Dean on old cartoons

Dean, a man of far-ranging intellect, has written a post on old cartoons, especially Woody Woodpecker, with links to online resources. I’ll have to disagree Dean on a few particulars. Dean writes:

They [Walter Lantz Studios] didn’t close their doors until 1972, at which point all that was left were Hanna-Barbera and Disney.

That’s not quite true. Dean has forgotten Ralph Bakshi.

Bakshi had worked for Terrytoons (the Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle people) and had been the head of Paramount Cartoon Studios (formerly the Max Fleischer) where he worked on theatricals. When the animation theater market dried up, he went off on his own and in 1972 he released Fritz the Cat, the first American full length animated X-rated cartoon. Not kiddie fare. He continued to produce full length animated cartoons for theatrical release throughout the 70’s, some of pretty fair quality. Bakshi’s in Israel now. His web site is here and it’s pretty groovy.

And then there was Don Bluth. Bluth had worked at Disney and had been the animation director for The Rescuers and Pete’s Dragon. Bluth wasn’t one of the original folks who had worked for Walt. He was one of the many youngsters who’d gone to work for The Mouse with hopes of working on great animation like the full-length Disney classics of the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s.

But Disney had moved on, the studio was interested in cutting costs, and, I believe equally importantly, the old guard at Disney was still around and had been there, done that. Dissatisfied with the work being done at Disney, Bluth and some other young firebrands walked across the street and started their own studio. They produced their first release, The Secret of Nimh in 1982. It’s visually stunning and right up there with Disney’s best. And it was a hit.

Bluth and his gang produced video games (Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace) and used the revenue to bootstrap more full-length animated theatrical releases. They had more had hits in 1986 (An American Tail) and 1988 (The Land Before Time). Don Bluth’s site is here and it has online video clips of all of his great films. Check out the clip from “The Secret of Nimh”

Spurred by somebody else (gasp!) doing great work in their core business (gasp!!) and making money doing it (gasp!!!), Disney roared back with The Little Mermaid, a throwback to the Disney hits of the past. And the rest, as they say…

So, when Dean writes:

I have a pet theory that the main force behind animation suddenly becoming popular again was probably The Simpsons.

I have to disagree respectfully. “The Simpsons” was unquestionably instrumental in breathing new life into television animation, particularly for adults. But the real forces behind the renaissance of full-length animated theatrical releases were Ralph Bakshi, who kept the dream alive, and Don Bluth, who showed the world that you could still make money doing it.

The key factor in Bluth’s success, I believe, was generational shift. He had the energy and the vision that his seniors had lost. And tended to look at the newly emerging computer animation as a tool rather than being bogged down in its mechanics.