Don Bluth Films (Dragon’s Lair)

For a time, The Black Cauldron was Disney’s biggest flop and biggest bomb. What sucks about that is Lloyd Alexander, like Don Bluth, is another legend and a very underrated writer. I went through a Lloyd Alexander phase. His books Westmark, The Iron Ring, The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha, and The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian were all a lot of fun and up to the level of The Prydain Series.

It’s a shame that The Black Cauldron flopped and his writing seems to have been abandoned. Lloyd Alexander also had a character that was up to the standard of Tomb Raider, which was the Vesper Holly series. Vesper Holly was like a young lady version of Indiana Jones and shows why swapping characters is not necessary because good female characters have already existed. She was a really smart girl who made good allies, so it was by wits, luck and teamwork that she was able to beat her corrupt foes.

I’m glad you guys bring up the soundtrack and music from the Don Bluth films, because they are somewhat esoteric and I am tempted to post them here. So many quality songs that have been forgotten. I did hear “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tail the other day. It is almost too wholesome and sweet and innocent. They don’t seem to be able to craft songs like that anymore. Heart of gold type songs, but that one was a big hit. The ones I’m talking about are really ones that I have not heard before or have no recollection of from the Don Bluth era.

With everyone talking about Wish, I thought I’d revisit this amazing thread by @JohnyTheWizKid

One of the comments on the Gore/Alan video said that Disney animators no longer know how to animate in a hand drawn way and this would have been a huge opportunity, with the 100 year anniversary, to re-visit Don Bluth’s signature style. He is one of the great ones. You’d think Disney could budget like an apprenticeship training program utilizing the great ones and the veterans of the past that still may be able to teach. What? Am I expecting some king of actual guild system? In the USA? Must be nuts. No one things like that. Just sheer neglect is the new way.

Tim Pool made a few videos that I skimmed thru about Angel Studios. If Angel would have been ready with the animation dept., they’d be able to move right now instead of releasing that one The Shift, which just doesn’t hook me.

Insead of WISH, we could’ve got 100 year anniversary with Don Bluth and maybe, another animator or two that is from his generation. What other great animators are still alive though? I don’t know the names, but Bluth was always a giant to me.

Interesting points about animators.  Hand drawn animators and all the mechanisms behind that I would assume are all older and possibly retired without hardly anyone coming behind them because everything went  CGI.  If they were established animators in the 90’s they are more than likely at least in their 60’s.

I never cared for the CGI animation.  Hand drawn vs. CGI reminds me of buildings 75 years ago with buildings now.  Older buildings were made with craftsmen who did gorgeous and solid work.  Now everything is a bad copy of something else tacked together in the simplest way possible.

Quality does not exist right now, it’s all about quantity.  Animation is no different at this time.