News and Media

Published: Jun 30, 2009

ATLANTA - The exhibitions department and Jen Library special collections department at the Savannah College of Art and Design present "Behind the Cels: Selections from SCAD's Don Bluth Collection" on display at Gallery See, SCAD Atlanta, 1600 Peachtree St., Atlanta, Ga., July 7-31. In conjunction with the exhibition, a reception will be held Thursday, July 9, 6-8 p.m., and curatorial gallery talk will be presented Friday, July 17, 12:15 p.m.

Donated to the university in 2005, the collection documents visionary producer, director and animator Don Bluth and his artistic partner Gary Goldman's animated features and video game collaborations from 1979 to 2000. "Don Bluth and Gary Goldman are icons in the animation world," said SCAD's dean of the School of Film and Digital Media Peter Weishar. The collection, which includes drawings, backgrounds, cels, and model sheets, serves as an essential teaching tool in which classes in animation, sequential arts, cinema studies, and illustration have found inspiration.

Bluth's illustrious career includes work with studio giants such as Walt Disney Productions and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation.  Originally an English literature major at Brigham Young University, Bluth began his career in 1955 as an assistant animator to John Lounsbery on Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" (1959). At Disney, he served as an animator for "Robin Hood" (1973) and was the directing animator for "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" (1974).

Founding Don Bluth Productions with Goldman and fellow animator, John Pomerory, in 1979, Bluth has since written, directed, produced and designed characters and environments for 12 films, one featurette, the two-minute animated sequence in the film "Xanadu," and three laser disc video games. Along with "The Secret of N.I.M.H.," "An American Tail" and "All Dogs Go To Heaven," his noteworthy films include "The Land Before Time" (1988) and "Thumbelina" (1994).

"Behind the Cels" consists of drawings, cels, storyboards, concept art, backgrounds and photographs from their iconic oeuvre. It features original animation from classics such as" The Secret of N.I.M.H." and "Thumbelina," and was organized in conjunction with the Society for Animation Studies Conference at SCAD-Atlanta, July 10-12.

The exhibition, reception and curatorial talk are free and open to the public. Works from Bluth's unrealized project, "Little Blue Whale," are concurrently on view in the artists books room of the ACA Library of SCAD also located at the university's Peachtree St. location.

For more information, visit www.scadexhibitions.com. Media inquiries may be directed to 404.253.3410.