Don Bluth

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Don Bluth is an American animator, film director, producer, writer, production designer, video game designer, and animation instructor.

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 Entertainment (formerly Sullivan Bluth Studios) after believing the company had lost its charm when they turned down his pitch for an animated feature-length adaptation of Robert C. O'Brien's novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, which he decided to create by himself and a few of his friends at the studio. It was shortened to The Secret of NIMH, and the protagonist was originally named Frisby, but the Wham-O 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 An American Tail and The Land Before Time, 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, All Dogs Go to Heaven being the last successful one, before Don Bluth Entertainment closed down at the release of The Pebble and the Penguin, at which he was hired at Fox Animation Studios. He found new success with Anastasia, but this company closed down at the release of Titan A.E., which was Bluth's last film to date. He is currently fundraising for a movie adaptation of Dragon's Lair.

He was also the older brother of Toby Bluth, who passed away in October 2013.

Disney Filmography

Year	Film	Position
1959	Sleeping Beauty	In-between Artist (Uncredited)
1961	One Hundred and One Dalmatians	Assistant Animator (Uncredited)
1963	The Sword in the Stone	Assistant Animator (Uncredited)
1973	Robin Hood	Character Animator: Robin Hood/Skippy/Sis/Tagalong
1974	Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!	Character Animator: Rabbit
1977	The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	Character Animator
1977	The Rescuers	Directing Animator
1977	Pete's Dragon	Animation Director: Elliott
1978	The Small One	Director/Animator (Uncredited): Auction scene
1981	The Fox and the Hound	Supervising Animator: Widow Tweed (Uncredited)

Outside Filmography

Year	Film	Position	Production Company	Distributed by
1979	Banjo the Woodpile Cat	Director, producer, writer/screenplay and animator	Don Bluth Productions	ABC Specials
1980	Xanadu	animation sequence unit	Universal Pictures
1982	The Secret of NIMH	Director, producer, writer, animator, story adaptation, layout artist, visual development	Aurora Productions Don Bluth Productions	United Artists (through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
1986	An American Tail	Director, producer, production desinger, storyboard artist, title designer	Amblin Entertainment Sullivan-Bluth Studios	Universal Pictures
1988	The Land Before Time	Director, producer, production desinger, storyboard artist, title designer	Amblin Entertainment Sullivan-Bluth Studios	Universal Pictures
1989	All Dogs Go to Heaven	Director, producer, writer, animator, story, production desinger, storyboard artist	Goldcrest Films Sweatbox Animation Sullivan-Bluth Studios	United Artists (through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Worldwide) The Rank Organisation (UK/Ireland)
1991	Rock-A-Doodle	Director, producer, writer, animator, story, storyboard artist	Goldcrest Films Sullivan-Bluth Studios	The Samuel Goldwyn Company (USA and Canada) The Rank Organisation (UK/Ireland)
1994	Thumbelina	Director, producer, writer	Don Bluth Ireland, Itd.	Warner Bros. Pictures
1994	A Troll in Central Park	Director, producer, writer, story	Don Bluth Ireland, Itd.	Warner Bros. Pictures
1995	The Pebble and the Penguin	Director, producer	Don Bluth Limited	Metro Goldwyn Mayer (USA) Warner Bros. Pictures (Worldwide)
1997	Anastasia	Director, producer	Fox Animation Studios	20th Century Fox
1999	Bartok the Magnificent	Director, producer	Fox Animation	20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
2000	Titan A.E.	Director, producer	Fox Animation Studios	20th Century Fox