Don Bluth's Thoughts on the Sequels

[Animeboye]

Has Bluth ever given his feelings on the LBT sequels? I've just often wondered about that. Does he like the sequels? Does he hate them? Does he even care?

[Malte279]

I don't think he watched them or if he did he didn't seem to be "impressed". In the land before time related issue of his ToonTalk magazine (dating January 2001) there was one reference to the sequels which read:

Least you forget, Land Before Time has been followed by six sequels, direct to video, that have generated in excess of $250 million. That, you can't forget.

[Pikkutassu]

Here's some of his thoughts from some interviews:

PLUME: In the case of Land Before Time, it's up to what, 5 or 6?

BLUTH: Who's counting? It's definitely a cookie-cutter thing.

DP: How do you feel about all the sequels that come out that you don't really have much involvement with? The Land Before Time in particular has had many sequels... We've seen other companies do it too, like Disney has made Little Mermaid Part Two, etc. But in regards to your movies, it seems like a trend to do direct-to-video sequels.

Bluth: Well, the cynical answer is that the studios will go wherever they smell money. It's like sharks to the blood, and with Secret of NIMH... I cannot explain why they made that sequel to Secret of NIMH. Because they claim that it [the original] didn't make money, so what was the enthusiasm to make a sequel?

But with Land Before Time, of course it did make money--it made a lot of money. And so all the sequels, they just said, "Let's create a franchise here, let's create something that goes on and on and on." And each one of them have made money, because basically the children who watch it just see the little characters they love and so they're not discerning about whether it looks great or it's a great story or anything. But they will make sequels; I think right now the most horrible thing that's going on is at Disney, where they're making movies out of rides at Disneyland. <both laugh>

I mean, you've got a Bear Jamboree movie, the Country Bears movie?