The following reviews were originally posted on my Instagram page @film_freeq in early 2023. This is the second half of a look back at the career of one of contemporary animation's most influential directors (featuring Gary Goldman, John Pomerey, and company).
Rock'a'Doodle (1991)
If you ever wondered what Elvis Presley's life and career would look like as an animated musical, look no further than Don Bluth's 1991 feature film, Rock’a’Doodle, which pictures the King of Rock'n'roll as a singing rooster. But the real plot follows a human boy who is turned into a cartoon cat by an evil owl (voiced with menacing gusto by Christopher Plummer) and soon joins a trio of quirky farm animals on a quest to find the titular Chantecler (voiced and sung by country music legend Glen Campbell) and bring back the sun.
While this live-action/animated hybrid seems kid-friendly enough (some of the Elvis parodies are amusing, as is the nerdy mouse Peepers), its tone is actually darker and more unpleasant than its simple and generic premise lets on. Add to that some unnecessary narration (this was Disney veteran Phil Harris's last screen credit), and Rock'a'Doodle is a convoluted, lowbrow story. As the King would say, Oh mercy.
Thumbelina (1994)
Based on Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, Don Bluth and Gary Goldman's animated adaptation follows the titular thumb-sized girl (voiced and sung by Jodi Benson) who believes she is the only one of her kind in the world, until she meets the charming prince of the fairies, Cornelius. And then, she is suddenly stolen away by greedy critters in a bigger world than she thought possible.
Thumbelina does have some terrific attention-to-detail animation (particularly fairy dust and the plausible physics of different-sized characters), art direction and character designs, and a promising first act. This film also marked Bluth's first collaboration with singer Barry Manilow (who co‐wrote the songs with Jack Feldman and Bruce Sussman). And some of the voice talents are noteworthy; along with Benson, there's Gilbert Gottfreid's Mr. Beetle, John Hurt's Mr. Mole, and Barbara Cook's kindhearted mother. But the writing is lazy, and the story is rushed, not to mention sappy and contrived. Even Bluth admitted (in his 2022 autobiography) that this 1994 release wasn't as good as it could have been.
A Troll in Central Park (1994)
Even though Dom DeLuise voiced characters in many animated films throughout the '80s and '90s, he only ever got to headline one of them. In retrospect, perhaps that's the one good thing that 1994's A Troll in Central Park had going for it. DeLuise plays Stanley, a good-natured (and plenty-likeable) troll who, like Ferdinand the bull, loves to smell the roses and grow flowers, much to the chagrin of the evil queen Gnorga. Stanley is thereby banished to, of all places, New York City (perhaps a connection-of-sorts to An American Tail?) and befriends a little boy and his baby sister.
Made simultaneously as Thumbelina and initially released under Warner Bros' "Family Entertainment" banner, A Troll in Central Park was, like Hans Christian Andersen's tiny character, in need of a better story. The film itself, despite an effective and intense climax, wallows in overt sentimentality and environmentalist themes, while Gloris Leachman hams it up as the wicked Gnorga (a knock-off of Ursula from Disney's The Little Mermaid). This movie was even joked about in a 2001 "Actor's Studio" sketch on SNL, in which Will Ferrell's "James Lipton" interviewed Alec Baldwin's "Charles Nelson Reilly" (the voice of the dimwitted King Llort, and a Bluth regular).
The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
I'll admit, this one was a bit of a guilty pleasure for my siblings and I--at least when we were kids. Probably the most interesting thing about the much-maligned The Pebble and the Penguin is that it preceded George Miller's Happy Feet by more than a decade, as it is essentially an animated musical about singing and dancing penguins. The main difference is Pebble's central love triangle between the stuttering Hubie (voiced by Martin Short), the beautiful Marina (voiced by Annie Golden), and the menacing Drake (voiced by Tim Curry).
