Bluth was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of Emaline (née Pratt) and Virgil Ronceal Bluth. His great-grandfather was Latter Day Saint leader Helaman Pratt, and politician Mitt Romney is his second cousin. He grew up with a brother and eventual collaborator, Toby Bluth. Bluth received a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Brigham Young University, and became an animator at The Walt Disney Company in the late 1950s/early 1960s. He started as an animator for Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians and as an assistant director on The Sword in the Stone, for all of which he was uncredited. He worked for a time in television animation, returning to Disney in the 1970s, when he was an animator on Robin Hood, The Rescuers, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Pete's Dragon. His last involvement with Disney was the 1978 short The Small One. Along with fellow animators Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy, he set out in 1979 to start his own animation studio, Don Bluth Productions. He drew a few (uncredited) scenes for The Fox and the Hound and "The Black Cauldron" but left early in production.
When leaving Disney, Bluth brought several other Disney animators with him to form a rival studio, who like Bluth were allegedly upset with how the Disney animated features had "lost their charm" at the time.[citation needed] This new studio, Don Bluth Productions, demonstrated its ability in its first production, a short film titled Banjo the Woodpile Cat, and this led to work on an animated segment of the live-action film Xanadu (1980).
When leaving Disney, Bluth brought several other Disney animators with him to form a rival studio, who like Bluth were allegedly upset with how the Disney animated features had "lost their charm" at the time.[citation needed] This new studio, Don Bluth Productions, demonstrated its ability in its first production, a short film titled Banjo the Woodpile Cat, and this led to work on an animated segment of the live-action film Xanadu (1980).
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