Don Bluth's Departure from Disney & Chris Butler on Laika's 'Missing Link'

Don Bluth's Departure from Disney

• 💔 Don Bluth resigned from Walt Disney Animation Studios in September 1979, taking 15% of the studio's artists and animators with him to form Aurora Productions.
• 💡 Bluth's unhappiness stemmed from feeling that younger animators were being stifled by the studio's reliance on older traditions and recycled footage, as seen in films like "Robin Hood."
• 🏠 Bluth began a personal project, "Banjo the Woodpile Cat," at home, where animators would gather on weekends to work on it, learning effects techniques not taught at Disney.
• ❌ When Bluth presented "Banjo the Woodpile Cat" to Ron Miller for consideration as a holiday special, Miller rejected it, deeming it not "Disney quality," which ultimately pushed Bluth to leave.
• 📉 This departure, along with subsequent partnerships with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg for "The Land Before Time," created a tough decade for Disney animation and impacted industry dynamics.

Chris Butler's Journey to Laika

• ✍️ Chris Butler, director of Laika's "Missing Link," initially aspired to be a 2D animator, inspired by Disney, but found limited opportunities in England.
• 🎬 He transitioned to stop-motion animation after working on Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride," finding the hands-on, set-based nature of the medium more creatively fulfilling than storyboarding.
• 🌟 Butler joined Laika, initially for six months, but has now been there for 13 years, drawn by the studio's commitment to creator vision, allowing him to direct "ParaNorman" and "Missing Link" with significant artistic control.

The Making of 'Missing Link'

• 🗺️ "Missing Link" was inspired by Butler's desire to create a stop-motion "Indiana Jones"-style adventure, evolving from an initial creature concept to a story centered on the character of Mr. Link.
• ⏳ The production involved a two-year shooting period, making it Laika's longest production, with a vast number of sets and location changes.
• 🎨 The film's distinctive look features aggressive graphic stylization and angularity, with a stylized approach to character hair, including Link's fur, to maintain visual cohesion.
• 💻 CG extras were crucial for populating the film's diverse environments, allowing for complex scenes without animating an unmanageable number of puppets, while maintaining visual consistency between foreground and background characters.
• 🎬 Butler emphasizes the thoughtful use of composition and montage, as seen in the New York docks scene, to create the illusion of larger environments without building extensive sets, a technique reminiscent of filmmakers like Robert Stevenson.

Future Projects and Industry Insights

• 🏖️ After the intense production of "Missing Link," Chris Butler is looking forward to a vacation and some writing, preferring the solitary nature of the writing process.
• 🎬 The discussion touches on the challenges of live-action/animation/gaming hybrids and the evolving nature of animation production, including the impact of CG and the importance of creative control.
• 🎙️ The hosts also preview upcoming "Fine Tuning" episodes, including a series on "Mission Impossible 3" and various other Disney-related podcasts.