On September 13, 1979, animators Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy left the feature animation department at Walt Disney Productions to set up their own independent animation studio. Their first feature, directed by Bluth, was based on the 1971 children's book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien. The book had originally been rejected by their former employer as "too dark" to be a commercial success. Bluth and Co. were followed soon after by twenty other Disney animators, dubbed "The Disney Defectors" by the trade press. The House of Mouse endured a "Dark Age," with flops like 1985's The Black Cauldron, while Bluth went on to direct hits like An American Tale, The Land Before Time, and All Dogs Go to Heaven. But the film that started it all, an adaptation of that book Disney rejected, was beloved by critics - even if it may have emotionally scarred a generation of children. Join us as we uncover, at the behest of Listener Jeff, the beautiful and terrifying Secret of NIMH!

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Legends Podcast #776: The Secret of NIMH (1982)