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Don Bluth

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Don Bluth is a famous American filmmaker and animator. He is best known for making hand-drawn animated movies. People love his work because it tells big, moving stories. He also designs video games and writes books about art.

His films often feel like grand adventures. He wants to keep the tradition of drawing every frame by hand alive. This style of art makes the characters feel very special to the viewers.

Making these films is a huge job that takes many steps. First, artists create storyboards to plan out the scenes. Then, animators draw the characters and their movements. In his studio, Bluth once used 160 animators for one movie.

He even created a way for workers to share the profits from their hard work. This helped his studio grow and compete with big companies like Disney. He also used special technology for arcade games like Dragon's Lair. These games used Laserdiscs to show high-quality cartoons to players.

Bluth's journey started with a deep love for movies. He was born in El Paso, Texas, on September 13, 1937. As a child, he rode his horse to the theater to watch Disney films. He would even go home to copy the drawings from comic books.

He later worked at Walt Disney Productions on films like Sleeping Beauty. He also helped animate scenes for Robin Hood and Pete's Dragon. These early years taught him how to bring drawings to life.

In 1979, Bluth decided to start his own company. He named it Don Bluth Productions. His first big movie was The Secret of NIMH, which became a cult classic.

Later, he teamed up with producer Steven Spielberg. Together, they made An American Tail and The Land Before Time. An American Tail was a huge success and earned $45 million in the United States. His film Anastasia was even more successful, earning nearly $140 million worldwide.

Today, Bluth is still working on new ways to share his art. He started Don Bluth Studios to bring back hand-drawn animation. He believes many people still want to see this classic style.

One of his current projects is called Bluth's Fables. These are short stories that look like old nursery rhymes. He shares these stories on the internet through live streams and YouTube. He continues to show the world the magic of drawing by hand.

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