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Brief Histories of Don Bluth's Unmade Features

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BRIEF HISTORIES OF DON BLUTH'S UNMADE FEATURES
by Jimmy Gibson

IN THE FUTURE...
After THUMBELINA, several feature projects have been discussed. Announced with THUMBELINA was HANSEL AND GRETEL. Another, THE PENGUIN STORY, has just been announced. Through the years, though, several projects have been mentioned or discussed. Here is an alphabetical listing of the major projects considered by Don and the studio. The projects here range from just barely being on the drawing boards to having been developed over some time.

THE BABY BLUE WHALE
This feature was developed during the videogame period. After some discussions with famed screenwriter Robert Towne (SHAMPOO, CHINATOWN), the idea of a feature about a baby blue whale developed. The story was described as "an underwater BAMBI." From several pages of notes by Towne, Don and his crew began developing a story and boards. When Towne stated he would have to write the final script, the film became stalled. Towne would spend several years working with Jack Nicholson on the CHINATOWN sequel, THE TWO JAKES. The sequel was on and off for several of those years. Finally, in the late Eighties, Sullivan Bluth dropped the idea and gave the project fully to Towne.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Early in 1984, Don began in earnest turning the famous tale into an animated feature. He even announced it in the Fall of 1990 in his Animation Club newsletter. At the time, he described it as "a tender love story that says, 'a thing must be loved before it's lovable.' We sprinkled this classic tale with a generous amount of comedy, a little bit of terror, and a lot of love. From Nan, the clairvoyant dog, Max, a bird detective, and Otto, an escape artist lizard, to the King Bats, the Wee Beasties and Queen Livia, herself, this picture has something for everyone." TAIL also interrupted this production.

As work began on LAND, Don felt that BEAUTY would be his first independent picture. However in late 1986, the Disney Studio announced they were working on a version and by 1989 had begun full production (for a 1991 release). Knowing his version could not be completed before Disney's, Don dropped the project.

DRAGON'S LAIR
This feature was fully discussed in the "Games on TV and the Big Screen" chapter. As recently as 1990 the studio was looking at the popular video game characters. A new release of the games to the home market in 1991 sparked some new interest in the characters Dirk and Daphne.

SATYRDAY
Prior to the start of AN AMERICAN TAIL, this feature began being developed by Don and his skeletal crew. The studio bought the rights to the book by Stephen Bauer. It was a strange tale of the last human, living in a world of mysticism and darkness. A giant owl steals the moon, which is depicted as a young girl in a glowing, glass sphere. He hopes to keep the world in darkness and thus rule it. The human, along with his Satyr friend and a beautiful werefox journey to rescue the moon and discover the fate of the human race. Don stated that most of the book would not transfer well, but he was fascinated by the relationship of the owl, the darkness and the boy. He once stated it was similar to the relationship of Shere Kahn and Mowgli (from Disney's THE JUNGLE BOOK). With the start up of TAIL, interest in this project faded and it was seldom mentioned again. (A similar, dark-loving, giant owl does make an appearance as the villain in ROCK-A-DOODLE.)

A SONG OF THE ICE WHALE
This tale, reminiscent of the whale feature worked on with Robert Towne, was based on the incident in the arctic when whales were caught in the ice. Countries around the world spent millions of dollars to free the whales before they would perish. As this book was going to press, it was announced that Sullivan Bluth was dropping this project.
Here are a Few Excerpts from "The Animated Films of Don Bluth"
by John Cawley

Just some Production Info & Rare Features on a Few of Mr. Don Bluth's Unfinished/Unmade Animated Feature Films.

You can also Find some Rare Surviving Materials of these Projects in Don Bluth's Collection of Art & Animation Page

History Text(c) John Cawley
Additional Presentation(c) Jimmy Gibson
© 2015 - 2024 CelmationPrince
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(Sighs) if only Disney hadn’t been involved it would’ve been a game changer for Bluth’s take on Beauty and The Beast.😔