by Majestic of Brainstorm
Don Bluth, the man behind Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. He's now here to answer some interview questions.
1) Why are there always dogs, cats or mice in the mainrole of the movie?
Don Bluth: Think back: The fable of Aesop, also the indian legends and stories were always talking about animals. These animals have characteristics which remind us of our own.
2) Yours stories always have a lesson to tell. Do you think, that kids learn something from these stories?
Don Bluth: I hope so. Myself for example learned alot from the old Disney movies. In "Bambi" said Thumper, the little rabid, about Bambi "It can't even work once correctly." The mother then replied "What did you daddy tell you? If you can't say anything nice, then say nothing at all." I never forgot those word in my life.
3) How did you come upon the idea to draw "Charlie"?
Don Bluth:I once had five dogs. And since meanwhile all of them had left me, I wondered where they all went to. What happens to a dog when he dies? Do all dogs come to heaven? And so we had our sub-title called "All Dogs Go to Heaven". Then we added the storie of a lousy dog which comes to heaven and from there back to earth.
4) Which character was the most difficult to draw?
Don Bluth:The little Maria-Ann. If you make a mistake drawing the expression of a animal the audience won't notice it. But if you make a mistake with a human, then the audience will immidiately notice it. The most difficlut animation was to animate Maria-Ann's face. We have 72 muskles to look sad, and only 42 to smile. If you photograph a person you don't have to think about that. But we have a pencil and we need to think about that. We had a six year old girl who we once in a while used as a model.
5) When you are drawing something, do you think about somebody?
Don Bluth: Yes, I look for somebody which interests me, and then I transform
this person into an animal.
6) The voice of Charlie is the voice of Burt Reynolds.
Don Bluth:Charlie IS Burt. I called him up and said "We finally have a film for you. You will play the dog". He replied "So what's new about that?"
7) Do you use computers?
Don Bluth: Yes. To use the computer means nothing else that to change the brush. Computers are very usefull, we sometimes use them to change the look of a picture. But never the less a computer can never replace a artist.
8) Why haven't you created your own drawing style, instead of copying Walt Disney's Style?
Don Bluth: Somebody once told me that if you climb on the back of a giant you will be able to look further than the giant. There was once a time when people forgot how the old talents used to draw. So we copied them (Walt Disney) and wanted to see if the old style of drawing would still be liked today. But artists always want to create new things, and to discover new things.
9) What will you discover next?
Don Bluth: We will continue to tell stories and lessons on our movies. And the storie itself will always be more important than the artist work itself. But we will develp new visual Effects.
10) What do you think about the cheap Japanese Cartoons?
Don Bluth:I think they are very brutal. They manage to bring nice effects to the screen like explosions, fire, and smoke. But they have a totally different culture than we do. They like the brutallity. And thats why the cartoons turn out that way, because they are made for grown-ups. But outside of Japan people think that these cartoons are made for childern, and so they are shown here in the West to little children.
Thank you Don Bluth for the interview.
Thank you Nadine Woodtli for arranging the interview.
This article originally appeared in the Amiga diskmagazine "Zine #4" by Brainstorm 1990.
Some content may refer to activities that are illegal in some countries. BitFellas does not support such activity.
Addresses and other contact information were only valid when this magazine was originally published, in april of 1990.
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