Disney's NIGHTMARE - American Tail & Land Before Time

[@WillScarlet16]

What amazes me is how little bitterness Don Bluth has over his break with Disney - in his autobiography, even when he talks about his former mentors being pretty cruel to him, even threatening to crush his movies right to his face, he just kind of shrugs it off. He even laughs at the irony that Disney eventually acquired Anastasia.

[@LA_HA]

haha. Why be bitter when you can be better? And when you're right?

[@Wolfcreed117]

Disney: You can't make classics like we can. Don Bluth: Hold my beer.

[@dreamguardian8320]

Don Bluth sure won some victories over Disney in the past. Especially with the Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, and the Land Before Time.

[@dragonchaserkev]

It is safe to say Secret of NIHM, Land Before Time and American Tail stand up to pretty much any Disney classic.

[@Alte.Kameraden]

Surpass them honestly.

[@adamantiiispencespence4012]

​@Alte.Kameraden I thought they were Disney films until I got old enough to really pay attention to the studio logos.

[@starlarose2216]

All by legendary artist Don Bluth

[@TheRehabKat]

American Tail was and is still to this day a very heartfelt childhood movie! I always remembered the glistening effects of water, especially in Fivel goes West... I love Don Bluth dearly. Im glad he could make his own studio and be such a rogue from disney. I still hold Anastasia close to my heart and even remember the dvd commentary bonuses of him showing how he drew her and even Rockadoodle was pretty sweet. He inspired me to continue having faith in 2d.

[@EricMontreal22]

Very well done. One thing I will point out is how Spielberg diluted the power of Land Before Time. Despite his desire to emulate the very first five Disney animated features which are filled with scary stuff, and that he was attracted to working with Bluth due to the brilliant Secret of NIMH which also is full of nightmare fuel, AND that Spielberg's live action "family" films often didn't hold back on the scares, when he teamed up with Bluth, he seemed to use his young son as a litmus test and didn't want anything that would scare him. 10 to 15 minutes were cut, almost all sequences that were deemed too scary (and even in sequences kept they would re-record screams to make them less scary, etc.) As producer Gary Goldman said, Spielberg seemed obsessed with not angering parents. We know that some of these scenes were even ink and painted, and most were animated (and scored as we now know from the gorgeous release of the expanded soundtrack) although it seems that the scenes have been lost, or destroyed. It just makes me mad that Spielberg didn't fully have the conviction of his ways (especially since us 80 kids, used to stuff like Return to Oz, could have handled it.) I don't know why Spielberg and Bluth parted ways, but I assume this was one of the reasons. Bluth's subsequent films increasingly were a mess (at least until he moved to Fox for the final two films) but the next one, All Dogs Go to Heaven does have some compelling stuff, and I can't imagine Spielberg ever even greenlighting it. And Amblimation without Bluth lost much of its heart. Fievel Goes West felt like a betrayal in tone to the first film (yes, even as a kid I felt this way.) We're Back is a mess (and actually is pretty scary.) And Balto... well, OK, Balto is pretty charming. But the fact that they didn't go foreward with their one truly exciting project (the conception art is stunning)--an adaptation of Cats which is probably the only way that musical would have worked on the screen, says a lot of how poorly Spielberg actually understood animation despite his love for it. THAT could have put them on the map and made people pay attention the way they were paying attention to Disney, and not just something that only parents looking for something to distract their kids were aware of. (When Dreamworks took over, Katzenberg had the right idea by introducing the animation company with the statement that was Prince of Egypt something I give Spielberg very little credit for.)

[@theothervault]

Thanks so much!

[@AttemptedVoices]

Don Bluth: "Go ahead and tell ol' Donnie what's wrong?" Disney: "We're losing money! We're trying to come up with ideas...a-and it's your fault!" Don Bluth: "Now listen to me It's nobody's fault... the great Circle of Life has begun." Disney: "...Someone get Elton John on the phone!"

[@theothervault]

Ha! It's like you were there to see it all go down!

[@AttemptedVoices]

@@theothervault I simply heard their wish on my wish radio. “Make a quality film.” , couldn’t agree more!

[@AttemptedVoices]

No wait, you did that! (Would edit it but I don’t wanna lose the heart.)

[@GodofMasks]

These documentaries really pull me in, the way you write them really flows like a story. Can't wait for the next segment!

[@theothervault]

Thanks! Flow is something I'm always concerned about, so it's great to hear that it's really clicking!

