Apparently one of our fine conglomerates -- Paramount/Viacom -- could be rebooting The Secret of NIMH:
The movie would be the second theatrical go-round for the book, which MGM brought to the screen in 1982 as the animated "The Secret of NIMH," directed by Don Bluth.
I remember when Don exited Disney's one fine day to go make his own feature, taking half the Disney animation staff with him. A couple of years later, the movie based on the Newberry award winner "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" came out and didn't make a great deal of money, although the reviews it collected weren't bad.
Don went on to make a string of animated features in Ireland and Arizona (the two done with Steven Spielberg performing well at the box office). Many of his employees ultimately returned to Burbank and the Disney fold ... and here we are, twenty-seven years further along, on the cusp (maybe) of another animated epic from the same material, this time with live action and cgi.
Everything old is new again. Perhaps soon we will have a cgi sequel to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
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24 comments:
Wasn't the first one BAD ENOUGH?
Well, maybe this time it'll have a story.
No. The first was great!
No...it was pretty awful. Bizarre character designs., ugly backgrounds, shallow story and little character. The anmation looks like the animators studied animation instead of real life. No wonder it was a flop. Style (sort of) over substance. Still, bad taste is better than no taste.
You guys know that NIMH wasn't even marketed properly because the financiers went bankrupt and the distributors just threw it out on the theatres right?
You may think NIMH is a bad movie, but to be honest, nobody knows why a movie flops.
IRON GIANT WAS A BOX-OFFICE FLOP and it was a good movie. How do YOU explain that?
Iron Giant was a great movie not properly marketed.
Nimh was a gad movie not properly marketed.
There. Simple explanation.
NIMH had great design, great animation, plot might have been complicated, but at least it had a plot.
The designs were horrible. mediocre animation, and PLENTY of plot. Just no story. It's just another average kiddie cartoon.
"gad" movie? I'm sure you meant "bad." Which it is.
Secret of NIMH was about a widowed mouse who tries to save her son's life. There's your story. I can't understand why you say there's no plot.
The animation was great, music was great, and is Don Bluth's best work. Better than the films Disney was pushing out at the time.
Who said it had no "plot" But plot isn't story. It's PLOT.
Same old bluth crap. Awful from top to bottom.
And everyone knows Rock-A-Doodle was more "Don" than any of his films, and therefore his best film.
"And everyone knows Rock-A-Doodle was more "Don" than any of his films, and therefore his best film."
I have no idea how you get that impression. Rock-A-Doodle is considered the black sheep.
I don't know why there's such anti-Bluth comments here. He made such classics like NIMH, American Tail, and All Dogs Go To Heaven.
I don't know how you call such a wonderful film awful.
Hardly classics. All Dogs Go to Heaven is a bad film laugh riot. American Tail is as bizarre as Nimh.
No, his best films are Rock-A-Doodle, Thumbelina, and especially Troll in Central Park. Especially Rock-A-Doodle. CLASSIC riot fest of hilarity and brilliant film making--proving once and for all that don bluth is the Ed Wood of animation.
Rock-A-Doodle is the BEST. From the dynamic story, to the characters audiences can completely identify with, and the mature themes that resonate with audiences of all ages, it is simply one of the best film--animated or otherwise--of the 1990's. I read somewhere that Timothy Leary loved watching this film on a loop.
I could not get past 6 minutes of "Troll in central park". That was a piece of junk!
However, the animation on the Great Owl on NIHM was amazing, as well as it's design. Loved the black crowe design as well, Nicodemus was another great design.
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That was an "owl?" I couldn't tell. And there wa some other fat warty creature that moved a lot for no reason chasing the (i think) mouse around. Weird. To bad the bluth animators didn't study life.
Secret of NIMH is the most mature of all Don Bluth movies. It takes both kids and adults seriously, and never really lightens up the story or lets the viewers down. The character designs aren`t meant to be rubbery and cutesy like in Little Mermaid. The character movement and the expressions are well made, and backgrounds look realistic. The story, on the other hand, is dark and complex because it does want to treat kids like adults, and please adult audiences as well. Besides, Mrs Brisby is a realistic, strong-willed if poignant character that has more character development than most of Disney female protagonists.
I guess you are little too childish to understand NIMH. Maybe you should stick with Thumbelina or something like that. Grow up a bit more and you`ll understand more dark and subtle stuff.
Oh, and I realize that you think cartoons with no dark stories and complex protagonists like NIMH had are better. A Dreamworks fan, I suppose?
Why not prefer Batman & Robin to Tim Burton`s Batman? Or Clone Wars to Empire Strikes Back? Man, someone`s got a really bad taste in animation if he prefers Rock A Doodle to NIMH.
"o dark stories and complex protagonists like NIMH had are better"
HA! The problem is the word "stories." Nimh was about as dark as don's magic underwear--and a good beard.. But the idea that he could begin to tell a coherent story--or ANY story for that matter--is hardly open to debate, as proven time and time again. bluth is all about bells and whistles, and even those reached the levels of Filmation towards the end.
No, Rock-A-Doodle is his best film, if only because it's PURE UNADULTERATED DON BLUTH.
Also, do not confuse the words "complex" with "incoherent."
I was never troubled by anything you said when I watched NIMH. Yet I understand your opinion totally. The movie itself is not a typical blockbuster comedy musical, but it has a subtle story, realistic characters, lots of mature material, a great combination of Beatrix Potter-esque animal characters and dark fairy tales, skilled animation, great voicework and even greater music. Because of all this, the right attitude is needed when one watches this.
This movie is not for those who want to watch Little Mermaid or Thumbelina, but for those who want something that differs from the overrated mass of cartoon films. The plot is not incoherent, it just has many twists and a subplot that require understanding (maybe somebody forgot to keep his or her brains active while watching this?).
But, on the other hand, if somebody is disturbed by the plot and the strange designs in NIMH, why not watch NIMH 2 - Timmy to The Rescue? It is the polar opposite: it`s totally Disney-esque musical style movie, with humor similar to other DTV sequels, it lacks heart, the story is a cliched simpleton and the animation is bright and cheery.
You're making lame excuses for bad film making. It has nothing to do with comparing it to anything typical. It has to do with the fact that the story is weak, characters shallow, and it's immature from top to bottom. A TERRIBLE film. One of the worst animated features ever made. No amount of twinkles, shines, and bad taste can hide this fact.
And it's ANYTHING but "subtle." It's just BAD.
I didn`t make up "lame excuses". Everything I said were my opinions. Like your NIMH bashing is just your opinion.
But I think that the serious subject matters, a realistic protagonist, and the amount of drama are the things that make this movie more mature than most of Disney films. If the movie was childish, no one could take it seriously, and it would be more cliched. But thankfully it isn`t.
Well, the most biased of Disney fans never really understand animated films like that one. My arguments are complete.
The "bias" is in your imagination. It has FAR from a "realistic" protagonist, and the amount of "drama" is nil. Drama isn't drama without characters. And since none of the characters make decisions to create drama (it's thrust upon them), they're left to do nothing but react until magic solves all their problems. Wishful thinking, maybe. But NOT "drama."
And certainly not "mature."
I agree! Bluth films, especially nimh, are ok for the kiddies, but are hardly classic films.
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