REVIEW COLLECTION: The Films of Don Bluth, Part 1

The following reviews were originally posted on my Instagram page @film_freeq in early 2023. This is the first-half of a look back at the career of one of contemporary animation's most influential directors (featuring Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy, and others). 

The Small One (1978) 

Don Bluth began his career as an animator for the Walt Disney Company, starting with classics like Sleeping Beauty and The Sword in the Stone. He eventually working his way up in the 1970s, as a directing animator on Robin Hood, The Rescuers, and the animated segments for the live-action Pete's Dragon. But the once-promising successor had become disillusioned with where the studio was headed at the time. Then, in 1979, he and several artists left Disney to form their own studio. 

But one year prior, Bluth received his first and only Disney credit as a director with the 25-minute short, The Small One. The story follows a Hebrew boy who hesitantly takes his pet donkey into town to sell him, before encountering Joseph and Mary on their way to Bethlehem. This Biblical tale was a rare setting for a Disney feature (it would be twenty years before DreamWorks made The Prince of Egypt). With impeccable art direction and animation, Small One is a charming and moving gem. 

Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979) 

Originally pitched as a short for Disney but rejected by the studio at the time, this personal project was created and completed independently by Bluth and a small, close team of artists and writers in his garage. Banjo is the story of a misbehaving farm cat who runs away from home to Salt Lake City, where he meets the smooth-talking Crazy Legs (voiced by Scatman Crothers) who helps him find a way home. This charming musical feature is the one that truly established many of Bluth's signature trademarks: orphans as protagonists or supporting characters, detailed art direction, loose and unpredictable character animation, some heavy subject matter (i.e., harsh and/or dark realities in the world), and emotional story arcs about family and/or belonging. It's worth a look. Bluth's next film--his first full-length feature, The Secret of NIMH [read my full review here]--would prove to be a radical departure by comparison. 

An American Tail (1986) 

Steven Spielberg first got his feet wet in the field of animation with this fan-favorite classic from the mid-1980s. Having been impressed with 1982's The Secret of NIMH, the blockbuster hitmaker recruited that film's director to helm an an adventurous story (produced by Amblin Entertainment) about a Russian family of mice that is separated while emigrating to America. 

Based on an original story by executive producer David Kirschner, An American Tail follows little Fievel Mousekewitz as he discovers America near the turn of the century, while on a quest to find his family. In the meantime, the timid-but-courageous mouse teams up with a band of local and/or immigrant critters to face off against a band of scheming cats--with the exception of the good-natured and humorous Tiger (voiced by the late Dom DeLuise). 

This family-friendly gem does come with more than its share of scary moments (not uncommon in Bluth's filmography), including a massive rainstorm, vicious and hungry felines, and a giant, nightmare-inducing contraption. And despite a few plot holes, An American Tail still has amazing animation and characters. It also marked the first of many animated films composed by the late James Horner, while the soundtrack includes unforgettable tunes like, "There Are No Cats In America," "Never Say Never," and the Oscar-nominated "Somewhere Out There." 

TRIVIAL FACT: An American Tail had competition that same year with Disney's The Great Mouse Detective and came out on top. Two years later, the same thing happened between Disney's Oliver and Company and Bluth's next feature. 

The Land Before Time (1988) 

For an entire generation, Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park was their introduction to dinosaurs. But my generation and I should agree that, five years before that iconic blockbuster, it was the animated The Land Before Time. Through the combined talents of Spielberg and George Lucas (a rare collaboration outside the Indiana Jones series) with director Don Bluth, this amazing adventure follows a young brontosaurus (or, "long-neck") named Littlefoot, who joins a diverse group of other young dinos on a journey to a new valley after an earthquake separates each of them from their families.

While essentially a story for children, adults can appreciate the film's wondrous art direction, meticulous character animation, poetic symbolism in the names of its creatures, spiritual metaphors, and its emotional core, as well as themes of friendship and love. Scenes involving the villainous T-Rex (a.k.a. "Sharptooth") will likely frighten younger kids; in fact, certain moments were cut out of the final product, deemed as too scary and intense. (Spielberg and Bluth parted ways after this film's release, due to creative differences, with the latter's subsequent films produced independently until 1995.) Even so, those remaining moments of peril, action, and drama are still edge-of-your-seat thrilling and heart-tugging. 

What audiences remember most is the film's cast of endearing characters, including stubborn triceratops (or, "three-horn") Cera, timid pterodactyl ("flyer") Petrie, chatterbox saurolophus ("big mouth") Duckie, and pantomime stegosaurus ("spike-tail") Spike. Likewise, James Horner's unforgettable score represents the late composer's most significant contribution to the medium of animation, and one of the reasons he is missed. 

All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) 

A wholly original animated fantasy that saw Bluth make a return to more independent filmmaking since his debut seven years earlier. This period story, set in New Orleans in 1939, centers on a smooth-talking German Shephard who is murdered, goes to and escapes heaven, and forms an unexpected bond with a little girl who can talk to animals. You're probably thinking, "That doesn't sound like typical kiddie fare." 

Well, hold your horses--or, should I say, collars. Typical, this film is not. Nor is it as kid-friendly as you may remember. Sure, the camaraderie between pals Charlie and Itchy (voiced by Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, respectively) is terrific, and the adorable Anne-Marie bares an obvious resemblance to Disney's Snow White (one of Bluth's favorite movies). There's also that memorable, out-of-the-blue number with the eccentric singing alligator (voice actor Ken Page later played Oogie Boogie in The Nightmare Before Christmas). 

But All Dogs Go to Heaven also deals with heavy subject matter (death, immortality, gambling, child neglect and endangerment), some of it dark, depressing, and even nightmare-inducing. One sequence in particular (Charlie's vision of Hell) is likely to traumatize; Bluth admitted in a 2022 interview that he may have gone too far with this scene. Equally sad is the fact that Anne-Marie's voice actress (ten-year-old Judith Barsi, who also played Duckie in The Land Before Time) was murdered by her father one year before the film's release. 

There are some good life-affirming moments about the consequences of selfish choices, as well as redemption, love, and true friendship. But parents of small or younger children should think twice about this spiritually-misguided, not-really-G-rated adventure.