[@UmmYeahOk]

⁠@@theothervaultsame, can’t wait. First time the Algorithm recommended me one of your videos, and it’s a topic I love. I love the Bluth/Disney feud, and can’t wait to see your video on the Katzenberg/Disney feud. Even Spielberg had his own feud with Disney after Roger Rabbit.

[@Crowz0xx]

Networking goes hard in the animation industry. Everyone knows everyone somehow. The artists are chill. It’s the executives that sometimes make decisions they don’t quite understand. Like hey, if someone’s crazy enough to be an animator, you better not test them!

[@MarcAquino1095]

Ironically, at the same time that he was working with Don Bluth, Spielberg was also working with Disney on a separate animated project. Well, it was part animated/part live-action, anyway. But it ended up being more successful than BOTH of his collabs with Don Bluth…. 🐰🕵️‍♀️

[@lavenderflowersfall280]

You're a very good storyteller. I know a lot about the history of animation but I definitely learned a few things. I look forward to your next video. ✔️

[@theothervault]

Thanks so much! It's great to hear that this still holds-up with people that are already so knowledgeable about all of this.

[@lavenderflowersfall280]

@@theothervault 😂 we actually made it a drinking game. The guys at work would ask me what year an animated movie will come out and I would have to tell them... We ran out of Coca-Cola pretty fast

[@slaughterhater]

Wow! Brad Bird started out in Walt Disney Feature Animation. Now he’s working for Pixar which Disney owns.

[@icecreamhero2375]

The irony is Disney owns a bunch of his movies now. LOL

[@oppositeofthetruth]

Quick honest harmless question what's your favorite flavor of ice cream

[@icecreamhero2375]

@@oppositeofthetruth strawberry

[@oppositeofthetruth]

@icecreamhero2375 thank you for me it's ceder crest blue moon which they claim is really just almond flavo flavor

[@FirstLast-hz1mp]

Littlefoots mom dying left a scar in my heart that hasn’t healed in 34 years 😢

[@graciegj63]

Ducky's voice actress left a scar in mine.

[@ThreeWheelFlyer]

I remember all of these movies as a kid. Mom and dad would buy them for christmas and birthday gifts. I still remember watching "An American Tail, and its sequel: Fievel goes west" while going up to the lake on the Tv set in grandma's 1995 dodge B250 Camper van. I practically wore out the tapes, and ended up losing them to the VCR.

[@vanessarussell7048]

For cartoon movies, both LBT and AT were moving and powerful. You laughed and cried and were entertained the whole movie. They were not afraid to confront and teach kids about real life issues. Both were some of my favorite movies when I was a kid.

[@SynthiaVan]

25:37 they're talking about Dreamworks - Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen.

[@theothervault]

👀

[@Taydar]

Are you suggesting a parallel of Disney of the 1980s to now, and therefore what they should do is clean house?

[@Metronoma1]

The land before time is my favorite animated movie! Even with the cut there where made, it is still incredible, amazing and beautiful!🙂❤️❤️

[@SiriusGalilei]

This is why competition is the necessary requirement for innovation. Disney was stagnating after the death of Walt, and it took Bluth being a literal competitor for them to kickstart the Disney Renaissance, but as Bluth became less competition for them, Dreamworks became the next one. If you want an entertainment company to become more creative and innovative than they were before, there needs to be a competitor that scares them out of complacency, because just waiting for things to get better or for certain people to be fired is a tactic that takes time, and might not even work if the person who replaced them is just as bad, even if it’s not in the same way. I know a lot of SW fans who dislike everything that KK has done so far are hoping that her getting fired and replacing her with someone who understands the universe will be a chance for the brand to return to it’s former glory, but that’s contingent upon the idea that whoever replaces her has the same view of SW that you do, which might not be the case. What Lucasfilm (and all of Disney frankly) needs right now is a competitor who takes away their success at the box office and makes them scared of losing, and the same goes for other companies like DreamWorks or Illumination. DreamWorks and Illumination have had some great success, but have fallen into the same trap Disney has, of releasing films that are sequels or targeted towards a specific demographic like Minions or Boss Baby. In the video game industry we are seeing Pokemon getting scared by the IP of Palworld, and has actually made them potentially step up their game by choosing not to release a major title this year, and release their new game next year, hopefully do they have enough time to get it done, especially with the hiring spree they just had. The point is that for companies that produce the entertainment we love, they need serious competition so they can step up their game, because without it they stagnate. Disney may not be the only major animation company in the US now, but they along with Dreamworks and Illumination are beginning to stagnate, which is where we are now.

