I was maybe eleven or twelve when I stumbled across my grandmother’s VHS copy of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. I had certainly passed by the cover a hundred times at my childhood Family Home Video, but I was always fixated on the newer animated flicks or tried-and-true Looney Tunes compilation VHS tapes, and I assumed all Westerns- even animated- were boring. This time was different: I needed a distraction. Movies can provide a form of escapism during the worst parts of our lives, and dear reader, that silly animated movie about an immigrant family of Russian Jewish mice having rough and tumble adventures in the Wild West was a short reprieve from what was happening in reality- my grandmother’s losing battle with cancer. That film was my introduction to the world of An American Tail, although it would take me a few more years to find- and watch- the original film, produced by Don Bluth Studios in 1986. But Fievel Goes West? The sequel was produced by Amblimation, Steven Spielberg’s first and only short lived animation studio, with zero involvement from Bluth and his animation studio. The following story is a tale of a director who wanted to leap feet first into the animation industry, lost focus, and the hard realities that followed. It’s time to roll back the clock to the months leading up to September 17, 1979, on the Walt Disney animation studio lot…
Don Bluth, Singing Mice and a Broken Contract
This date is significant for two reasons, in the animation industry. If you’ve read my previous article (and the first one that kickstarted this series), you’ll know exactly why. In 1966, Walt Disney passed away suddenly, leaving the animation department without a lead director. Disney supervised most of the animation that was produced in the studio and thrived in the story department, often helping with story beats or gags or cutting out unnecessary characters; when he passed, the animation and story team had to ask themselves “what would Walt do?” The following Disney animated films during the ’70s also fell considerably in quality, with poorly received films and slashed budgets. One by one, Walt’s favorite “Eight Old Men” animators retired, or died, and the executives were scrambling to hire new artists that could be trained by the older generation of animators, and quick. This new wave of artists grew up with Disney’s earlier films, and wanted a return to their more intense and impactful cinematography and stories, and heading this uprising was Don Bluth. Bluth and a handful of other animators and artists at the studio would work on sharpening their skills together, teaching each other other parts of the animation pipeline, and over the course of a year and on a shoestring budget, produced Banjo the Woodpile Cat, a prototype animated film created in Bluth’s garage after their shifts at Disney and during the weekends. Once the film was finished, Bluth, John Pomeroy and Gary Goldman pitched it to the executives at Disney, trying to prove that the animation department had the talent and potential to do bigger films, and were capable of taking on bigger roles if given the chance. The group’s pitch and film was laughed down by the executives, leading to one of the biggest step outs in Disney’s entire history, with over a hundred animators and artists leaving on Bluth’s birthday on, you guessed it, September 17, 1979.
After Banjo the Woodpile Cat, Bluth, Pomeroy, and Goldman’s newly formed animation studio started production on their first full feature animated film, an adaptation of Robert C. O’Brien’s Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. If Bluth wanted to produce a bigger and more intense film than what Disney was producing in the 1970s, then 1982’s The Secret of NIMH was a massive success. But the film had taken a hard financial hit on the studio. Bluth and Goldman attempted to make back costs by designing original animation for two interactive arcade games- Dragon’s Lair (1983) and Space Ace (1984). Concept art and story boards for a couple of potential animated specials had been made during this period, but the Arcade Crash of ’83 took a hit on the sales of Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace arcade machines, and the studio found themselves yet again dealing with a financial crisis. Meanwhile, established director Steven Spielberg wanted to dive into the animation industry, caught a screening of The Secret of NIMH, was impressed by the work the studio could do, and reached out to Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. Soon after, Spielberg and Don Bluth Studios signed a contract for three animated features. In 1984, production started on An American Tail, a full feature animated film about Fievel, an immigrant Russian Jewish mouse, and his family, trying to find their way back to each other after getting separated in America in the 1880s. Two years later, in 1986, the film released with high remarks, out performing Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective and earning positive reviews; the stand-out song of the movie, Somewhere Out There, won the Grammy Awards for the Song of the Year and for the Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television, and was nominated for the Best Music Award at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards. Things were finally looking up for Bluth and the studio.
