There are 3,048 frames in Xanadu's fully animated Don't Walk Away sequence, and each one is a work of art in itself. When you realize that all those frames go by in a little over two minutes, you begin to appreciate the fascination -- and occasional frustration -- that animation holds for its practitioners. Xanadu is loaded with animated special effects (as described elsewhere in this maazine) but only in this short section is full animation utilized. We're not seeing reality combined with animated effects, but a real honest-to-Walt cartoon.
This fully animated sequence becomes as integral a part of the film as the live-action sequences and it establishes, in a way that no "real" action could, Sonny and Kira's love. In the winding course of the cartoon, the two change from their human forms into fireworks, fish, birds, a whirlwind and dixie-dust and yet somethow retain their own distinct personalities in each guise. The unifying theme of Sonny constantly in pursuit of the uncatchable Kira, yet never giving up his dream no matter where the chase may lead is stated throughtout. And in the end, his persistence is rewarded, a subtle foreshadowing of the ending of the larger film.
The animated sequence incorporates the sparkling look of the live sections' special effects to duplicate their magical feeling. The visual theme to the characters constantly changing from one form into another and traveling from one exotic locale to another in a swirl of glitzy glitter is also picked up and amplified in this fantasy-within-a-fantasy. And every movement of the animation is perfectly synched-up to the rhythms of Don't Walk Away, so that the cartoon is not just artistically stunning but is also a remarkable achievement in the animator's craft, for the music was not adapted to the visuals as is usually the case in cartoons. instead, the action was pre-planned to the frame to bring to life the emotions conjured up by the lyrics, melody, tempo and arrangement of the music.
When Xanadu's producers decided they wanted one section of their film to go through the fantasy/reality world they had created into one of pure illusion, they took their idea to Don Bluth Productions where Bluth himself (who directed and did the story-boarding), Dorse Lanpher (who created the animation's special effects), and Gary Goldman and Fred Craig (who supervised the actual shooting of the segment) gave them a final product they could all be proud of. Bluth Productions, only in existence since last September, is made up of some of Hollywood's most highly regarded animators and, in this short time, has already produced the animated featurette called Banjo the Woodpile Cat and are at work (in association with Aurora Productions) on an animated feature, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, based on the 1973 Newberry Award-winning book. The Bluth organization came up with their knockout interpretation of Don't Walk Away and in so doing made the love story of Sonny and Kira that much richer for all of us.