[@Dilemina]

I saw American Tale, and Land Before Time in the theatre when I was 4 or so. Also All Dogs Goto Heaven. They are ingrained in my brain.

[@theothervault]

True story! It was wild how much I instantly remembered while revisiting these!

[@_Chessa_]

I can’t wait for the second chapter of this story. I was hooked the entire video! And loved the way you edited this.

[@theosomoza825]

I was born well after the even the 90s but seeing pizza hut having toys filled me with such an intense feeling of nostalgia 💖 i loved the land before time but it was one of the vhs tapes my mom got rid of because vhs tapes stopped being made and i didnt see it for so long 💔

[@kittenishkitten]

I had the fivel stuffed animal. It was as big as I was and it was my favorite toy. I wish I didn’t lose it in a tornado.

[@nataliemoraes2033]

They sell these online

[@Jamal-bl7yh]

TBH Disney As Mainstream As It Got Was my least favorite studio In Film but In 1984 and 1990 they launched Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures respectively and was a fan of films like Splash, Baby Secret Of The Lost Legend, Down and Out In Beverly Hills, Three Men and a Baby, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Arachnophobia, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Encino Man, and Blood In Blood Out all great movies classics In their own rights

[@theothervault]

Yeah - Disney's ancillary labels were absolute fire throughout the 80's and 90's!

[@KathrynGolden-c5t]

Great video! Your script and storytelling a BIG FUN improvement over the movies. Can't wait to watch TOV's Disney's Nightmare 2...!!

[@theothervault]

Much appreciated!

[@danielficarra2557]

LBT was an instant classic I rewatched that so many times as a kid. I also love Oliver n Company

[@dreamguardian8320]

The land Before Time beat Oliver and Company in the animation wars.

[@TimberWolfer63]

In a time when Disney was still in their dark phase after Walts death, Don Bluth and Don Bluth Entertainment were definitely the film maker and studio of the 80s

[@raymondtaylor1036]

This documentary may very well proved a point I had made in Saberspark years ago. The animated movies Don Bluth and his fellow animators created in the 1980s were a labor of love that showed a raw talent which inpressed the likes of Steven Spelberg. This talen, however, needs time to develop and refined, and needs the proper resources and connections in the industry in order to compete with the likes of Disney. Don Bluth's problem was that he was running out of time the moment "An American Tail" became a success. That was the red flag Bluth waved at the Disney Bull, and it charged at him with such force that within three years it all but knocked Bluth out of the animation arena. Michel Eisner may had said it best. Animation is a very expensive and time consuming medium to pursue, but Disney has no choice but to pursue the medium because it is the main symbol of the company. Eisner admited that animation will always be Disney's to win or lose, and I believe that the next segment will show us, as it had showed Bluth and Spelberg, just how true that fact is.

[@thefix8d]

You left me wanting Part 2 right now!! I have subbed; can’t wait till the new video. Awesome documentary and one of the best I’ve seen about this topic.

[@theothervault]

Welcome! So glad that you enjoyed this one!

[@bewell256]

wow, what a video!!! I can’t wait for part two great job!

[@theothervault]

Much appreciated! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

[@supermariof0521]

It will always crush my heart that whenever I bring up how amazing "An American Tail" is, people ALWAYS think I'm referring to its MASSIVELY inferior, tone deaf western sequel, "Fievel Goes West".

[@Rosepetal326]

In fairness as a 98 baby that’s always the ad I saw 😭 it was always his western movie and never the original 😅

[@supermariof0521]

@@Rosepetal326 I see

[@ThreeWheelFlyer]

Honestly, i loved both movies. I watched them all the time, to the point I could quote them verbatim. Eventually, the VCR ate the tapes.

[@supermariof0521]

@@ThreeWheelFlyer Ouch.

[@supermariof0521]

@@ThreeWheelFlyer Sorry the VCR ate both tapes.

[@laurynharrell8529]

What did you just say?! With your WHOLE CHEST?!✨🤣✨ Because the way you displayed the shot for shot comparison of those animated scenes has me both floored and rolling! And Disney still does that with their plots! I though I was tripping this whole time!✨😵‍💫🤭🤣✨💀✨

[@frankycortes6870]

An American Tail and Land Before Time are some of my personal favorites.

[@StudioKelpie1993]

Don Bluth has actually done a great deal in getting Ireland on the map of Animation.

[@dreamguardian8320]

I bet he's the one who inspired the people of Ireland to create Cartoon Saloon and make their own 2D animated movies, like Wolfwalkers.

[@theharbinger00]

The thumbnail has my two favorite animated films of all time!

