It was made by former Disney animators were frustrated by Disney's bureaucracy and assembly-line attitude.
In 1979, while Disney was in the middle of production on The Fox and the Hound, animators Don Bluth, John Pomeroy and Gary Goldman all left Disney to pursue this project, which had originally been rejected by their former employer as "too dark" to be a commercial success. They were followed soon after by 20 other Disney animators, dubbed "The Disney Defectors" by the trade press.
They believed Disney was neglecting certain animation skills and techniques that would be vital in the years ahead, especially as their veteran artists—the legendary Nine Old Men—retired or died.
In late August 1982, Disney barred several theaters from booking this film as a double-feature with TRON (1982). Disney claimed that the studio wanted their film to be paired with another Disney film. A Los Angeles Times article said that the action was due to bitter feelings over Don Bluth's exit from the company.
They worked faster and cheaper than they had at Disney.
Disney's The Fox and the Hound cost $12 million.
The Black Cauldron, released in 1985, would cost $44 million.
The Secret of NIMH? A cool $7 million.
Furthermore, it was produced in 30 months—half the time Disney's 'toon features took.
It won best animated and best fantasy, from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films
It won Best Family Feature - Animated, Musical or Fantasy from the Young Artists Awards.
The release date was moved up from late August to early July, putting it in competition with E.T., Rocky III, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Poltergeist, Blade Runner, and Annie.
What's more, instead of giving the film a wide release, MGM/UA opened it on less than 100 screens and expanded very slowly—so slowly that by the time it rolled out, the advertising had come and gone and people had forgotten about it.
NIMH grossed around $14 million in theaters and didn't become truly profitable until it found an audience on home video.
http://ecollections.scad.edu/iii/cpro/CollectionViewPage.external?lang=eng&sp=1000004&sp=7&sp=1&suite=def
https://www.blackgate.com/2011/04/12/i-still-don%E2%80%99t-understand-the-amulet-but-i-love-the-secret-of-nimh/
https://www.tor.com/2017/12/21/oooh-a-sparkly-the-secret-of-nimh/
Great post!
ReplyDeleteCoincidentaly just this weekend I saw the Iron Giant with my son. The movie is set on the 50's and loaded with very realistic cars.
I saw some Studebackers, Hudsons, Chevys, Jeeps!
It you Google image Iron Giant cars you will get a taste.
I know you don't like people telling you what to do or how to run your blog. It is your blog and you choose what to post but it seems like you could make a cool post out of it (I ran a quick search on your blog and couldn't find any previous post on the subject).
I love the Iron Giant, I think I did a post... but I can't recall.
DeleteIt's one of the best movies... and to think Vin Diesel did the giant's voice... ha!
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/11/ryan-tengel-has-imagined-sequel-to-iron.html
Looks like that's the only one.... hmmm. I feel and Iron Giant post coming up!
As a kid I thought Secret of NIMH was awesome. Watching it again as an adult with my kids, I realized that the amulet really breaks the plot. The rats are a product of and use science and technology. Then there's this unexplained element of magic thrown in, which saves the day.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Secret of NIMH got overlooked at the box office, going up against such iconic films. Reminds me of another animated movie, Wizards, which was released in 1977 along with Star Wars.
the many reviews I read this morning about the movie say they included a magic element to move the story along... in the book the rats moved the block, Nicodemus had no magic, etc. But, it made for a slower movie, and they wanted to hook kids into rewatching the movie... you know, like so many kids just loop a movie for drives, afternoons, etc. But not if they can't see some cool stuff, or funny stuff.
DeleteI saw in the 80s, and hadn't rewatched it until yesterday.. it's darker than I recall, and rides the edge between a movie for kids, and a movie for adults.