History Creator / DonBluth

* SmallAnnoyingCreature: A stock character that shows up in his works to lighten the mood. Examples include Digit in ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', Ducky and Petrie in ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', Hunch from ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'' and Bartok from ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}''. The fact that one gets ''blown to pieces on-screen'' in [[WesternAnimation/TitanAE his final film]] shows that even he started to get sick of them after a while.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'': His other attempt to ape the Disney Renaissance style. This time, it was successful. To date, his last big hit.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: ''Titan A.E.'' (the Drej are acting in premptive self-defense, while Corso is a very sympathetic AntiVillain).

He's also U.S. senator Mitt Romney's second cousin

** BlackAndWhiteMorality: ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'', ''WesternAnimation/ATrollInCentralPark'',''WesternAnimation/BartokTheMagnificent'', ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime''. The last one, toys with WhiteAndGreyMorality with the antagonist, Sharptooth, looking like a mere animal that is just acting on its predatory instincts, whereas Littlefoot and his friends, except Cera, are unambiguously good. In the book, however, he is given intelligence, making him unambiguously evil.
%%** GreyAndGrayMorality: ''Titan A.E''

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin'': A film so plagued with ExecutiveMeddling, terrible animation and unnecessary songs that Bluth gave up on it halfway through and [[AlanSmithee took his name off the credits]] to move to 20th Century Fox. To date, his last independent feature. Amazingly, it managed to get even ''worse'' reviews than ''Troll''.

He's also U.S. senator Mitt Romney's second cousin. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Let's leave it at that]].

Born in El Paso, Texas, Bluth's career as an animator began at his future rival's studio, working as an assistant animator on ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'' and ''Disney/TheSwordInTheStone''. He took a break for a few years to go to Argentina on a Mormon recruitment mission, briefly working for Creator/{{Filmation}} as a layout artist before eventually getting re-hired by Disney. Unfortunately by that point, the studio was going through [[DorkAge major financial and creative turmoil]] in the wake of [[Creator/WaltDisney their founder]]'s death, and he was put to work on some of their more economical films like ''Disney/RobinHood'' and ''Disney/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' (most notably, the scene where Rabbit is lost in the woods). Bluth nevertheless proved himself a skilled artist, working his way up to a directing animator on ''Disney/TheRescuers'', ''Film/PetesDragon1977'' and ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound''.

Back at Disney, the old guard sat up and took notice that Bluth was beating them at their own game. The financial success of ''American Tail'' raised concern (though the absolute nadir was their own lavish fantasy epic ''Disney/TheBlackCauldron'' under-performing against ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie'' of all things), convincing the studio's new ultra-competitive head Jeffery Katzenberg to whip the animation unit of Disney back into shape to take down the competition. Spielberg, meanwhile, continued to produce animation: he was a major driving force between the groundbreaking live-action/animation hybrid feature ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' and introduced the kind of fluid, appealing animation Bluth had introduced him to in their partnership to TV audiences with ''[[Series/AmazingStories Family Dog]]'' and, later, ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''.

1989 saw the release of Bluth's 4th feature, ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven''. It was [[DuelingMovies released on the same day]] as [[DavidVersusGoliath Disney's mega-blockbuster musical smash]] ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'', which [[CurbStompBattle blew Bluth's tiny little indie flick out of the water]]. With Disney [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor heeding his word]] (and admittedly [[NeverLiveItDown still salty about the mass exodus he led in 1980]]) and reclaiming their title as top dog in feature animation, Bluth's films from that point on became lost in the overcrowded "all the animation that isn't by Disney" market, and were burdened by [[ExecutiveMeddling demands from what few investors he had left]] to be less dark and more marketable.

What was left of his studio after ''Mermaid'' was leveled two years later when his next film, ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'', went up against Disney's ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''. There was no competition any more: the Bluth film was such a massive BoxOfficeBomb that he was forced to close his studio and sell the right to his previous film in order to form a new studio a couple years later. But the message was made clear at that point that animated features in the 1990s belonged to Disney, and Bluth's next three films were [[ExecutiveMeddling meddled with]], [[ChristmasRushed rushed]] and [[NoBudget underfunded]], each [[BoxOfficeBomb failing harder than the last]]. After ''WesternAnimation/ATrollInCentralPark'' became the '''lowest''' grossing animated feature of all time, John Pomoroy left his partnership with Bluth and Goldman to return to Disney.

* ''Disney/RobinHood'': His first animation credit.
* ''[[Disney/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too]]'': Animated the scene where Rabbit gets lost in the woods.
* ''Disney/TheRescuers: '' His first animation directing credit for Disney.

* ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound'': Left midway through production but animated several early scenes with Young Tod and Widow Tweed, for which he was uncredited.

* ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'': A film [[InNameOnly very loosely inspired]] by Beth Brown's 1943 book of the same name. Got some good reviews, but was [[DuelingMovies financially curb-stomped]] by ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid''.

%%* GenreThrowback: All [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH four]] [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail of his]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime eighties]] [[WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven films]] are clearly trying to emulate the feel of Disney's earliest films such as ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' and ''Disney/{{Bambi}}''.

* {{Rotoscoping}}: Bluth likes to do this a lot, but he usually sticks with using it to animate difficult vehicles and such. The effect is very appropriate, as the giant rotoscoped machines in ''NIMH'' and ''American Tail'' look ''terrifying''. In more recent movies, this effect was largely replaced by ConspicuousCG and the impact is... less good. Human background characters in ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'' and ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' were also rotoscoped, though non-rotoscoped humans appear in later movies.

* ''Disney/TheSmallOne'': His last official project with Disney.

** ''The Secret of NIMH'', which is an adaptation of the book ''Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH''.

That animator was one Donald Virgil Bluth (born September 13, 1937).

* CentralTheme: Family and ThePowerOfLove
* CherubicChoir: Used in nearly every one of his films.

* DownOnTheFarm: In ''WesternAnimation/BanjoTheWoodpileCat'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'' and ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle''. Possibly a case of WriteWhatYouKnow because Bluth grew up on a farm; this is definitely the case with ''Banjo'', which was based on a childhood pet who got lost and later found his way back.

* FollowTheLeader: ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina|1994}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' were pretty blatant attempts to copy the Disney formula.
* FurriesAreEasierToDraw: But then again, ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' both had very well-animated humans as main characters (humans were usually simply rotoscoped in his earlier films). ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' also used a significant amount of rotoscoping.
* GenreThrowback: All [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH four]] [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail of his]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime eighties]] [[WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven films]] are clearly trying to emulate the feel of Disney's earliest films such as ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' and ''Disney/{{Bambi}}''.

* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: If a character smokes in one of his movies, expect them to be a villain.

* LighterAndSofter: ''Rock-a-Doodle'', ''Thumbelina'', ''A Troll In Central Park'', and ''The Pebble and the Penguin'' compared to the last four movies before them. Perhaps not coincidentally, these were his only films to flop critically and financially.
* LoveAtFirstSight: A trait of some of Bluth's projects.
** In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', there is an implied attraction between Mrs. Brisby and Justin, but it doesn't go much further than that. Played more straight with Tony Toponi and Bridget in ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', Goldie and Chanticleer in ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina|1994}}'' and Prince Cornelius, as well as Hubie and Marina in ''WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin''.
** Two exceptions are Anya and Dmitri in ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' and the leads in ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'', who both detest each other at the start.
* NiceMice: Probably the only exception in any of his movies would be Ms. Field Mouse from ''Thumbelina'', and even then she's just a bit of a {{Jerkass}}. Plenty of [[YouDirtyRat villainous rats]] in his work though.
* ObviouslyEvil: Most of his villains.

** Most of Bluth's films involve a metaphorical or literal journey down to hell. Keep in mind that Bluth is a life-long Mormon, and it's far easier to [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory read Christian themes into his films]] than it is with comparable Disney films.[[note]] Mormon theology doesn't have a comparable hell concept, so this theme may be more to add to the fairy tale atmosphere of some of his older movies.[[/note]]

** BlackAndGrayMorality: ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven''

** GreyAndGrayMorality: ''Titan A.E''

* SlasherSmile: A common trend in his villainous characters.

** BlackAndWhiteMorality: ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'', ''WesternAnimation/ATrollInCentralPark'',''WesternAnimation/BartokTheMagnificent'', ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime''. The last one, toys with WhiteAndGreyMorality with the antagonist, Sharptooth, looking like a mere animal that is just acting on its predatory instincts, whereas Littlefoot and his friends, except Cera, are unambiguously good. In the book however he is given intelligence making him unambiguously evil.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''Titan A.E.'' is very different from his other films for a variety of reasons. First, it didn't even start off with Bluth--it spend a while in DevelopmentHell before 20th Century Fox gave Bluth, fresh off the success of ''Anastasia'', the directors chair and 19 months to slam the film out. It also completely eschews the fairy tale aesthetic and tone of his previous films and, unlike his previous work ''Space Ace'', plays its Sci-Fi art and tone completely straight. And while Don's work is known for its dark elements already, this film throws in more cynical elements to go with it, which are sometimes played for laughs, and there are also no [[KidAppealCharacter kid friendly characters or sidekicks]] (with the possible exception of Gune) sandwiched in--in fact, the film takes a potshot at the trope when a Drej trooper [[BloodyHilarious unceremoniously (and comically)]] kills one such character who tried to tag along with Cale and Korso. The soundtrack also consists of pop music instead of an orchestral score. On top of that, it's also ''very'' heavy on CGI, far more than any of Bluth's previous work.