[@CrimsonReclaimer]

The Land Before Time is one of the greats that trumps most Renaissance Disney.

[@dragons_hook]

I was just watching Family Guy, too. "Comrade Mousekwitz!! Did you think you could run forever?"

[@Mr93Rc]

you did a great job buddy!! I enjoyed the content.

[@theothervault]

Thank you! Happy to hear that you enjoyed it!

[@Infinity.0.0.Intelligence]

The Land before time will always be my favorite.

[@oppositeofthetruth]

My boy ernest winning over oliver

[@Atomic-Purple-Guy]

I remember the land before time. Way more than I remember Oliver and company. I didn't even know that was a movie until now. I noticed childs play to that's a hard movie to beat to.

[@mattsweeney3790]

Herbie hancock announcing the award for somewhere out there.....nice cameo

[@TinyTurtleDuck]

My son's nickname is Mouse because he looked exactly like Fievel when he was a baby. I really can't overstate the impact Don Bluth has had on my life.

[@remuslazar2033]

Land before Time was amazing. I liked the 4th one, with the girl-Littlefoot. I was hoping she would be his mate

[@elsewheretv]

Let’s be clear about something. The Black Cauldron kicks ass.

[@oooh19]

Something Wicked This Way Comes is an underrated spooky season film!

[@theothervault]

True story! Planning on covering this one soon.

[@oooh19]

@@theothervault awesome!

[@lamontyaboy718]

Initial came here to comment that none of the movies in the thumbnail were Disney but actually Don Bluth films since so many people get that wrong. But instantly saw you knew that and enjoyed this. Thanks.

[@adamantiiispencespence4012]

Bluthe learned his craft at Disney and consequently look very Disney. So it's understandable.

[@theothervault]

Ha! Thanks so much for giving it a second before roasting me!

[@ThreeWheelFlyer]

I do remember people confusing these for Disney movies. i knew better. It's rather ironic that they ended up being bought by Disney later.

[@notthegreatestdetective]

great video, looking forward to the follow-up if there is indeed going to be one

[@theothervault]

Thanks! Follow-up is already in progress!

[@notthegreatestdetective]

@@theothervault cool sounds good

[@sissysovereign1294]

So Disney dropped the ball on live action before!? You'd think they would have learned their lesson after that!

[@Scaash]

This needs to happen again

[@dreamguardian8320]

Don Bluth, I'd rather have his 2D animation around today, instead of all the 3D and live action remakes we get now.

[@Nina-fp3jv]

There's a movie now called onyx the fortuitous. He sings the song from american tail.

[@kerianhalcon3557]

I owned both AT, and LBT, I have still never watched either GMD, O&C. I may have seen a few parts of GMD, but never the whole thing.

[@silverblue73]

The problem is you either love animation or you don't and if you love it you're rarely in charge of how it gets made

[@stenh.6243]

Things were looking so good for Don Bluth. And then he made Troll in Central Park. 'We're Back' also sucked every testicle in the room. One of the few Don Bluth films that wasn't milked dry with soulless sequels (aside from the aforementioned Troll in Central Park who made building 7 collapse from all the Chabad tunnels)

[@ThreeWheelFlyer]

If I recall, the last movie don made before shutting down his studio was "Titan:After earth"(2000). kinda sad that it failed at the box office, as it was a pretty good movie.

[@Searchlight1210]

As usual, great documentary. Maybe you should be Historian at AFI?

[@theothervault]

Thanks so much!

[@misspinkpunkykat]

Two of my favorite childhood movies were Don Bluth movies, not Disney. Secret of NIMH and and Titan A.E.. I LOVED and STILL love them. Only Disney movie I liked was Lion King. Couldn't get into any of their other stuff past. I didn't trust them anymore after the trailers for Pocahontas made me think it was going to be about a girl and her animal buddies but I get in the theater and it's about a princess falling in love with some English dude with an American accent for some reason.

[@officialsquadrilogystudio]

Before Dream Works Vs Disney there was Don Bluth Productions

[@dreamguardian8320]

And I for one wish Don Bluth won the war with Disney, then maybe we could have more of his 2D animated movies and video games around today. Maybe even see his version of Beauty and the Beast.

[@silverblue73]

It's not about making it "too ethnic" it's about specificity, it's better to make a story more digestible to a broader number of people regardless of merchandising

[@guy-rd3tn5yu7j]

Where do you get your music, bro😱😱🔥🔥

[@EmilyKresl]

I used to have the little foot toy from pizza hut ❤

[@tomhanson4008]

I am waiting for the era of “live action” Don Bluth remakes.

