Don Bluth Films just released a special 30th Anniversary Edition of BANJO THE WOODPILE CAT, produced and animated by former Walt Disney animators Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy.
Directed by Bluth, between March 1975 and December 1979 in his garage, the new special edition has been digitally re-mastered for both widescreen 16:9 and standard 4:3 formats. To celebrate this long-anticipated DVD release, special screenings took place at the 2009 USA Film Festival (KidFilm) in Dallas, Texas Jan. 24 and 25.
The two-disc set includes color enhancement and more than 90 minutes of bonus features, including director and producer commentary, an interview with Bluth, Goldman and Pomeroy, a 10-minute news segment on their departure from Walt Disney Productions, a conversation with Bluth and trailers from their other productions.
The 30th Anniversary Edition of BANJO THE WOODPILE CAT will be available at Amazon.com, and downloadable from the MyToons.com Digital Store with other distribution partners to be announced shortly on DonBluth.com.
BANJO THE WOODPILE CAT is a story about your average young cat, with major growing pains. When one of his pranks backfires, Banjo decides to run away from home instead of facing his parents. He winds up in the big city where he meets cool cats Crazy Legs and Zazu, only to discover all that he has left behind. The adventure includes original music and songs and is now on DVD for the first time.
In September 1979, the three young directing animators left Disney to complete their short film, BANJO, and begin production on what would become the film that launched their independent film careers -- THE SECRET OF NIMH.
BANJO THE WOODPILE CAT started a long independent career and a legacy of films and projects by Bluth and Goldman: THE SECRET OF NIMH (1982), DRAGON'S LAIR video game (1983), SPACE ACE video game (1983), AN AMERICAN TAIL (1986), THE LAND BEFORE TIME (1988), ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN (1989), ROCK-A-DOODLE (1990), A TROLL IN CENTRAL PARK (1992), THUMBELINA (1994), THE PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN (1995), ANASTASIA (1997), BARTOK THE MAGNIFICENT (1999) and TITAN A. E. (2000).