The thing is, the film's music (written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman) and storyline are thin, lazy, overblown, vulgarized, and try too hard from the opening number onward. Plus, Drake (a carbon copy of Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast) is basically a one-note villain--the very definition of toxic masculinity on steroids. Jim Belushi is a standout as a smart aleck, flying-enthusiast rockhopper. Notorious for changing directors near the end of its production (Don Bluth and Gary Goldman's names, as they reportedly demanded, remain uncredited), Pebble was the final film for Sullivan Bluth Studios in Ireland. Then, 20th Century Fox came knocking . . .
Anastasia (1997)
In the late-1990s, 20th Century Fox decided to compete with Disney by opening its own new animation studio, with directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (following the closing of their own studio in Ireland) to spearheading the charge (based out of Phoenix, AZ, no less). For the division's debut film, they drew from the famous mystery (and tragedy) of the Romanov family line during the Russian Revolution, and the young Grand Duchess who disappeared without a trace. In fact, this animated musical from 1997 marks the second adaptation of Anastasia since the acclaimed live-action film from 1956, as well as the first reported use of CinemaScope since 1967. The result was an amazing comeback for Bluth and Goldman, and their best film since 1989's All Dogs Go to Heaven.
Of course, many creative liberties were taken in telling this more mythical "fairy tale" version, which follows the orphaned Anya (voiced by Meg Ryan) on a search to find her family in Paris. She soon joins a pair of con men (John Cusack and Kelsey Grammer) who try to pass her off as the real deal, while the mystical and vengeful sorcerer Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) and his albino bat Bartok (a scene-stealing Hank Azaria) are hot on their trail, resulting in an unexpected battle between good and evil, and a story of identity, memory, and finding home. Then again, if this film helps keep the Grand Duchess's memory alive (with support from its reportedly-accurate art direction and costuming), then it serves its purpose.
The voice cast (headed by Ryan's scrappy, sassy, and smart Anya, and her singing vocals by Liz Callaway) really give their respective characters depth. But it's the music by the award-winning songwriting team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaghtery (the duo behind the stage musicals Lucky Stiff, Ragtime, and Seussical), and composer David Newman, that help make this a modern classic. Standout numbers include the bittersweet lullaby "Once Upon a December" and the Oscar-nominated "Journey to the Past." Anastasia led to a spin-off short film, Bartok the Magnificent, two years later, and a stage musical in 2016.
Titan A.E. (2000)
The planet earth has exploded, and surviving humans search for a new planet in space to colonize while battling world-destroying extra-terrestrials. That's the summary of the 2000 2D/3D hybrid Titan A.E. (A.E. meaning "After Earth." Sorry, M. Night Shyamalan, Fox did it first). In fact, this sci-fi/action spectacle may be the most, shall we say, non-Bluthian film ever helmed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. When the flick's original director backed out, the longtime duo reportedly only had 18 months to redo the entire thing from scratch, working from a script by John August, Ben Edlund, and Joss Whedon. (Story credit goes to Hans Bauer and Randall McCormick.)
Despite being a massive box-office flop that led Fox to closing its animation division after only two films (the other being 1997's Anastasia) and turning to the up-and-coming 3D studio Blue Sky for a new start, Titan A.E. is actually a pretty decent--if familiar and forgettable--movie, and the filmmakers get credit for working with what they got. Although the CGI effects haven't aged well (ditto the heavy metal soundtrack), they were nevertheless ahead of their time. (Bluth states in his 2022 autobiography that the film wouldn't have worked as well in live-action.) It also benefits from a more mature story with human and alien characters, a stellar voice cast (including Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore, Bill Pullman, and John Leguizamo), and explosive action that gives Star Trek a run for its money. It's only downsides include some brief-but-highly-suggestive imagery and an antagonist getting his neck snapped.
Titan A.E. would mark Bluth and Goldman's last film, and the last hand-drawn feature from Fox until the long-awaited Simpsons Movie in 2007. It also reunited the directing duo with producer David Kirschner for the first time since 1986's An American Tail. The film even has an intriguing connection-of-sorts to Bluth's 1983 interactive video game, Dragon's Lair, which is currently being developed as a live-action movie starring Ryan Reynolds.
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