The Secret of NIMH | Don Bluth, 1982
Animated cinema has come a long way since Walt Disney’s fantastical 1922 take on Little Red Riding Hood; a short that involves cats shooting donuts and has been seen by very few. While Walt was by no means the founder of animation or animated cinema, this moment represents the preamble to his illustrious legacy; a legacy that would touch and inspire so many generations. Within one of these impressionable generations existed Donald Virgil Bluth; a young, Texas-born animator who would eventually go on to become one of Disney’s chief animators after the great one’s death and then so spectacularly leave the studio in search more freedom in his work. By the end of 1977, after the generally unsuccessful Pete’s Dragon and The Rescuers, Bluth and his men became irritated by the lack of credit or financial reward for their work. For Pete’s Dragon in particular, Bluth’s team had worked through a gruelling schedule to meet an impossible deadline and then been criticised as a result. In retaliation, the chief animator resigned from his post – taking a handful of similarly disgruntled employees with him – and created his own studio. A short film and some work on live features preceded this new studio’s first full-length release, The Secret of NIMH, for which Bluth was noted for stressing the use of more traditional animation techniques. He believed that these practiced techniques and approaches had been replaced in recent years by cheaper alternatives, so set out to return animation to its ‘golden age’ by using mostly labour-intensive methods and focusing more on the story than any visual wizardry.
Don Bluth was given just $7 Million and 30 months to complete The Secret of NIMH, and the amount of effort and discipline put in by his men as a result is now the stuff of legend. One can read many different accounts involving employees sleeping under desks during supposed 110-hour weeks, and while these efforts often went un-rewarded, Bluth’s studio was notably the very first of its kind to offer workers shares in the film rather than regular financial bonuses. The promise by Bluth to concentrate on a strong story (adapted from a Newbery Medal-winning novel) and rich characters was undoubtedly fulfilled with NIMH, which was considered a success, despite the film’s disappointing box office shortcomings. Few remember, however, just how much importance rested on NIMH’s success at the time; many people believed that the future of animation depended on the film, and on Bluth’s approach, but in the end NIMH would prove to be just another forward step rather than an industry-changing work of art. As with all of Bluth’s major works, The Secret of NIMH tackles a handful of important life issues. His later film, An American Tail - a film thats existence was encouraged by Steven Spielberg after he witnessed NIMH – is a take on the emigration of Italians, Irish, Russians, Jews etc. to the promised land of America at the beginning of the twentieth century, whereas his next film, The Land Before Time, deals with the experience of family loss and abandonment at a young age. The Secret of NIMH concerns primarily the topic of single motherhood as a widow, but also a host of other complex subjects including the idea of man versus machine and the horrors associated with animal testing.
The film’s central theme, this idea of single motherhood and its many difficulties, is dealt with in a mature way through the central character, Mrs. Brisby. Rather than focus the character’s loneliness and despair at being left alone to raise a handful of children, the film instead chooses to concentrate on her drive and determination to survive. We are also taught, through the help offered by all the inhabitants of the field, that real life tragedy can indeed be overcome when one has courage and surrounds oneself with friends and family. It is often the opinion of parents around the world that children can gain very little but mere entertainment or distraction from such films, and while I would say that this is indeed the case for the younger generation, those who approach the film with a conscious mind-state can absorb no end of heavily disguised life-lectures. The film itself is a magical affair; it does, at points, touch on profoundly dark intentions, though owns – as with all Bluth films – a certain charismatic idealism that never allows bleakness to outweigh subsiding joy. The Secret of NIMH is the complete animated feature movie. It displays virtues strongly enough to allow its young viewers to unwittingly profit, and follows an approach to animation that ensures we are met with a wonderful and almost overwhelming attention to detail. There is also a distinctive array of voice talent on show, notably from actors and actresses that fit each bill perfectly rather than names that are picked with marketing in mind. The beauty of NIMH is in its appeal, not only to the younger generation but to all people who can find something in its life lessons and their lasting relevance – their timelessness.
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