Legendary Animation Producer Don Bluth Launches a New Animation Studio Focusing on Hand-Drawn Animation
Legendary animation producer Don Bluth, best known for his work on Dragon’s Lair, A Land Before Time, An American Tail, The Secret of Nimh, All Dogs Go To Heaven, and more has launched a new animation studio called Don Bluth Studios!
The goal of the new studio is to create “new characters, new ideas, and new cartoons,” and the plan is to focus on the art of hand-drawn animation. The announcement was shared on the studio’s Facebook page, and this said:
“We believe the public is craving another renaissance of hand-drawn animation. Our goal is to make that dream become a reality.”
This is awesome news! I’ll be honest, I really do miss seeing hand-drawn animated film. While the CG animated films are fine and there are great stories being told, the style of it is getting repetitive and boring. I’d love nothing more than to see more hand-drawn animated movies get made. The full statement reads:
Don Bluth is teaming up with Lavalle Lee from TraditionalAnimation.com to create brand new content from the newly formed Don Bluth Studios, LLC. This new company is going to be establishing NEW characters, NEW ideas and NEW cartoons. These fully animated ideas will be pitched to television networks and online streaming services. We believe the public is craving another renaissance of hand drawn animation. Our goal is to make that dream become a reality. Our company will be VERY transparent, showcasing and updating the public with concept art, pencil tests, model sheets, animatics, and much much more. We are excited to show everyone what we have been working on. Please join us in our new adventure!
The studio has appointed animator Lavalle Lee as vice president. Lee has been working with Bluth since 2009, and is behind several blogs and websites including Traditional Animation, which is a resource on all things hand-drawn animation. He was the project leader at Bluth’s previous venture Don Bluth Films, where he launched a crowdfunding campaign for a feature adaptation of Dragon’s Lair. That campaign resulted in a pitch presentation in 2017. Then it was recently revealed that Netflix had picked up the rights to the game and are now developing a live-action film with Ryan Reynolds.
One of the studio’s first projects is titled Bluth Fables, which will include “multiple short stories similar to nursery rhymes and Aesop fables” that were written by Bluth himself. This and some of the other ideas have been fleshed out in a number of live streams hosted by the studio. You can check out one of those videos below.
Hopefully, Bluth, Lee, and their team are able to get some cool projects off the ground!
Via: Cartoon Brew