The Secret of N.I.M.H. (1982)
Dec 4, 2002Animation/Talking Animal Quest
The first film from Don Bluth, a Disney animator who formed his own company vowing a return to the studio's classic tradition. The results are beautiful and quite magical
Gary Goldman
An American Tail (1986)
May 6, 1999Animation/Immigrant Talking Mice
The second animated film from Don Bluth made under the aegis of Steven Spielberg's Amblin. This tells the American immigrant story, albeit casts it with cartoon mice
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
May 7, 2003Chinese Supernatural/Martial Arts Fantasy
John Carpenter film that was marketed as a Raiders of the Lost Ark copy but is more Carpenter trying to emulate Hong Kong’s Wu Xia cinema, which was largely unknown in the West at the time. All with highly enjoyable conic results.
The Land Before Time (1988)
May 12, 2000Animation/Talking Dinosaurs
Likeable but lightweight talking dinosaur film. This aims to be a prehistoric Bambi but never quite finds the depth. A large number of video-released sequels followed
All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
May 5, 1999Animation/Dog Conman in the Afterlife
One of the better animated films from Don Bluth that sets up a likeable arc in the relationship between a redeemable mobster dog who returns from Heaven and a young girl
Total Recall (1990)
Jun 18, 2005Virtual Memories/Reality Bender/Action
Adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story is killed by being turned into an Arnold Schwarzenegger action vehicle and by director Paul Verhoeven's burying the reality bending subtleties of the story under bludgeoning ultra-violence
Thumbelina (1994)
Jul 6, 2000Animated Fairy-Tale
Animated film from Don Bluth, an insipid adaptation of the fairytale that eventually bogs down as a comic picaresque (*)
A Troll in Central Park (1994)
May 4, 2008Animation/Troll's Adventures in Human Civilisation
Incredibly insipid animated film from Don Bluth about a kind-hearted troll that relocates to Central Park. This feels like a wannabe Disney film that is merely going through the moves.
Anastasia (1997)
Mar 31, 1999Animation/Amnesiac Russian Royal
Considerable return to form for animator Don Bluth even if the story of the Russian Royals he is telling is based on a hoax and manages to entirely excise any mention of the Communist Revolution
Bartok the Magnificent (1999)
Jul 4, 2005Talking Bat's Adventures/Animation
Animator Don Bluth conducts a spinoff from his previous film Anastasia, focusing on the adventures of the talking bat sidekick
Titan A.E. (2000)
Jun 18, 2000Animation/Space Opera
Very nicely made space opera from animator Don Bluth, operating from a Joss Whedon script, that unfortunately proved a big box-office flop
Minority Report (2002)
Jul 15, 2002Future Precognitive Police Force
Steven Spielberg takes on Philip K. Dick in a much grittier film than he usually makes. In the strong and intelligent script, Tom Cruise is an officer on a police force that predicts crime before it happens only to then be hunted by his own side
Next (2007)
Sep 9, 2007Precognition/Action Film
This adapts a Philip K. Dick story and then throws it out to make a generic action film with Nicolas Cage as a psychic. All the potential of its idea is lost amid a series of ridiculous plot twists