advisory Board.

Ce succès attire les investisseurs qui proposent aux trois hommes de financer leur premier long-métrage. Ils démissionnent donc des studios Disney et choisissent d'adapter le roman de Robert C. O'Brien , Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh : en 1982, Brisby et le Secret de NIMH sort sur les écrans. Cependant, le succès de Brisby est mesuré et le secteur de l'animation ne se porte pas au mieux : sans projets, Don Bluth Productions est au bord de la faillite.

En 1983, Bluth, Goldman et Pomeroy fondent Bluth Group et créent des jeux vidéo à succès comme le célèbre Dragon's Lair ou Space Ace, mais le secteur du jeu vidéo en crise ne leur permet pas de réaliser une suite.

Cette période sombre a cependant permis à Don de rencontrer Morris Sullivan , un investisseur qui croit en l'avenir du dessin animé classique et de l'animation traditionnelle. Ils fondent ensemble les Sullivan Bluth Studios et négocient avec Steven Spielberg la mise en chantier d'un nouveau long-métrage : Fievel et le Nouveau Monde obtient un grand succès en salles comme en vidéo.

En 1986, Bluth négocie avec le gouvernement irlandais et transfère son studio en Irlande, où il crée le plus grand et le plus moderne complexe d'animation en Europe.

Le succès des productions de Don Bluth ne se dément pas : Le Petit Dinosaure et la Vallée des merveilles, produit par Steven Spielberg et George Lucas, Charlie, Rock-O-Rico, Poucelina, Le Lutin magique et Anastasia. Il a collaboré pour la quasi-totalité de ces films avec son collègue de toujours, Gary Goldman.

Beaucoup des dessins animés de Don Bluth se fondent sur les thèmes de l'amitié et de la fraternité.

Best films

Anastasia (1997)
(Director)
An American Tail (1986)
(Director)
Titan A.E. (2000)
(Director)
Pete's Dragon (1977)
(Director)
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
(Assistant Director)
The Secret of NIMH (1982)
(Director)

Usually with

Gary Goldman
Gary Goldman
(14 films)
Gary Goldman
Gary Goldman
(14 films)
John Pomeroy
John Pomeroy
(10 films)
Will Ryan
Will Ryan
(6 films)
Dom DeLuise
Dom DeLuise
(4 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Don Bluth (22 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Waking Sleeping Beauty, 1h26
Directed by Don Hahn
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Films about films, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the visual arts, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentary films about cities, Musical films, Children's films
Actors Roy E. Disney, Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Frank Wells, Howard Ashman, Steven Spielberg
Roles Self (archive footage)
Rating74% 3.741813.741813.741813.741813.74181
The film covers the fall and rebirth of Disney's animation division, the effects the new corporate team of Michael Eisner, Frank Wells, and Jeffrey Katzenberg had on the division, the competition with Don Bluth's animation studio, the pivotal roles of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the CAPS system, the introduction of the home video format, and the new-found success the studio had from 1989-1999.
Rock-A-Doodle, 1h16
Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Fantasy, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Films about birds, Musical films, Children's films
Actors Glen Campbell, Sorrell Booke, Christopher Plummer, Charles Nelson Reilly, Ellen Greene, Sandy Duncan
Roles Owls (voice) (uncredited)
Rating60% 3.002473.002473.002473.002473.00247
Chanticleer is a rooster, whose job is to wake the sun up every morning, but the Grand Duke of Owls, who hates sunshine sabotages him to make it look like the sun comes up on its own without Chanticleer's crow. Detested by the farm animals, he leaves the farm to look for work in the city. Afterward, perpetual darkness and rainfall threaten the farm with flooding. Turning out to be a story read to a young human boy named Edmond, it seems that the flooding has found his family and when his mother goes to help them stop it, he calls out to Chanticleer and is heard by the Grand Duke himself who takes a dislike to Edmond's attempts to foil his plans. He turns him into a kitten to devour him, but he is saved at the last second by Pattou, a bloodhound from Chanticleer's farm. He is accompanied by Snipes, a claustrophobic magpie, and Peepers, an intellectual field mouse, as well as several animals from the farm hoping to find Chanticleer and apologize to him for their behavior. Edmond accompanies Pattou, Snipes and Peepers to the city while the rest of the animals remain at Edmond's house. En route, they are attacked by Hunch; the Duke's diminutive nephew, assigned by him to stop Edmond and the others from finding Chanticleer. They narrowly escape and enter the city.
Robin Hood
Robin Hood (1973)
, 1h23
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, Edward Hansen
Origin USA
Genres Adventure, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Film d'animation mettant en scène un animal, Films about foxes, Musical films, Buddy films, Children's films
Actors Phil Harris, Andy Devine, Peter Ustinov, Terry-Thomas, Ken Curtis, Brian Bedford
Roles Elephant Guards (voice) (uncredited)
Rating74% 3.7469553.7469553.7469553.7469553.746955
Alan-a-Dale introduces the story of Robin Hood and Little John, two outlaws living in Sherwood Forest, where they rob from the rich and give to the poor townsfolk of Nottingham, despite the efforts of the Sheriff of Nottingham to stop them. Meanwhile, Prince John and his assistant Sir Hiss arrive in Nottingham on a tour of the kingdom. Knowing the royal coach is laden with riches, Robin and Little John rob Prince John by disguising themselves as fortune tellers. The embarrassed Prince John then puts a bounty on their heads and makes the Sheriff his personal tax collector, who takes pleasure in collecting funds from the townsfolk including hidden money from the crippled blacksmith Otto and a single farthing from a young rabbit, Skippy, who had just received it as a birthday present. However, Robin Hood, disguised as a beggar, sneaks in and gives back some money to the family, as well as his hat and a bow to Skippy in honor of his birthday.

