8 Intriguing Details About the Renowned Animator Don Bluth

Over a remarkable career exceeding 60 years, Don Bluth has worn many hats, including film director, animator, production designer, video game designer, illustrator, and educator. His acclaimed works include The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988), and the groundbreaking video game Dragon’s Lair.

Following the recent release of his autobiography, Somewhere Out There: My Animated Life, and the May publication of Don Bluth’s Art of Storyboard, Bluth has now added 'author' to his impressive repertoire.

1. At just 4 years old, Don Bluth discovered his passion for animation and knew it was his calling.

At the age of 4, Bluth’s parents brought him to watch Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He was captivated by the moment the Evil Queen turned into a witch. “It left a lasting impression on me,” Bluth shared with Deseret News in July 2022. “‘Let’s experience that again!’ I was mesmerized by its visual appeal. I can’t pinpoint exactly why it drew me in so deeply.”

2. He comes from a family with notable figures. 

Bluth’s great-grandfather was Helaman Pratt, a prominent early leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a co-founder of Prattville, Utah. Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate and current Utah senator, is also Pratt’s great-grandson, making Romney and Bluth second cousins.

3. He was mentored by one of Disney’s legendary “Nine Old Men.” 

At 18, Bluth joined Walt Disney Productions as an “in-between,” responsible for adding frames to animators’ sketches. His talent quickly earned him a promotion to assistant animator under John Lounsbery, a member of Disney’s renowned “Nine Old Men.”

“I was in absolute bliss, soaking up knowledge and thriving in the studio environment I felt destined to be part of,” Bluth shared with Meridian Magazine in 2012. Despite Lounsbery’s bewilderment, Bluth left Disney to embark on a church mission trip to Argentina. 

4. His debut independent film was created in his garage. 

While still employed at Disney, Bluth founded Aurora Productions, inspired by the character from Sleeping Beauty, the first feature film he contributed to. His inaugural project under Aurora was Banjo the Woodpile Cat, a short film about a farm cat’s adventure to Salt Lake City. Following in Walt Disney’s footsteps, Bluth started his company in his garage.

“Many assumed we chose the garage intentionally, echoing Walt Disney’s humble beginnings,” Bluth explained to The Washington Post in 1982. “But we weren’t that calculated. We simply couldn’t afford a better space. My living room, draped with blackout curtains, became the projection room. The family room housed the camera equipment, my bedroom was filled with editing tools for years, and the kitchen and patio served as the commissary. Every penny we had went into filmmaking equipment and what you see on screen.”

5. He established his own animation studio not once, but three times. 

In 1979, after nearly a decade at Walt Disney Productions—where he worked on films like Robin Hood, The Rescuers, and Pete’s Dragon—Bluth and several colleagues departed Disney to form Don Bluth Productions. Their debut project was the animated sequence for the live-action film Xanadu (1980), featuring Olivia Newton-John. The Secret of NIMH became their first and final film.

Despite critical acclaim, The Secret of NIMH underperformed at the box office. Coupled with an animators’ strike in 1982, this led to the studio’s bankruptcy that year. The company rebranded as Bluth Group, shifting focus to video games. Their first release was 1983’s Dragon’s Lair, the first game to feature film-quality graphics. After releasing only one more game (1983’s Space Ace), the Bluth Group faced bankruptcy again, largely due to the 1983 video game crash.

In 1984, Bluth partnered with businessman Morris Sullivan to establish Sullivan Bluth Studios. The studio enjoyed early success with films like The Land Before Time, but it shut down in 1995 after a series of failures led investors to withdraw. In 2020, at 84, Bluth announced the creation of Don Bluth Entertainment, a new venture dedicated to hand-drawn animation. 

6. His first studio pioneered profit-sharing contracts in animation.

Don Bluth Productions introduced the first documented profit-sharing agreement, which Bluth explained to The Washington Post was essential because it was “the only way we could fairly reward people for their sacrifices and extra efforts.”

He maintained this practice with his next venture. At Sullivan Bluth Studios, employees received up to 25 percent of the profits from each film. “This unique approach, rooted in Morris Sullivan’s and Don Bluth’s belief that every team member is vital to the film’s creation, was groundbreaking,” Animator Magazine noted about this innovative system. 

7. Bluth believes it’s crucial to include darkness in children’s films. 

Bluth’s films are renowned for featuring some of the most poignant and unsettling moments in children’s cinema. In a conversation with Doug Walker, the YouTube star behind The Nostalgia Critic (watchable above), Bluth remarked, “Without darkness, you can’t truly appreciate the light. Without December, no one would cherish May. It’s vital to experience both sides. As for a happy ending … when you leave the theater, you should carry something meaningful with you. What did it teach me? Am I a better person for having seen it?”

Steven Spielberg, the producer of An American Tail and The Land Before Time, clashed with Bluth and removed 10 minutes of footage from the latter film, believing the scenes were “too frightening” for young audiences, according to the Jaws director.

8. Bluth aimed to collaborate with Michael Jackson on a Beatles-inspired film. 

Bluth has numerous unfinished projects, including a short film based on The Pied Piper of Hamlin and a feature-length adaptation of The Velveteen Rabbit. Among his most unusual unrealized ideas is Strawberry Fields, a Fantasia-style collection of vignettes set to The Beatles’ music, which he tried to develop in the 1980s. Michael Jackson, who had recently acquired the rights to the Lennon/McCartney catalog, proposed the project to Bluth, but it was abandoned after the surviving Beatles members declined to allow their likenesses to be used.