Meanwhile, Spielberg was workshopping an idea for a dinosaur movie, something akin to Disney’s Bambi but with pre-historic beasts instead of woodland critters. George Lucas heard word of the next movie, and jumped on board as a producer. Don Bluth Studios, at the end of An American Tail‘s production, moved to Ireland and adapted a new name- Sullivan Bluth Studios- after Morris Sullivan, who kept finances in check and given ownership over the studio. The move to Ireland helped with financially keeping films in budget, with grants and tax incentives provided by the government, a benefit that was much needed to keep the small animation studio running. Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment just signed onto produce Disney’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, with production split between two places- live action scenes and special effects filmed in Hollywood and animation produced in England. Roger Rabbit‘s animated segments were produced by the animation department headed by Richard Williams (who will be the subject of an article later this year); special effects were produced concurrently by George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) firm. Don Bluth’s animation studio started production on the dinosaur feature in 1987, and production seemed to be going smoothly. Late into production, though, Spielberg decided to cut out any of the theatrically dark and intense scenes, ultimately taking out ten minutes of produced animation, resulting in the film being re-edited to account for any continuity issues. Despite these changes (or maybe, as a result of), The Land Before Time was a financial and critical success, releasing in 1988 on the same day as Disney’s Oliver and Company; the dinosaur movie would also become Sullivan Bluth Studio’s second highest grossing film- only behind Anastasia (1997). But creative differences started to brew between Bluth and Spielberg, which led Spielberg to break their contract, taking the rights of the American Tail franchise; George Lucas would leave soon after. Don Bluth and his animation studio would continue to produce animation films in Ireland, but without Spielberg’s knack for storytelling and directing, and the financial support from Spielberg and Lucas, the films just couldn’t hit the same highs as before. In 1989, Disney released The Little Mermaid, ending the rivalry between the two studios, and marking the beginning of the Disney Renaissance and the slow decline of Don Bluth Studios.
Third Time’s a Charm?
In May 1989, Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Universal Pictures collaboration, Amblimation, opened it’s doors in London, England. The first film this new animation studio produced was a sequel to American Tail, in which the characters from the original film decide to move to the Wild West and play cowboys. American Tail: Fievel Goes West released the same day as Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in 1991, with the latter going on to become one of the most beloved Disney animated films of all time, and the other failing to attract audiences in theaters. Fievel Goes West‘s financial successes would come in VHS sales, merchandising, a syndicated (and short-lived) American Tails cartoon series, and two more direct-to-video sequels, An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island (1998) and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster (1999), produced by other studios. Fievel and the rest of the characters in the franchise were utilized in the Universal Studios theme parks, in a live performance in the now-defunct An American Tail Theatre (1990-1992) and Fievel’s Playland (1989-2024), and park exclusive merchandise. Fievel would even become Amblimation’s own mascot, cementing his association with the studio.
Back to Amblimation, the animation department was hard at work on three projects, with each expected to release eighteen months from the last, with the idea that each production’s release would help finance the next project. In the midst of Fievel Goes West‘s release, the animation studio started storyboard work on We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story (1993). This was Spielberg’s second attempt at an animated dinosaur movie, and was at the level of scary-but-palatable for kids he wanted for Land Before Time. We’re Back! is about a group of dinosaurs that are brought into then modern-day New York City, given medication to become intelligent, and have to hide from Doctor Screweyes, who wants to kidnap the dinosaurs to perform in his circus. Spielberg himself was busy with Jurassic Park (1993) and Animaniacs (1993-1998) to help with production on the film. We’re Back! had four directors attached and the lack of structure and disjointed development is clear in the finished product. Spielberg’s live action Jurassic Park hit theaters a year prior- and it’s evident now which dinosaur film survived the brink of extinction, and which faded into obscurity.