Director

Titan A.E.
Titan A.E. (2000)
, 1h34
Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Gary Goldman
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Action, Adventure, Animation
Themes Space adventure films, Monde imaginaire, Post-apocalyptic films, Films about religion, Sur une planète fictive, Films set in the future, Political films, Dystopian films, Space opera, Children's films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Disaster films
Actors Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo, Drew Barrymore
Rating65% 3.2996053.2996053.2996053.2996053.299605
In 3028 A.D., humanity has mastered deep space travel and interacted with several alien species. A human invention called "Project Titan" alarms the Drej, a pure energy-based alien species who attack Earth after breaching the Global Defense System. As the Drej start to attack Earth, Professor Sam Tucker, the lead researcher for "Project Titan", sends his son Cale on one of the evacuation ships with his alien friend Tek while Tucker and other members of his team fly the Titan spacecraft into hyperspace. When the Drej mothership destroys the Earth with an energy beam, the surviving humans become nomads, generally ridiculed by other alien species.
Bartok the Magnificent, 1h7
Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Gary Goldman
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Fantasy, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Film d'animation mettant en scène un animal, Children's films
Actors Kelsey Grammer, Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, Phillip Van Dyke, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara
Rating60% 3.0471353.0471353.0471353.0471353.047135
Russia is being terrorized by an evil witch known as Baba Yaga (Andrea Martin), and the only one who is not afraid of her is Bartok the Magnificent (Hank Azaria). Bartok, an albino bat, has just arrived in Moscow and is impressing everyone with his performances, including Prince Ivan (Phillip Van Dyke). However, Ivan's advisor, Ludmilla (Catherine O'Hara), finds Bartok annoying and naive, and she tries to make a Cossack stop his performance. After Bartok's show, a bear suddenly attacks. Bartok saves everyone by stunning the bear, knocking it over, and trapping it in a wagon.
Anastasia
Anastasia (1997)
, 1h34
Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Gary Goldman
Origin USA
Genres Comedy-drama, Musical theatre, Fantasy, Adventure, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about children, Films about music and musicians, Christmas films, Musical films, Political films, Alternate history films, Children's films
Actors Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Angela Lansbury, Liz Callaway, Kelsey Grammer, Daveigh Chase
Rating71% 3.5593353.5593353.5593353.5593353.559335
In 1916, Tsar Nicholas II hosts a ball at the Catherine Palace to celebrate the Romanov tricentennial. His mother, the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna, is visiting from Paris and gives a music box and a necklace inscribed with the words “Together in Paris” as parting gifts to her youngest granddaughter, eight-year-old Grand Duchess Anastasia. The ball is suddenly interrupted by the sorcerer Grigori Rasputin, the former royal advisor of the Romanovs until he was banished by Nicholas II for treason. In retaliation, Rasputin sells his soul in exchange for an unholy reliquary, which he uses to place a curse on the Romanov family, sparking the Russian Revolution. Only Marie and Anastasia are able to escape the ensuing siege of the palace, thanks to a young servant boy named Dimitri who shows them a secret passageway in Anastasia's room. Rasputin confronts the two royals outside, only to fall through the ice and freeze to death. The pair manage to reach a moving train, but only Marie climbs aboard while Anastasia falls, hitting her head on the platform.
The Pebble and the Penguin, 1h14
Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy
Origin USA
Genres Fantasy, Adventure, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Film d'animation mettant en scène un animal, Films about birds, Musical films, Films about penguins, Buddy films
Actors Martin Short, James Belushi, Tim Curry, Annie Golden, Frank Welker, Sébastien Dhavernas
Rating54% 2.7478252.7478252.7478252.7478252.747825
Hubie, a shy, gullible but kindhearted penguin, is in love with the beautiful and kind Marina, but lacks self-confidence leading him to be bullied by the much more impressive, but vain and cruel Drake, who also wants Marina, but clearly for lust. One night, Hubie and Marina manage to confirm how they feel for each other, but Hubie cannot quite find a perfect pebble to propose to Marina with. He wishes on a star to make his dream come true and he receives an emerald from the sky. Ecstatic, Hubie rushes to find Marina but is stopped by Drake, who demands Hubie to give him the pebble. Hubie refuses, so Drake throws him into the water. Hubie narrowly escapes from a leopard seal and climbs on to a piece of ice where he is swept away from Antarctica.
