Don Bluth

All righty, I'm firing up a sequence of related Top Ten Tuesdays focusing on one of my favorite art forms - animation. I'm going to start off by saying that animation (from the outside) seems a confusing business. There are animators, directing animators, and animation directors.... all of which are different jobs. Of course, some overlap and many directors have a special touch. But today I'm focusing on someone who rose up through the ranks as an animator and became a director - but he has such distinct style that you can pick out his involvement no matter what role he is filling*: Don Bluth. I'm serious about that distinctive bit. Curious? Watch The Rescuers, Secret of NIMH, and An American Tail, all three star mice so you can really notice the similar movements. My other litmus test? Toss the character into some moving water and watch how they come up for air. THAT is super distinctive, but wouldn't you know it, no one has bothered to put together a compilation for me.

*almost - his earliest work is exempt... and the dreaded DD

10. Rock-A-Doodle (1991)

Why, yes. That rooster does call Elvis to mind.

So... there is a well known truth among Bluth fans. Movies he direct fall into three categories. The first two catagories are ah-mazing and ah-bomination, more on the third category later. This one is the first movie in his downward spiral and therefore the least painful to encounter. There is plenty of energy and color. Plus, the designs are fun and unique, I mean an Elvis wannabee that's actually a rooster? Gold. Alright, maybe not gold, but definitely not the turd that the next several films would be.

9. The Fox and the Hound (1983)

Wait, Disney? Yup. Don Bluth worked as an animator for the Disney Corporation, a pretty popular one at that. Part-way through the production of this film he up and left - taking a good chunk of the animation staff with him. This betrayal was a real punch in the gut to Disney and EXACTLY what they needed. He was right, Disney was getting stale. The formation of a rival company forced them to up their game. His bits were limited to basically the minutia of Widow Tweed's life - milking a cow, playing with Tod, shooting a gun, and... nope that's it. But the legacy begins here, shooting it up the list.

8. The Rescuers

Bluth worked for Disney beginning in the late 1950s on movies like Sleeping Beauty and Robin Hood, but in my mind this is where the real Bluth style begins to show in earnest. I guess mice are kind of his thing. Anyway this a fine film and it certainly kept Disney chugging along a little longer at a time when they were about to fold up. Seriously the history on this film is fascinating and I've seen more than one source crediting it with saving Disney, seems ironic that it's directing animator would leave partway through the next film to form a competing company.

7. The Small One

I've only seen this gem a couple of times, but it is really lovely. It has a lot of the characteristic Disney design but with a heaping helping of Bluth. Plus it is Christmas, and really, who can resist that? Additionally, it is really the first project where Bluth got to practice his directing skills. It isn't a feature film but rather a short, check it out next Christmas.

6. All Dogs Go to Heaven

Don Bluth has a policy that kids can handle anything... as long as there's a happy ending. And he is playing that card to his fullest ability in this film. Death, homelessness, child exploitation, child endangerment, and the mob(?) to name a few things in the film. It has a dark color palette to go with it's dark themes. Unfortunately this was the final AUTHENTICALLY BLUTH film to be released. His art style would appear in a couple more films, but his original approach to stories was about to fade away.

5. Anastasia

So here's that third category I spoke of earlier - Diet Disney. But in fairness Bluth's Diet Disney beats the pants off most others in terms of quality. Don't expect any historical accuracy here, but you can expect a great villain, handsome leasing man, and a thumping good soundtrack. While I like the movie it isn't one that you can peg right off as a Bluth film - because with Diet Disney he simply tries to copy the look and feel of a Disney movie.

4. Bartok the Magnificent

This could easily snuck onto the guilty pleasures list. Don Bluth's films have a reputation for generating sequels, and not just sequels - but sequels completely different from the original film. But this is the only one Bluth was involved with. Is it a more outstanding film than Anastasia? Heck no. Do I like it better for no apparent reason? Heck yes. The art style has only the briefest shades of Bluthiness but it is very welcome. And the story is totally insane, not as dark as Bluth-classic but a little off of Diet Disney.

3. Secret of NIMH

Many people consider this film the height and glory of Bluth's career. I love it but I prefer to believe that the man didn't climax on his first outing. (I also never experienced it until high school.) This is the film that launched a career away from Disney - and made Disney realize that they had competition. Not a box office success by any means (opening the same time as E.T.) but garnering crazy positive reviews from the critics describing it as 'beautiful', 'thoughtful', and 'interesting'. I imagine it had a few Disney execs sweating.

2. An American Tail

If Secret of NIMH made Disney sweat then An American Tail was causing panic attacks. It beat the record for highest grossing animated film set in 1977 by... The Rescuers. Produced by Steven Spielberg (the E.T. competition) he apparently asked Bluth to create, "something pretty, like you did in NIMH." The marketing for this film was much better and resulted in a great box office success. About this time Disney started shaking up the way they worked and a new project was about to begin...

1. The Land Before Time

I could watch this film over and over as a child - even though it was kinda scary compared to my normal fare. It raised the bar and once agin set the record for animation box office. Oliver and Company (which Disney had been working on for quite some time) released the same year and came closer than other Disney offerings. But Disney was about to change the landscape of animated film with a release that would affect how every company made animated films for the next decade... the animated musical.