''NIMH'' managed to catch the eye of ''Film/{{ET|TheExtraTerrestrial}}'' director and notable animation fan Creator/StevenSpielberg who was looking to turn the script for a proposed TV special into an animated feature. Under Spielberg's supervision, the studio created ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', the first animated feature to out-gross a Disney film and was briefly the '''highest grossing animated feature at the time'''. They followed it up two years later with the prehistoric epic ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', which became an even ''bigger'' hit. Both films were also hugely successful with critics and audiences and are still beloved to this day. By this point, Bluth's tiny garage business had expanded to a fully-operational studio in Dublin, Ireland. Feeling successful enough to once again work on his own (and [[CreativeDifferences getting annoyed that Spielberg was always getting the last word in creativity on their projects]]), he cut ties with Spielberg and resumed fully-independent production on his next film.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Bluth's career as an animator began at his future rival's studio, working as an assistant animator on ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'' and ''Disney/TheSwordInTheStone''. He took a break for a few years to go to Argentina on a Mormon recruitment mission, briefly working for Creator/{{Filmation}} as a layout artist before eventually getting re-hired by Disney. Unfortunately by that point, the studio was going through [[DorkAge major financial and creative turmoil]] in the wake of [[Creator/WaltDisney their founder]]'s death, and he was put to work on some of their more economical films like ''Disney/RobinHood'' and ''Disney/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' (most notably, the scene where Rabbit is lost in the woods). Bluth nevertheless proved himself a skilled artist, working his way up to a directing animator on ''Disney/TheRescuers'', ''Film/PetesDragon1977'' and ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound''.

Bluth's career as an animator began at his future rival's studio, working as an assistant animator on ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'' and ''Disney/TheSwordInTheStone''. He took a break for a few years to go to Argentina on a Mormon recruitment mission, briefly working for Creator/{{Filmation}} as a layout artist before eventually getting re-hired by Disney. Unfortunately by that point, the studio was going through [[DorkAge major financial and creative turmoil]] in the wake of [[Creator/WaltDisney their founder]]'s death, and he was put to work on some of their more economical films like ''Disney/RobinHood'' and ''Disney/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' (most notably, the scene where Rabbit is lost in the woods). Bluth nevertheless proved himself a skilled artist, working his way up to a directing animator on ''Disney/TheRescuers'', ''Film/PetesDragon1977'' and ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound''.

''NIMH'' managed to catch the eye of ''Film/{{ET|TheExtraTerrestrial}}'' director and notable animation fan Creator/StevenSpielberg who was looking to turn the script for a proposed TV special into an animated feature. Under Spielberg's supervision, the studio created ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', the first animated feature to out-gross a Disney film and was briefly the '''highest grossing animated feature at the time'''. They followed it up two years later with the prehistoric epic ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', which became an even ''bigger'' hit. Both films were also hugely successful with critics and audiences and are still beloved to this day. By this point, Bluth's tiny garage business had expanded to a fully-operational studio in Ireland. Feeling successful enough to once again work on his own (and [[CreativeDifferences getting annoyed that Spielberg was always getting the last word in creativity on their projects]]), he cut ties with Spielberg and resumed fully-independent production on his next film.

Things looked up for Bluth in 1995 when 20th Century Fox offered him the director's chair for the first film of their new animation arm. Desperate, Bluth [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere abandoned his floundering indie project]] ''WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin'' and took the reigns of Fox's AnimatedMusical, ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}''. It was Bluth's only financially successful project of the 90s and [[CareerResurrection his first financial success since]] ''[[CareerResurrection Land Before Time]]''. However, by that point, the animation landscape had changed significantly for everyone.

* ProductionPosse: Creator/DomDeLuise and Charles Nelson Reilly both voice prominent characters in multiple Bluth films. [=DeLuise=] would bring along Creator/BurtReynolds for the ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' films.

* [[YouLookFamiliar You Sound Familiar]]: Creator/DomDeLuise and Charles Nelson Reilly both voice prominent characters in multiple Bluth films.

* ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'': First film to bomb both critically and financially, also [[JumpTheShark alienated a lot of his fans]], forcing him to close his studio in Ireland.

* ''WesternAnimation/ATrollInCentralPark'': Widely considered to be his worst movie largely due to its [[TastesLikeDiabetes DEFCON level 4 cutsiness]]. One of the biggest animated bombs of all time.

This was [[CreatorKiller the final straw for Bluth]], who was not only burned out from years of struggling to stay afloat but also wasn't willing to give up on his trusty paper and pencil in favor of the computer. One year later, he announced his retirement from filmmaking saying "Never again will I draw a character and hand the rights over to someone else, which pretty much puts me out of the animation business."

This was [[CreatorKiller the final straw for Bluth]], who was not only burned out from years of struggling to stay afloat but also wasn't not willing to give up on his trusty paper and pencil in favor of the computer. One year later, he announced his retirement from filmmaking saying "Never again will I draw a character and hand the rights over to someone else, which pretty much puts me out of the animation business."

Back at Disney, the old guard sat up and took notice that Bluth's was beating them at their own game. The financial success of ''American Tail'' raised concern (though the absolute nadir was their own lavish fantasy epic ''Disney/TheBlackCauldron'' under-performing against ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie'' of all things), convincing the studio's new ultra-competitive head Jeffery Katzenberg to whip the animation unit of Disney back into shape to take down the competition. Spielberg, meanwhile, continued to produce animation: he was a major driving force between the groundbreaking live-action/animation hybrid feature ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' and introduced the kind of fluid, appealing animation Bluth had introduced him to in their partnership to TV audiences with ''[[Series/AmazingStories Family Dog]]'' and, later, ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''.

* CatsAreMean: Written in giant, neon letters. His [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH first feature]] depicts one cat as a ''literal monster''! There are exceptions, like ''WesternAnimation/BanjoTheWoodpileCat'' and Edmund in ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'', and even a mix of both [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch good]] and bad cats in ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail''. And despite his claim that he likes dogs better than cats, even they don't come of much better (Charlie and Carface - especially Carface - in ''All Dogs Go To Heaven'', the vicious dogs in ''Banjo'' and ''A Troll In Central Park'').

* ReusedCharacterDesign: While his films aren't ''too'' bad about this, if you really pay attention a lot of his characters have similar facial features, body types and mannerisms. For example, compare [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail Fievel]] to [[WesternAnimation/RockADoodle Edmond]], WesternAnimation/BanjoTheWoodpileCat to [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH Martin Brisby]], [[WesternAnimation/Thumbelina1994 Jacquimo]] to [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail Henri]], [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH The Great Owl]] to [[WesternAnimation/RockADoodle The Grand Duke of Owls]], [[WesternAnimation/RockADoodle one of the Duke's owl henchmen in the chorus]] (the one with the green cape, NOT Hunch!) to [[WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin Rocko]], [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail Warren T. Rat]] to [[WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven Carface]] or [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH Ms. Shrew]], [[WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven Carface]] to [[WesternAnimation/ATrollInCentralPark Gnorga]], [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH Jenner]] to [[WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin Drake]], [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH Mrs. Shrew]] to [[{{WesternAnimation/Anastasia}} Comrade Phleminkoff]], [[WesternAnimation/Thumbelina1994 Prince Cornelius]] to [[{{WesternAnimation/Anastasia}} Dimitri]] and [[WesternAnimation/TitanAE Cale]], and [[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime Rooter]] to [[WesternAnimation/TitanAE Tek]].

* ReusedCharacterDesign: While his films aren't ''too'' bad about this, if you really pay attention a lot of his characters have similar facial features, body types and mannerisms. For example, compare [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail Fievel]] to [[WesternAnimation/RockADoodle Edmond]], WesternAnimation/BanjoTheWoodpileCat to [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH Martin Brisby]], [[WesternAnimation/Thumbelina1994 Jacquimo]] to [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail Henri]], [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH The Great Owl]] to [[WesternAnimation/RockADoodle The Grand Duke of Owls]], [[WesternAnimation/RockADoodle one of the Duke's owl henchmen in the chorus]] (the one with the green cape, NOT Hunch!) to [[WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin Rocko]], [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail Warren T. Rat]] to [[WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven Carface]] or [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH Ms. Shrew]], [[WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven Carface]] to [[WesternAnimation/ATrollInCentralPark Gnorga]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH Jenner]] to [[WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin Drake]].