Rank the Don Bluth movies you have seen from best to worst.

BETHANY COX
"Music comes from within, from your heart and from your soul."


Rank the Don Bluth movies you have seen from best to worst, give a mark out of 10(if you have voted) and then write two or three sentences or so on why you like or hate the movie. I will give my verdicts.


1. THE SECRET OF NIMH-(10/10) I will confess I didn't see this until recently, and I loved it at first sight. I haven't read the book in its entirety, but I rarely judge a film by how unfaithful or faithful it is to the book. The animation is stunning, with excellent character animation. The music score by the wonderful Jerry Goldsmith is phenommonal, the song in the background of one scene was heart-rending. The voice-talents are spot on, especially the late Dom DeLuise and Derek Jacobi as Jeremy and Nicodemus. Jenner isn't the most sinister of all villains, but he is very convincing. I will say the sequel was completely unneccessary, its only redeeming quality being the voice cast, who had some pathetic dialogue to work with.

2. ANASTASIA-(9/10) I loved this film when I was 10, and now I am 17 and I still do. I got it on video 2 years ago, and all those wonderful memories came back. The animation is beautiful, and the songs are actually the film's main merit, Once Upon A December especially. The characters are engaging and funny, and the top notch voice talents from Christopher Lloyd, Kelsey Grammer, Meg Ryan and Angela Lansbury bring to life a beautiful, well-told story of the last Romanov princess. True, it is historically inaccurate, and obviously aimed at kids, butso was Pocahontas, and that was a beautiful film too.

3. AMERICAN TAIL-(9/10) For a long time, I thought this was the best Bluth movie, til I saw Secret of Nimh. The animation is stunning, very like the style of the Rescuers, and the songs especially Somewhere Out There were beautiful. The story, while slow at times, is genuinely poignant at times, and made me cry at times. The last time I cried in an animation was during Once Upon a Forest. Phillip Glasser was sweet as Fieval, but he does lack the singing ability, but as he was very young, it is forgiven. The other vocal talents were exceptional, as always the case with Bluth movies.

4. THE LAND BEFORE TIME-(9/10) This was a charming and often moving film of friendship and sometimes heartache. The animation was beautiful, and the music score by James Horner added to the emotion, that is lacking in the countless sequels. The vocal talents of the youngsters were a delight, especially Judith Barsi as Ducky, who was murdered not long after she voiced Anne Marie in All Dogs Go To Heaven. The shapteeth are a bit frightening for youngsters, and sometimes the story is a bit slow, but overall a beautiful film that is actually better than most of the 60s-80s Disney movies.

5. PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN-(8/10) I don't get the low rating for this movie, as I honestly think it is one of the better Bluth movies. Sure it is flawed, almost all the movies I've reviewed are. The animation is mostly very good like in the killer whales scene, but in Drake's song there are a lot of colour changes, and Drake's animation was rather unimpressive. The songs, especially Now and Forever and Sometimes I Wonder were lovely, the only song I didn't like was Good Ship Misery, as all the vocalists did was shout, and it sounded horrible. The story is actually imaginative, though slow-moving at times. I don't get why people are so fussed about Rocko flying. Very few people have criticised Dumbo being able to fly, or that Beast turns into a human, not that either character need criticising. The voice talents were what made the movie, there were critical reviews(not on IMDB) that said the characterisations were racist, and they are not. James Belushi steals the show, Martin Short and Annie Golden are sweet, and Tim Curry(whose Drake sounded a lot like Jenner) sang magnificently in Don't Make Me Laugh. (it's the best I heard him sing since Blue Money)

6. ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN-(7/10) The main merit of this movie is the character of Anne Marie, she was really sweet and likeable. I thought the animation was excellent, and on the whole the voice talents were very good(Ken Page's King Gator was a hoot). Carface is a very convincing villain, and Vic Tayback's voice over was brilliant. However the story was clumsy and unfocused in the middle half, and there are some scenes like Charlie's dream and the ending(which was sad) that young children will find upsetting. I also didn't like the songs very much, they seemed bland and didn't seem to fit, and Dom DeLuise has done much better singing before, though the worst he's sang was in the otherwise hugely enjoyable Lion of Oz. The sequel wasn't terrible, but not actually true to the first film in terms of story and animation.

7. THUMBELINA-(7/10) A lot of people say it is worse than Pebble and the Penguin, but it is rated higher, which I still don't get. I don't think Thumbelina is that bad, but it is one of the weaker Bluth movies, though not the worst. The animation is nice in the song numbers, but sometimes especially in the latter half it is a bit lifeless. The songs are very pleasant, particularly Let Me Be Your Wings, but I have heard better in animations. Jodi Benson, who I have loved since Little Mermaid, is great as Thumbelina, and the other voices aren't bad either, eapecially Jaquimo. The story, while having some made up touches, remains true to the Hans Christian fairytale. In conclusion, a sweet, flawed but enjoyable film.

8. BARTOK THE MAGNIFICENT-(7/10) It is nowhwere near as good as Anastasia, but it is very entertaining. Bartok is annoying, and Ludmilla is a little over the top, but Kelsey Grammer was perfect in every way as Zozi. The animation wasn't bad, though in the scarier bits was a bit flat, and the songs, while tuneful, aren't particularly memorable. The voice talents are impeccable, namely Kelsey Grammer and Tim Curry as the charming and debonair large-headed skull.

9. TROLL IN CENTRAL PARK-(6/10)A very good voice cast and some nice music save an otherwise forgettable film. The animation is mostly unimpressive with very flat backgrounds, though in the musical numbers it actually wasn't too bad. The songs by Cynthia Weil while not memorable, are quite nice, likewise with the incidental music. Stanley is charming,but Gnorga is very frightening(though Cloris Leachman did a great job voicing her). Gus and Stanley didn't quite have the chemistry that they should have had. There were attempts at humour, but didn't quite deliver due to the lacklustre plot.

10. ROCK A DOODLE DOO-(6/10) This is definitely the weakest Bluth movie. I know I gave it the same score as Central Park, but I honestly didn't think the film was complete execrement. The animation was okay, but the live action bits were very jarring indeed. The songs were lacklustre,(the owl songs sounded the same all the time) and despite Phil Harris's excellent voicing, the story, which was very thin, was too heavily-reliant on the narration and got distracting. Edmund's speech impediment was annoying, but I didn't hate the character. The best character has to be the Grand Duke, voiced wonderfully by Christopher Plummer. I really wouldn't want to mess with him. There are some good lines, namely "if I kill my nephew would it be murder or charity" proving the Duke had the best lines. Not complete execrement, but could have been so much better.

I haven't seen Titan AE, but I will see it, after hearing good things about it.
Anyway, please feel free to post your thoughts, and if you want to contact me, email me at [email protected].
Bethany.