A cat, a donkey, and some rats rose from the ashes when Don Bluth left Disney Animation. This is how Bluth's studio was established.
It is difficult to imagine a time when Disney Animation stood on the precipice of decline. Timeless cartoon classics from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Encanto seem to bookend an age of film history that calls to mind words like innovation and success. Looking back, however, one may find it shocking that in 1979 a young animator, hailed by many as the next Walt Disney, decided to abruptly leave and start his own studio.
RELATED: ‘Wolfwalkers’ Directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart Talk Don Bluth, ‘Wolf-vision’ And What’s Next As the Bluthies grew in number, so too did their detractors. Animator Burny Mattinson started at Disney around the same time as Bluth in the 1950s and was among those invited to visit the makeshift garage studio. Mattinson was not charmed by the expanding Bluthie group, saying in Walt's People Vol 12, “Don was kind of a cool fish in a way.” He continued, “Bluth sort of built a clique up of just his people around him and really kind of isolated himself.
This change in leadership did not endear Bluth to the CalArts alumni, and they would soon become a thorn in his side. When Bluth came on to direct The Small One, all the trainees on the short were forced to jump through new hoops to prove themselves as adequate animators. A memo was sent to them which requested a character animation sample that would display an emotion. “Whichever emotion you select should be played honestly – go for sincerity or believability” the memo read.
Kroyer, along with Musker, Bird, and other artists Jerry Rees, Henry Selick, and Dan Haskett, shared adjacent rooms in the famous D-Wing of the animation building. After Kroyer went to Miller, Bluth came down to see them. Musker recounted Bluth’s words to the group: “This place is a rat’s nest of rumor and innuendo, and it’s got to stop.” When they asked to collaborate more, Bluth doubled down. “He basically said, ‘The studio’s built on a system of kings and serfs. And guess what? You’re a serf.
“I called a meeting for everyone who was working on Banjo and said, ‘Guys, we’re taking our short and leaving. We’re not asking you to leave, but you are welcome if you want to come with us.’”
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