Thumbelina
Thumbelina (1994)
, 1h22
Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Gary Goldman
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Fantasy, Musical, Animation, Romance
Themes Films about magic and magicians, Musical films, Children's films
Actors Jodi Benson, Gary Imhoff, Barbara Cook, Carol Channing, Charo, Gino Conforti
Rating62% 3.102383.102383.102383.102383.10238
A lonely old woman longs for a child, and is given a seed by a good witch. When planted, the seed grows into a flower, and inside the blossom is a tiny girl the size of the old woman's thumb. The old woman names the girl Thumbelina and raises her as her own.
A Troll in Central Park, 1h16
Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Gary Goldman
Genres Science fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Musical, Animation
Themes Environmental films, Films about magic and magicians, Films based on mythology, Musical films, Films based on Norse mythology, Children's films
Actors Dom DeLuise, Phillip Glasser, Tawny Sunshine Glover, Cloris Leachman, Charles Nelson Reilly, Jonathan Pryce
Rating52% 2.6484352.6484352.6484352.6484352.648435
The film begins in a Kingdom of Trolls, where Stanley (Dom DeLuise) has a magical green thumb with the ability to bring flowers and plants to life at a touch. When he is discovered doing so, the other trolls take him as prisoner to Gnorga (Cloris Leachman), the Queen of the Trolls, who concludes that Stanley "gives a bad name to trolls everywhere" and demands that he be turned to stone. At the behest of her consort King Llort (Charles Nelson Reilly), Gnorga instead banishes Stanley to Central Park where, after a series of mishaps, Stanley hides himself under a bridge. In New York City, two young siblings named Gus and Rosie (Phillip Glasser and Tawny Sunshine Glover) learn that their father Alan (Jonathan Pryce) and mother Hilary (Hayley Mills) cannot take them to Central Park. while left alone with their nanny, Maria, Gus takes Rosie to the Park himself. While playing with Gus's toy boat, which is later accidentally smashed, Rosie befriends Stanley. When Queen Gnorga discovers Stanley happy in exile, she creates a flood to drown them by making Gus cry, but Stanley enlarges Gus's toy boat to escape. Soon after, Stanley shows the children his own ideals, depicted as a world of his own.
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, 1h12
Directed by Don Bluth, Phil Nibbelink, Dick Zondag, Ralph Zondag, Simon Wells
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Circus films, Dinosaur films, La préhistoire, Time travel films, Animaux préhistoriques, Children's films
Actors John Goodman, Blaze Berdahl, Rhea Perlman, Felicity Ann Kendal, Charles Fleischer, Walter Cronkite
Rating60% 3.000623.000623.000623.000623.00062
The film opens with a trio of young bluebirds harassing their youngest sibling, Buster (Blaze Berdahl). As Buster leaves his family, he meets an intelligent orange T. rex named Rex (John Goodman) playing golf. He explains to Buster that he was once a ravaging dinosaur, and proceeds to tell the story of how he came to become what he is today.
Rock-A-Doodle, 1h16
Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Fantasy, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Films about birds, Musical films, Children's films
Actors Glen Campbell, Sorrell Booke, Christopher Plummer, Charles Nelson Reilly, Ellen Greene, Sandy Duncan
Rating60% 3.002473.002473.002473.002473.00247
Chanticleer is a rooster, whose job is to wake the sun up every morning, but the Grand Duke of Owls, who hates sunshine sabotages him to make it look like the sun comes up on its own without Chanticleer's crow. Detested by the farm animals, he leaves the farm to look for work in the city. Afterward, perpetual darkness and rainfall threaten the farm with flooding. Turning out to be a story read to a young human boy named Edmond, it seems that the flooding has found his family and when his mother goes to help them stop it, he calls out to Chanticleer and is heard by the Grand Duke himself who takes a dislike to Edmond's attempts to foil his plans. He turns him into a kitten to devour him, but he is saved at the last second by Pattou, a bloodhound from Chanticleer's farm. He is accompanied by Snipes, a claustrophobic magpie, and Peepers, an intellectual field mouse, as well as several animals from the farm hoping to find Chanticleer and apologize to him for their behavior. Edmond accompanies Pattou, Snipes and Peepers to the city while the rest of the animals remain at Edmond's house. En route, they are attacked by Hunch; the Duke's diminutive nephew, assigned by him to stop Edmond and the others from finding Chanticleer. They narrowly escape and enter the city.
All Dogs Go to Heaven, 1h25
Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Gary Goldman
