Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 3, 1994                   TAG: 9404010077
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By Maney Salisbury Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

LIKE HIS ANIMATED CHARACTER, BLUTH FACES OWN GINATS

His movie, "Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina," which opened in Roanoke last week, tells the Danish writer-poet's fairy tale of a thumb-sized girl who overcomes isolation, villains and fear. And just as she survives toads and moles, her animator, too, has overcome his own struggles, breaking away from Walt Disney Co. to form Dublin, Ireland-based Don Bluth Entertainment Ltd.

The title song of Bluth's latest animated feature, "Follow Your Heart," seems to be equally applicable to the 56-year-old animator who left Disney in 1979 because he felt the art was being shortchanged at the studio.

Bluth said he made Thumbelina a modern woman, who among other things makes moral decisions on her own.

"There are a lot of adult issues that we deal with here . . . It isn't just the girl gets the guy, the guy gets the girl and they live happily ever after. . . . We're dealing with following your heart," Bluth said in a recent interview.

Unable to find happiness in the world of her human-sized mother, she sings of a place where she's just the right size. Before she can act on her longings, however, she is kidnapped by Delores Toad (the voice of Charo), who wants her as the headliner in the toad troupe, Singers de Espana.

Despite her predicament, Thumbelina (the voice of Jodi Bensen, who was Ariel in "The Little Mermaid") shows strength of character by spurning stardom; escaping the advances of jazz-swingin' Berkeley Beetle (the voice of Gilbert Gottfried) and rejecting the riches of crusty Mr. Mole (the voice of John Hurt.)

For many adult viewers, her struggle is that of not sacrificing true love, either for a career or for security, said Bluth.

"Many women marry the mole, and many men marry the mole. They marry someone to take care of them, and those are the wrong reasons," he said.

Thumbelina is living in an imperfect world. Even the prince of her dreams turns out to be a bumbler. He repeatedly fails to save her, falling off his bumblebee "chariot" or getting his head stuck in his armor helmet.

"Thumbelina," Bluth's sixth film since leaving Disney, follows "An American Tail," "All Dogs Go to Heaven," "The Secret of NIMH," "The Land Before Time" and "Rock-A-Doodle."

Like Thumbelina, Bluth has lived in the land of the giants - one, in particular: Disney, the humongous maker of such classic animated megahits as "Beauty and The Beast," "The Little Mermaid" and "Snow White."

But like the heroine of his new $28 million movie, the energetic, balding animator known for his precision and animated detail has brought "Thumbelina" to completion despite his company' 1992 bankruptcy.

Soon after, he found a buyer, Media Assets of Hong Kong, and his staff of almost 500 artists finished the film.

Bluth said he's had to economize on what's essentially a handcrafted art. That's one reason he relocated to Ireland, taking advantage of tax breaks, and grants. He also has a pool of foreign animators who earn much less than the Hollywood standard.

But how much savings can save this Thumbelina of animation?

"The landscape of American animation film is littered with the bodies of people who have come up against Disney and tried to beat it on its own turf," said John Canemaker, a historian of animation. "People feel comfortable with the Disney label, they grew up with it."

Still, Bluth seemingly remains undaunted. After "Thumbelina" he intends to release "A Troll in Central" in the summer, followed by "The Pebble and the Penguin" and "Rapunzel."

"I'm confident about the future of animation," he said.