[@theothervault]

Don't you DARE give them any ideas!

[@dreamguardian8320]

No thanks! Things are bad enough with all the Disney live action remakes. We do not want things to get any worse.

[@1994wildchild]

Who else wants a director's cut of The Land Before Time?

[@OctasLP]

The problem is they don’t tell good stories anymore and they ruined Star Wars

[@Master-Works]

And the fandom is toxic

[@Blue2x2x]

I don't see it a problem, but an opportunity. An opening for someone to come in, and beat Disney by using Disney's complacent hubris for their advantage. But to ensure a foot-hold against Disney, they need to make it with love and passion of the art of animation, AND leave any political spite and anger at the door.

[@shackingchip1324]

Did the Brad bird audio have to get removed?

[@theothervault]

Removed...? Playing fine on my end. What's the issue?

[@Garch-the-Great]

​@theothervault The audio is in one side of stereo, so the whole segment plays silently on an Android without headphones. Encountered the same issue with another of your videos, and weirdly, I think it was also a Brad Bird interview.

[@theothervault]

@Garch-the-Great Woah! Thanks so much for clarifying! Super strange - just checked the clip on both my editing PC and iPhone with headphones and the audio is coming out of both sides. Is it Android specific, maybe? Not even sure how to catch and fix this going forward, but sounds like I'd better look into it. Thanks again for your help!

[@Garch-the-Great]

@@theothervault I just assumed it was a stereo/android issue, but I just rechecked it. The music is audible, but the interview isn't. It properly comes out of both headphone speakers and plays fine on a laptop. I'm as stumped as you are. I presume this was excerpted from the same audio that you used for the Family Dog segment last month, which did the exact same thing. All I can suggest is that you don't use that interview again.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

@@Garch-the-Great This is really weird. Have you tried using a different app on the same Android device to view the video? Have you tried watching the original Brad Bird interview under the same conditions where this video had the issue?

[@tarantula4197]

where is the Brave Little Toaster? he was even worser than these

[@theothervault]

Definitely something I'll be covering in another video!

[@Pwntious]

Brave little toaster was made by Hyperion studios. Not disney or bluth.

[@ghostmoji_xox]

Oh they made land before time?

[@gracekim1998]

i love documentaries

[@theothervault]

Ask and you shall receive!

[@MrBengezack]

The hell is Oliver and Company?

[@giustinoscalise3177]

Shared Real Estate

[@ronmexico6901]

2:50 what movie!

[@theothervault]

Midnight Madness from 1980

[@daddad9978]

traumatized? Bro I Was Never traumatized I Doubt There were some kids that got traumatized over the watred down movies that was supposed to be more traumatized

[@davidswanson5669]

My biggest gripe with Don Bluth’s stuff (even intuitively feeling this way as a kid) was his color palette and the overall grimly lit world the stories took place in. This is why the Disney renaissance immediately attracted my young kid eyes. The worlds of Ariel, Belle, and especially Aladdin are bright and attractive, even when the scene is meant to be dark and scary. When Jafar meets Aladdin in the prison, the colors are blues and purples, whereas Bluth would have chosen blacks, browns, and grays.

[@silverblue73]

Great video, but the lines of your narration are too similar, like the way you begin and end your sentences or statements are always the same which causes some listening fatigue

[@jetgoldranger]

I get what you were trying to say with this video, but I kinda question your choice to paint Bluth as some kind of hero. Keep in mind, the whole reason he up and moved to Ireland was because he had a bad habit of not paying his bills . . . or employees. To my understanding, he's had a couple of such moves.

[@theothervault]

Thanks for sharing your perspective here! Wouldn't say that he himself is a hero. But his path post-Disney IS a pretty amazing triumph. I'll briefly touch on his financial controversies in the follow-up, but they're a bit more complex than how you're painting it.

[@Taydar]

None of these are anyones child hood favourite

[@lynntaylor6686]

Speak for yourself. The Secret of NIMH has been my favorite animated movie since 1985.

[@Taydar]

@@lynntaylor6686 you have strange taste. Every Disney animation or Pixar animation is better.

[@theothervault]

Sure they are.

[@balsalmalberto8086]

@@Taydar Get your head out of your arse.

[@Taydar]

@balsalmalberto8086 I have not. Just remember the Secret of Nimh is Doug Walkers favourite and nobody want to be like Doug Walker.

[@guy-rd3tn5yu7j]

Where do you get your music, bro😱😱🔥🔥