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Fantasy, Adventure, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Films about children, Films about religion, Films about dogs, Films about angels, Musical films, Buddy films, Children's films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Judith Barsi, Vic Tayback, Melba Moore, Charles Nelson Reilly
Rating67% 3.3509053.3509053.3509053.3509053.350905
In 1939 New Orleans, a roguish German Shepherd named Charlie B. Barkin escapes from a dog pound with the help of his friend, a dachshund named Itchy Itchiford. They return to a casino riverboat on the bayou, which is formerly run by Charlie with his partner, a bulldog named Carface Caruthers. Not wanting to share the profits with Charlie, Carface persuades him to leave town with 50% of the casino's earnings. Charlie agrees, but is later intoxicated and murdered by Carface. He is sent to Heaven where a whippet angel named Annabelle (who was named in the sequel) tells him that a gold watch representing his life has stopped. He steals and winds it, sending Charlie back to Earth, but is told that if he dies again, he will go to Hell. After reuniting with Itchy, they discover that Carface is holding an orphan girl named Anne-Marie (presumably kidnapped from the orphanage by Carface), who has the ability to talk to animals and gain knowledge of a race's results beforehand, allowing Carface to rig the odds on the rat races and become rich. They rescue her, intending to use her abilities to get revenge on Carface, though Charlie tells her that they plan to give their winnings to the poor and help her find parents.
The Land Before Time, 1h9
Directed by Don Bluth
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Dinosaur films, Films about children, La préhistoire, Transport films, Animaux préhistoriques, Film d'animation mettant en scène un animal, Road movies, Buddy films, Children's films
Actors Gabriel Damon, Candace Hutson, Judith Barsi, Will Ryan, Helen Shaver, Burke Byrnes
Rating73% 3.6967253.6967253.6967253.6967253.696725
Near the end of the Cretaceous, a series of catastrophic events are causing intense drought, and several herds of dinosaurs seek one of the last livable places, a paradise known as the "Great Valley." Among these, a diminished "Longneck" herd gives birth to a single baby, named Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon). Years later, Littlefoot plays with Cera (Candace Hutson), a "Three-horn," who was trying to smash a beetle until her father (Burke Bynes) intervenes; whereupon Littlefoot's mother (Helen Shaver) names the different kinds of dinosaurs: "Three-horns," "Spiketails," "Swimmers," and "Flyers," and states that each has historically remained apart. That night, as Littlefoot follows a "hopper," he encounters Cera again, and they play together briefly until a "Sharptooth" appears. He attacks them, before Littlefoot's mother comes to their rescue. During the fight, she suffers severe back and neck injuries from the Sharptooth's teeth and claws. At that same time, an "earthshake" opens a deep ravine that swallows up the Sharptooth and divides Littlefoot and Cera from their herds. Littlefoot finds his dying mother, and receives her final words of advice in favor of his intuition.
An American Tail, 1h16
Directed by Don Bluth
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Adventure, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Films about immigration, Seafaring films, Transport films, La précarité, Film d'animation mettant en scène un animal, Musical films
Actors Phillip Glasser, Dom DeLuise, John P. Finnegan, Nehemiah Persoff, Cathy Cavadini, Pat Musick
Rating68% 3.4478753.4478753.4478753.4478753.447875
In 1885, Shostka, Russia, the Mousekewitzes—a Russian-Jewish family of mice—who live with a human family named Moskowitz are having a celebration of Hanukkah where the father gives his hat to his son Fievel and tells of a wonderful place called America, where there are no cats. The celebration is interrupted when a battery of Cossacks ride through the village square in an arson attack and the Cossack cats likewise attack the village mice.
The Secret of NIMH, 1h22
Directed by Don Bluth
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Mise en scène d'un rongeur, Mise en scène d'une souris, Children's films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Elizabeth Hartman, Dom DeLuise, Arthur Malet, Derek Jacobi, Hermione Baddeley, John Carradine
Rating74% 3.748853.748853.748853.748853.74885
Mrs. Brisby, a timid widowed field mouse, lives in a cinder block with her children in a field on the Fitzgibbons' farm. She prepares to move her family out of the field as plowing time approaches, but her son Timothy has fallen ill. She visits Mr. Ages, another mouse and friend of her late husband, Jonathan, who diagnoses Timothy with pneumonia and provides her with medicine. Mr. Ages warns her that Timothy must stay inside for at least three weeks or he will die. On her way home she encounters Jeremy, a clumsy but friendly crow. They both narrowly escape from the Fitzgibbons' cat, Dragon.