Question/Comment Entry Form
Arcana Studios Presents:
Dragon's Lair,
The Comic Book
Available Now!
First Name
Last Name
Email
Subject
Question
Please reply privately via email.
RECENT MESSAGES:
Posted:
05/01/2008
From:
Jeff Gross
Email:
jeff@labelfacingcamera.com
Subject:
Dragon's Lair II - Blu-Ray
Message:
Hello Bluth Gang! Huge fan here - I have many cells of Dirk and Bernard ("The Rescuers") in my home - I have also purchased several production drawings directly from you guys. I am also a film producer who just wrapped a Brittany Snow/J K Simmons film in Connecticut called, "The Vicious Kind". My question: Will Dragon's Lair II be coming to Blu-Ray in the near future? I have a Ms. Pac-Man machine in my home, and the maintenance could be a bit of a hassle, which is the only reason I haven't bought a second-hand "DL II" machine. I sure miss the days of pumping the college fund into "DL II" at "Circus, Circus" in Vegas! In lieu of me purchasing an actual machine for thousands of dollars, will I be able to enjoy this in Blu-Ray? Thanks! Jeff Gross
Reply:
Jeff, Thank you for checking in. Yes, DLII:A Time Warp is coming on in HD Blu-ray, later this year, I believe for Christmas. We'll confirm with our distributor Digital Leisure. Break a leg with "The Vicious Kind" Regards, Gary & Don
Reply Posted:
05/02/2008
Posted:
04/17/2008
From:
Dylan Dynes
Email:
dynesclan@aol.com
Subject:
The Secret of NIMH Blu-Ray
Message:
Mr. Bluth, I have recently heard that a special blu-ray version of "The Secret of NIMH" may be released sometime in the near-future. Is this true?
Reply:
Dylan, thank you for writing. I re-mastered The Secret of NIMH to HD Blu-ray in March of last year. MGM/UA and Fox elected to use that new HD master to mass-produce a new re-mastered TV resolution version, with bonus features, there is a producer/director commentary and an interview with Don and me, however, part of the features include some pretty lame children's games, plus it was released as a "Fox Family Fun Edition" using exactly the same packaging art from the last three releases, so it is important to pick the one that says "Fox Family Fun Edition". We has campaigned to have the edition be called the 25th Anniversary Edition, but that got shot down. I am told that the HD Blu-ray version will be marketed, but we don't no when. Regards, Gary Goldman
Reply Posted:
04/19/2008
Posted:
04/16/2008
From:
Jonathan Funnell
Email:
jvfunn@cs.com
Subject:
Ollie Johnston
Message:
Dear Don Bluth, I'm sure that you've found out that animator Ollie Johnston has died at 95. Could you please share your memories of him when you worked at Disney and was he any inspiration to you when you left and started making your own films? Jonathan Funnell.
Reply:
Jonathan, I've answered inquiries about Ollie today, and they are posted on the site. Ollie was an inspiration both in his skills in animation and his honest humility about his status as a Directing Animator and had worked and was given credit on most of the more important of those film, shy of Snow White, which he did work on, but was not given credit, I believe he mostly worked as an assistant animator. And, in the days before the 1980s the Disney studios didn't give credits to assistant animators. He did feel bad about not being credited on that film, the very first Disney animated feature-length film, known as "Disney's Folley", and the beginning of the future of animation. While working on Robin Hood, we would always marvel at his scenes of Prince John and Sir Hiss. I think that Ollie produced more footage on that film (over 1400 feet of animation), than any of the other films he animated on. He had a long and wonderful career. We are all very proud to have known and worked with him. Regards.
