Animation benefactor Morris Sullivan, 91

LOS ANGELES -- Morris F. Sullivan, who ran a financial consulting company before helping to establish an animation studio in Ireland populated by ex-Disney artists, died Aug. 24 of complications related to old age at his suburban Los Angeles home, his family said. He was 91.

In 1979, three of Disney's top animators -- including Don Bluth -- left the company with a group of artists who felt production values were being compromised for the bottom line. The maverick studio they set up nearby was struggling financially when a golf partner persuaded the semi-retired Sullivan to step in.

The animators screened their 1982 film "The Secret of NIMH" for him, and Sullivan responded: "I'm your guardian angel. I'm going to make this work for you," Bluth said in 1989.

Sullivan became owner-president of what was eventually known as Sullivan Bluth Studios, which produced "An American Tail" in 1986.

The studio soon moved to Ireland, where animated features could be made for less.

At its peak, the studio employed about 400, and its feature films included "The Land Before Time" (1988) and "All Dogs Go to Heaven" (1989).

The company struggled after a major investor withdrew financing, and Bluth and another animator left to set up an animation studio for 20th Century Fox. Sullivan Bluth closed in 1995.

-- Los Angeles Times