Don Bluth's 81st Birthday · 6:12pm Sep 13th, 2018
In my time here, I seem to forget other anniversary's and birthdays. Today marks the birthday of one of my heroes. One of the people who inspire me to pursue animation.
Considering I plan to do a retrospective of LBT this November. I'll keep it brief. What I like about Bluth is how he pursued a darker method of storytelling. Characters have to earn their happy endings. Even children go through hell and back to happiness as is with the Brisby children, Fievel, the main cast of LBT etc.
His animation style is more down to earth, with realistic proportions and muted colors. I personally hope to evolve my art style like him; to date, there are a few people who have, most notably is Kosperry on Deviantart whose work you can view via the link above.
As for the question you might ask, I have seen all of Don Bluth films. The first I have seen was perhaps the ending to "The Secret of NIMH" on a recorded tape before "The Nightmare Before Christmas" would play. The Land Before Time came next, then an American Tail. Though I was four years old when Anastasia played in theaters, to date the only Don Bluth film I've seen in theaters is Titan AE. I liked both of them nonetheless, and would occasionally see the former in the holiday season.
These days, I have heard great things; From his upcoming "Dragon's Lair" movie, to his recent visit to his former stomping grounds at Walt Disney Studios. One of my colleagues has a connection to him on Linkedin. I still hope to at least take a photograph of him before he passes on; I missed that chance with Ray Harryhausen.
Happy birthday to Don Bluth. :)