‘Somewhere Out There’ Trailer Celebrates Animation Rebel Don Bluth Ahead Of Nov. 20 Digital Release (EXCLUSIVE)

Don Bluth spent much of his career challenging Disney’s dominance of feature animation. Now, the director behind The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, and Anastasia is telling his version of that story in Don Bluth: Somewhere Out There, a new documentary whose trailer we’re debuting today, ahead of its Amazon release on November 20.

Directed by Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker of Copper Pot Pictures, the feature chronicles Bluth’s extraordinary career, from his early years at Disney and his dramatic 1979 departure to the creation of an independent animation empire that, for a time, rivaled the studio he left behind.

But Somewhere Out There is more than a rundown of Bluth’s greatest hits. The film doesn’t shy away from his failures, which the animator addresses with surprising candor. It’s an equally forthright look at the artistic ambitions, financial pressures, and personal convictions that shaped his career.

“Walt died, and the vision that he had in making movies seemed to be getting more and more out of focus,” Bluth recalls of his decision to leave Disney in the film. “I had my own private dreams about doing something beautiful.”

Speaking exclusively with Cartoon Brew, LaMattina explained that the filmmakers initially approached the project as admirers of Bluth’s work, but their conversations with the animator revealed a more complicated story.

“I think there comes a point in every artist’s life when they are prepared to look back and be honest about their journey and themselves,” he said. “Don was very honest in this film, and I think Don was very open with us from the beginning.”

That openness shaped the documentary’s approach early on, with Bluth serving as its principal storyteller rather than relying on the usual parade of industry talking heads or archival material, though the documentary’s 88-minute runtime still includes plenty of that.

“We went into it thinking, this will just be this kind of straight celebration of Don Bluth because we love all of his movies,” Walker told us. “But then you talk to him, and you’re like, wow, this is so much deeper than this.”

The duo gained access to Bluth’s extensive archive at the Savannah College of Art and Design, uncovering previously unseen footage, original animation artwork, and behind-the-scenes material spanning decades. The documentary also features an original score by The Cranberries’ Fergal Lawler.

For Bluth, whose career was defined by the often-painful tension between artistic independence and commercial survival, the underlying philosophy remains remarkably straightforward.

“You do what you have to do to make it happen,” he says. “If I had any point and said, ‘No, I won’t, you give me what I want,’ the movies would never happen.”