Reply Posted:
04/19/2008
Posted:
04/16/2008
From:
Alberto Natal
Email:
stonejoel23@yahoo.com
Subject:
RIP Ollie Johnston
Message:
YOu guys must have heard the sad news of Ollie's passing. I imagine its a big blow to the animation community, considering we learned so much from him. One of the highlights of my life is crossing paths with Frank, although I never met Ollie personally but I was able to see him and Frank speak at a panel in the A.O.M.P.A.S building in beverly hills. They both had great sence of humors considering they were up there in age and in wheel chairs (I don't think they ever took fame seriously) I realise Mr. Bluth has been outspoken on his learning from all the nine old men, especially John Loundsbury and Milt Kahl. However, what are some important aspects Don And Gary learned from Ollie Johnston? All animators are ahead of me in this question and wouldn't hesitate to shout out that the most important thing he taught was the importance of sincerety and showing a characters thought process. Aside from stuff that can be found in text books and documenteries, was there any other type of knowledge that Don and Gary learned which made a big difference in their abilities as artist? Also, what was he like as a person, and what was the best experience Gary has had with Ollie. Best wishes -Alberto
Reply:
Alberto, Yes, it is sad to see the passing of Ollie Johnston, as it was with those that went before him. Ollie was a very humble guy, always ready to help those artists that worked with him. One of the most important lessons I learned was the fact that these great animators understood the use of "texture" within their animated assignments. Ollie and Frank, as well as all of the nine old men understood texture, or varying the rhythm, the timing, the shapes, fast against slow, busy against calm, much like the texture in music. It wasn't until my second year at Walt Disney that this was pointed out to me, by Don. He pointed to Ollie and Frank's work, and sure enough, as their scenes came back from camera, and we watched them on the moviola, we could see their attention to including texture to enhance their scenes by creating changes in rhythm and timing, making the scenes more interesting and even more entertaining. In addition to their drawing skills and attention to allowing the audience to see the character "thinking", the addition of texture, to even a short "continuity" scene or "action" scene, helps eliminate "mushy" and boring animation. When I brought this up to Frank & Ollie, they both just smiled, and commented that this is just one more step in learning to do classical animation. Ollie once stopped me in the hall to comment on Don's Bernard and Bianca scenes in The Rescuers (1976), and said he felt Don's scenes were the best mice scenes in the film. And that he felt I would learn a lot from Don. He was referring to the the zoo sequence. And, the fact that I was working under Dons direction on the opening sequence at the United Nations building, with the mice entering the building, going down to the meeting of the Rescue Aid Society. Ollie was always ready to compliment other artists. He was very deliberate with his approach to animation, thinking out his scenes very methodically. Even when drawing, he would make several strokes with his blue pencil, just above the blank paper, before allowing the pencil to lower and just "kiss" the paper, making a light mark to begin drawing each individual pose of the character(s). His ruff animation was drawn very light, on-model with all the finesse of a master animator/artist. All the major detail would be added as he confirmed that his action was working properly and that the purpose of the scene was clear. He also always encouraged us to "think through your scene, see it in your mind before you put pencil to paper". If you complimented him on one of his scenes, he was always gracious and would usually just come back with a simple thank you, maybe give you a quick lesson on how he approached the scene. Near the end of his animating days, Ollie suffered from a form of palsy, where his hands would shake, usually around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. He never complained. But regretted that it shortened his work day. He'd just lay down the pencil and perhaps read, or leave a little early. He was very aware of this problem and probably made a bigger effort to concentrate and get as much work done before the shaking would affect his drawing. He was extremely dedicated to animation and ready to pass along any of his knowledge to us fledglings. He was generous in so many ways. He invited me and my family up to his house in Flintridge for a Sunday afternoon to see his trains. When we arrived there were other guests as well. He opened his work-room doors at the back of his garage, where miniature railroad tracks led, and pushed the little engine out into the open yard on those tracks. He explained that he had built it from the ground up and told us how it operates as he fired up the engine. In our family album there are pictures of Kip and Andy, two of our five children, riding on the train cars that Ollie also built and the little engine pulled. Ollie, of course was the engineer, sat on the coal car, driving the train. It was a great day, with a great guy. Frank and his wife came over (they lived next door). After the ride, we were invited into Ollie's house to see some of his memorabilia from his experiences at Disney. It's hard to forget an experience like that who was such a giant in our industry. And a humble giant he was. Regards, Gary
Reply Posted:
04/16/2008
Posted:
04/16/2008
From:
Andrew Kieswetter
Email:
apkieswetter@hotmail.com
Subject:
Ollie Johnston 1912-2008
Message:
Hello again. Ollie Johnston,the last of Disney's 'nine old men' has just passed away. Did either of you work under him? What was he like? Please answer these questions. Thank you.
Reply:
Hi Andrew, Actually, Don did work under Ollie - on "Robin Hood" IT WAS in the sequence where Robin, enters Prince John's bedroom and steals bags of money from him. Don animated Robin and Sir Hiss, under Ollie's direction. Ollie animated Prince John tossing and turning in his sleep. If you read today's answers on the "ask us" page, you will see my answers regarding what kind man Ollie Johnston was - A real down-to-earth gentleman and deserving of the title "Animation Legend". When I first went to work at Walt Disney Productions, in February of 1972, the three animators names that were spoken the most around the studio, were: Milt, Frank & Ollie, like the Holy Trinity of classical animation. He was very humble and always ready to pass on his knowledge in animation to all of us "trainees". Regards, Gary
Reply Posted:
04/16/2008
Posted:
04/15/2008
From:
Adam McDaniel
Email:
cinemalad5@aol.com
Subject:
Ollie Johnston
Message:
I was terribly saddened by the news of Ollie Johnston's passing, and wondered if you had any personal experiences or communication with him after you left Disney.
