Legendary director Don Bluth says studios will return to making 2D animated films

For years, CGI and 3D animated films have reigned supreme in Hollywood, and as a longtime fan of animation, I miss the traditional 2D animation format. I love this cinematic art form and it’s sad that studios no longer produce these types of films. Well, according to the legendary director and animator Don Bluthstudios will return to making 2D animated films.

During a panel titled “History of Animation with Don Bluth” at Orlando Mega-Con, hosted by ComicBook, Bluth shared his insights into the evolving landscape of the animation industry. The venerated animator, known for classics like The Secret of NIMH and The Land Before Time, predicts a return to 2D animated films as studios grapple with rising production costs. He said:

“I look at the amount of money spent on a 3D image, and it comes to something like 200 or 300 million dollars. And that’s more people, I get older watching the credits. So it seems to me that hand-drawn animation, let’s leave If I take, for example, The Secret of NIMH, we made that movie for $6.5 million. So how the hell, in your right mind, can you say that $300 million is justified?”

The discussion also turned to the creative challenges and narrative aspects of animated films. Bluth told an anecdote about it The land before time and its projection for Steven Spielberg AND George Lucas in London. He shared:

“My theory is that every good story that’s a good story has a good villain, a good scary moment. However, when we made The Land Before Time, we took it to London to show it to Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. And Steven said, ‘You know what? It’s too scary, Don.’ He says, “I’m going to let mothers hold their crying babies in the hallway. We can’t have that.” I said, ‘Okay, what shall we take out?’ With the T-Rex they took away some of what was so, so scary. We tried to make it scary, the animators are crazy. We tried to make those scary things that create and move people a little bit scary and surprising.

“So they went in and took it out, never put it back in, and destroyed it. And it was incredible. It’s a shame because if you have to go through the whole thing of drawing the movie, first of all, drawing the sketches and finally animating them and finally bringing them to life, and finding that when you see them in color, it takes your breath away, something that you worked on. It’s like you created something that was really, really beautiful. so they’re like your children.”

Bluth obviously still has a deep passion for the art of animation and believes in the power of hand-drawn storytelling. As the animation industry continues to evolve, Bluth’s predictions raise interesting questions about the future balance between 2D and 3D animation. Will studios really return to traditional animation techniques to manage costs and foster creativity? Only time will tell, but the discussion Bluth has sparked is a reminder of the rich history and potential future of animated storytelling.

Would you like to see studios go back to making 2D animated films?