Whatever it Takes – Don Bluth and the Secret behind NIMH

There are some films that just make you sigh and say “they just don’t make ’em like they used to.” It doesn’t even matter how old you are, each generation has its own icons. As a child of the 80s, one of mine was Don Bluth’s legendary first independent feature, The Secret of NIMH. One of my earliest memories was watching that movie and not understanding a damn thing that was going on, but knowing that it took my breath away anyway. It was another one of those features that dropped off my radar when I was in my teens, and I didn’t give it another thought until I saw that it had been given a DVD re-release. I think my mind blanked for a moment, because the next thing I knew was that I was in the checkout line, clutching it tightly in my little hands.

The beauty of DVDs is that they have so much room for extra content. I always think that good content is worth the price tag, especially for films that are so obviously well-loved. Disney’s DVD releases are incredible in that regard: they’re rich with content and eager to show you all of the tiny juicy details that went into making something so dear to them. NIMH’s DVD release isn’t quite up to that level, but the thing I love about it is the 15-minute behind-the-scenes featurette. Instead of focusing on voices and music like a lot of movies can do, this feature makes no mistake about who the star is: the animation.

While the featurette is available on Youtube for free, if you happen to be a fan of the movie, I highly recommend the DVD.

Embedding is disabled in the video, but you can check it out on Youtube!

It’s a real treat being able to see all the work that was put into a film. Beyond that, hearing Bluth talk about his ideas and experiences is very inspiring — the part that stuck with me particularly was his talking at the 3:00 mark about feelings and emotions. It’s difficult to draw someone as emotional even in a still form. To put that emotion into motion really is a tough thing to do. I think it’s really refreshing to listen to a person who obviously has so much love for the medium; after all, the most important thing an artist can have is passion.