Reply:
Adam, Thank you for writing. Actually, we had only one moment in time with Ollie after leaving Disney. It was at a Motion Picture Screen Cartoonist, local 839 function in the late summer of 1982, after the release of The Secret of NIMH. We had arrived early and were at the entrance and coat check area of the function, when Ollie and Frank came in (always together). I think the fact that we were the first faces they saw, took them off guard. They were not especially glad to see us. We were, as you know, "Disney Renegades", defectors, the cancer that marred the Disney training program and hurt the growth of the animation department (at least according to quotes by Ron Miller, the CEO of Walt Disney in those days). We did talk and exchanged pleasantries. But, you could easily feel their discomfort. Frank made an off-hand compliment on the film but thought that it was "busy" and wasn't sure what we were trying to say. We joked about how much work it was and shook hands -never to meet them again. They sat at a table about two tables away from us, with other animators who had just retired from the business. It was sad, but inevitable that such a meeting would happen, and we could not really expect that they would celebrate our efforts. We knew their history with Walt Disney and their loyalty to the mission of that great studio, even thru the union strike of 1941, when they pledged their loyalty to Walt and the company over the union's demands. (I think they were right to do this, but also agree with the objectives of the strike. I think they felt conflicted but their love of animation, and of Walt Disney, out-weighed the decision to support the strike) Ollie was a humble, gentleman and a master animator, a true pioneer in our industry. Regards.
Reply Posted:
04/16/2008
Posted:
04/12/2008
From:
Marika Segal
Email:
marikasegal@hotmail.com
Subject:
The Land Before Time
Message:
I just want to say I am a lover of your films and I had a question about the original uncut version of The Land Before Time, of course the first one, it's so beautiful. I went on wikipedia.org and read that 19 sences in the original production were cut from the film because Steven Spielburg and George Lucas thought they were too distrurbing and "psychologically damageing" for childern to see at the time of it's theatrecal release. Is there going to be a DVD release that will show all the fully animated sences that were edited out of this marvelous film in some way or form? I would just love to see and so many others and I would so buy it. Thank you very much for your time.
Reply:
Marika, Sorry, I believe that the scenes were deleted were not archived, the drawing may be somewhere deep in the Universal Pictures' archive, but the filmed scenes were not saved for something like a directors' cut. This question has been asked numerous times since the debut of this website in 1999. And probably on several fan sites related to The Land Before Time. Wish we could say yes to those questions. Thank you for taking the time to write to us. Regards.
Reply Posted:
04/17/2008
Posted:
04/10/2008
From:
jimmy gibson
Email:
jimmy
Subject:
deleted scenes
Message:
Hey you, I'm a big internet explorer, and for don bluth's films, some scenes from his films including "All Dogs go to heaven" and "Rock-a-doodle", including the legendary "Skunk Pie" sequence, and the "view of car hits charlie" and "hell" scenes? I was just wondering if you can put those scenes on YouTube if you can, Or you can't do that because they've been destroyed. So, mind putting the "Deleted Scenes of Don Bluth's Films" on YouTube? Please, That would be a really big favor of me.
Reply:
Sorry, It is true that there were deleted scenes from the films you have mentioned. However, we do not have copies of the deleted scenes, nor access to retrieve any that may still exist. If we had access we would love to do a director's cut on each of those films. Thanks for taking the time to write. regards.
Reply Posted:
04/17/2008
Posted:
04/07/2008
From:
Iain Robbins
Email:
ik-robbins@shaw.ca
Subject:
Banjo the Woodpile Cat
Message:
Hey, Don and Gary I have an idea for the possible All Dogs Go to Heaven Special Edition DVD, maybe you can include your original special, "Banjo the Woodpile Cat" inside so that makes it 'Cats and Dogs'. Get it?! -Iain P.S. I love the animation of Crazy Legs in the special, most notibly the "I'll Stick with You, Kid" (I love the song too!) scene.
Reply:
Iain, thanks you for writing. That would be fun combination, it might have a conflict getting distributed that way, as Goldcrest owns the property, we think, and it may not be easy to hammer out an agreeable contract to do that. Banjo is re-mastered and we're licensing distributors at this time, hopefully it will be available on DVD with 1 /2 hours of bonus features, including a producers/directors commentary & interview, a conversation with Don Bluth and trailers from all the films we've done. John Pomeroy flew in for the Producers'/director commentary and the interview. We did it all in HD Blu-ray, but not sure if that version will be the first on the market. It may go out as a standard definition product mastered from the new HD master. It looks great. Regards.
Reply Posted:
04/19/2008
Posted:
03/13/2008
From:
Lauren York
Email:
Layork20@student.scad.edu
Subject:
Thank you Gary!
Message:
I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to be taught by you. The wealth of knowledge and experience you have has made a huge difference in my knowledge and ability. I only wish I could have dedicated more time to the class. Thank you.
Reply:
Hey, thank you for being part of the class. It was great to get to know all of you and a pleasure to share whatever knowledge I may have to help you move closer to your goals. It was a great experience. All the best and good fortune with your career in animation. Kindest regards, Gary
Reply Posted:
03/13/2008