During production of Fievel Goes West and We’re Back!, Amblimation was working on two more concepts- one based on the heroic journey of sled dogs trekking across Alaska to deliver medication to an isolated village during a diphtheria outbreak; the other was an animated adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats. The latter would go on to become lost media after being cancelled, with artwork only resurfacing earlier this year; Balto, the former, would become Amblimation’s last feature film. Based on the real life story of the heroic sled dogs during the 1925 diphtheria outbreak in Nome, Alaska, Balto follows those very dogs as they make that historic journey. If the name and story sounds familiar to you, Balto’s real life counterpart can be found mounted on display in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, nearly a century since his death in 1933. The animated film was produced on a tighter budget than the last two films, and the cuts are obvious in watches of the film; snow effects was added in with an early CGI particle software, backgrounds were painted using oil paints, and effects animators had to chose between adding foot prints or shadows in shots. Unfortunately for Amblimation, Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story released two weeks before Balto in 1995, and overshadowed the sled dog movie, and any other animated feature released that year, by a long shot. Similarly to Fievel Goes West, Balto would find short financial successes in VHS releases and two direct-to-video sequels, produced by other studios, and merchandising.
In 1994, before Balto‘s release, Spielberg co-founded Dreamworks with Jeffery Katzenberg and David Geffen. Some members of the Amblimation crew were relocated to Los Angeles, forming Dreamworks Animation. After Balto‘s box office failure, Amblimation would be shut down officially, two years later, in June 1997. The remaining Amblimation crew would either continue to work for Dreamworks Animation on The Prince of Egypt (1998), or leave to work elsewhere in the industry, and the rest is history. Dreamworks Animation continues to be an absolute powerhouse in the animation industry, producing iconic animated films appealing to kids and families alike, while Amblimation remains a mere footnote in the history of Western animation.
Final Notes
You may have noticed that the sequels to the films mentioned in this article are accredited to “other studios”. With the exception of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), all of the direct-to-video sequels were produced by Universal Cartoon Studios, which outsourced all the animation production overseas, often at the fraction of the original budget. These sequels would continue the adventures with the same fan favorite characters, recasting the original voice crew, with sequels releasing years or decades after the original film. The Land Before Time has the most direct-to-video additions with fifteen movies in total, adding in more characters as needed, and incorporating more songs and musical numbers into each movie, quickly losing any resemblance of the much darker theme and tone of the original. An American Tail would suffer a similar trait- with each direct-to-video sequel, the family’s Russian Jewish immigrant roots became less of a major plot point and more of an afterthought, focusing more on the adventures of little mouse Fievel and his new friends in New York City. Balto received two direct-to-video sequels, neither of which are about the historic dog sled run that started the trilogy, instead focusing on Balto’s pups finding their way in the world. Universal Cartoon Studios was rebranded to Universal Animation Studios in 2007, focusing more on television series and holiday specials, and the two series have remained dormant since the late 2010s.
These sequels, no matter how different from the original source, did bring new viewers into their cartoon worlds. I may not have been introduced to Don Bluth Studios if I hadn’t watched An American Tail: Fievel Goes West all those years ago on pure coincidence, and realized just how fun it was to research these animation studios and their histories as a young teen. I hope you’ve enjoyed this article on the history and films of Amblimation. We’ll return in November with another deep dive into one of our favorite animation studios- and check out NSP Presents: Halloween’s History in Cartoons on October 22!
Sources
The Short But Animated Legacy Of Amblimation – Does Their Work Hold Up?
Why Steven Spielberg’s Animated Adaptation Of ‘Cats’ Never Made It Past Development
Amblin – Fievel Goes West, Fievel’s American Tails, We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story, Balto
This Legendary Disney Filmmaker’s Huge Success Proved To Be His Shocking Downfall
