Don Bluth

Donald Virgil "Don" Bluth is an American film director, animator, producer, writer, production designer, and animation instructor.
==History==
He started his career at Walt Disney Productions in 1955, only to leave the company in 1979 and start his own animation studio, Don Bluth Productions (formerly ), after believing the company had lost its charm when they turned down his pitch for an animated feature-length adaptation of 's novel , which he decided to create by himself and a few of his friends at the studio. It was shortened to , and the protagonist was originally named Frisby, but the company was the then-owner of the toy name Frisbee, so Bluth changed the protagonist's name to Mrs. Brisby. He found his greatest success teaming up with Steven Spielberg and creating the franchises of and , which both shattered box office records for animated features at the time and challenged Disney, until the release of The Little Mermaid.
After departing with Spielberg, Bluth worked on a few more films, being the last successful one, before Don Bluth Productions closed down at the release of , at which he was hired at . He found new success with , Thumbelina and Rock-A-Doodle, but this company closed down at the release of , which was Bluth's last film to date. He has been currently fundraising for a movie adaptation of Dragon's Lair, whose campaign had closed as of January 16, 2016.
Several of his films are currently available for streaming on Disney+.
==Filmography==
Year	Film 	Position
1955	Lady and the Tramp 	Assistant director, animator (uncredited)
1959	Sleeping Beauty 	Inbetween artist (uncredited)
1961	One Hundred and One Dalmatians 	Assistant animator (uncredited)
1963	The Sword in the Stone 	Assistant animator (uncredited)
1967	The Jungle Book 	Assistant animator (uncredited)
1970	The Aristocats 	Character animator (uncredited)
1973	Robin Hood 	Character animator / Voice actor: Elephant Guards (uncredited)
1974	Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! 	Animator: Rabbit / Story (uncredited)
1975	Escape to Witch Mountain 	Animator: titles (uncredited)
1977	The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	Animator: Rabbit / Story (uncredited)
1977	The Rescuers 	Directing animator: Bernard and Miss Bianca
1977	Pete's Dragon 	Animation director
1978	The Small One 	Director / Producer / Animator: auction scene (uncredited)
1981	The Fox and the Hound 	Animator (uncredited)
1983	Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore 	Assistant animator (uncredited)
1983	Mickey's Christmas Carol 	Animator (uncredited)
1986	The Great Mouse Detective 	Storyboard artist, title designer (uncredited)
1987	The Brave Little Toaster 	Storyboard artist (uncredited)
==Outside filmography==
Year	Film	Position 	Production Company 	Distributed by 	Current Distribution Rights
1979	 	Director / Producer / Animator / Story (uncredited) 	Don Bluth Productions 	ABC Specials 	Disney
1980	 	Animation sequence unit 	Universal Pictures 	Universal Pictures 	Universal
1982	 	Director / Producer / Story adaptation / Directing animator / Layout artist / Visual development artist (uncredited)	Aurora ProductionsDon Bluth Productions 	United Artists (through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) 	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (through Amazon)
1986	 	Director / Producer / Designer / Storyboard artist / Title designer / Animator (uncredited) 	Amblin EntertainmentSullivan-Bluth Studios 	Universal Pictures 	Universal
1988	 	Director / Producer / Production designer / Storyboard artist / Animator (uncredited) 	Amblin EntertainmentSullivan-Bluth Studios 	Universal Pictures 	Universal
1989	 	Director / Producer / Story / Production designer / Storyboard artist / Character animator (uncredited) 	Goldcrest FilmsSweatbox AnimationSullivan-Bluth Studios	United Artists (through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; worldwide)The Rank Organisation (UK/Ireland)	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (through Amazon)
1991	 	Director / Producer / Story / Storyboard artist / Directing animator (uncredited) 	Goldcrest FilmsSullivan-Bluth Studios 	The Samuel Goldwyn Company (USA and Canada)The Rank Organisation (UK/Ireland) 	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (through Amazon)
1994	 	Director / Producer / Screenplay / Supervising animator (uncredited) 	Don Bluth Ireland, Ltd. 	Warner Bros. Pictures 	Disney
1994	 	Director / Producer / Original story / Supervising animator (uncredited) 	Don Bluth Ireland, Ltd. 	Warner Bros. Pictures 	Disney
1995	 	Director, producer, supervising animator (uncredited) 	Don Bluth Limited 	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (USA)Warner Bros. Pictures (worldwide) 	Warner Bros (US) (physical media)Amazon (worldwide) (digital)Disney (international)
1997	 	Director / Producer / Designer: Anastasia (uncredited) 	Fox Animation Studios 	20th Century Fox 	Disney
1999	 	Director / Producer / Supervising animator (uncredited) 	Fox Animation Studios 	20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 	Disney
2000	 	Director, producer 	Fox Animation Studios 	20th Century Fox 	Disney
==Animation==
Aristocats-disneyscreencaps.com-9010.jpg|Madame Adelaide Bonfamille (uncredited)
Disney-robin-hood-help1280-1280x1024.jpg|Robin Hood
Skippy-2.png|Skippy
Robinhood179.jpg|Sis
Robinhood199.jpg|Tagalong
Toby Turtle waving hello to Maid Marian.jpg|Toby Turtle
Rabbit.jpg|Rabbit
Tumblr nahiehIX591r3jmn6o1 1280.png|Bernard and Miss Bianca
Pete's Dragon Animation Color Model Cel - Elliott.jpg|Elliott
Widow-Tweed-(Fox and the Hound).jpg|Widow Tweed (uncredited)
==Gallery==
Don Bluth working on The Rescuers.jpg
Pomeroy Bluth Goldman Gaskill The Rescuers Production.jpg|Don Bluth directing the animation of The Rescuers.
Funnyworld18-Kausler02.jpg|Don Bluth at the storyboard meeting for The Rescuers.
Funnyworld18-Kausler03.jpg|Don Bluth working on Pete's Dragon.
== Trivia== 
*Bluth had plans for an animated adaption of Beauty and the Beast. Concept artwork was completed in 1984, but upon discovering that Walt Disney Pictures already had plans for their own adaptation, the project was cancelled by Columbia Pictures.
*To defend the use of darker scenes in his movies, Bluth once said, "[If] you don't show the darkness, you can't appreciate the light. If it weren't for December, no one would appreciate May. It's just important that you see both sides of that."
==External links==
* 
*
*The Don Bluth Wiki
*Official website
Category:1930s births
Category:Males
Category:American people
Category:People from Texas
Category:Animators
Category:Directors
Category:Writers
Category:Producers
Category:Annie Award Winner
Category:The Small One
Category:Sleeping Beauty
Category:101 Dalmatians
Category:The Sword in the Stone
Category:The Jungle Book
Category:The Aristocats
Category:Robin Hood
Category:The Rescuers
Category:Pete's Dragon
Category:The Fox and the Hound
Category:The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Category:ABC
Category:Fox
Category:20th Century Studios
Category:Lucasfilm