During its production, Sullivan began to move the studio to Dublin, Ireland, to take advantage of government investment and incentives offered by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA).

After The Land Before Time, the studio severed its connection with Amblin and negotiated with UK-based Goldcrest Films, which invested in and distributed two additional features, All Dogs Go to Heaven and Rock-a-Doodle.

Bluth, Pomeroy and Goldman had been working for four years prior to leaving Disney on a project of their own, Banjo the Woodpile Cat.

[9] The studio then started work on its first feature film, an adaptation of the Newbery Medal-winning children's book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

[10][11] The Secret of NIMH earned $12 million in the United States, which was blamed on distributor MGM/UA's poor promotion, regionally staggered releases and competition from E.T.

[14] Reforming under the name Bluth Group, the studio's next project was to produce the animation for Cinematronics' arcade video games Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, which were released in 1983.

The collapse of the video game industry in late 1983 and early 1984 halted production on the sequel Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp.

Cinematronics, now in debt and trying to cut its own losses, froze fees and royalties of over US$3 million to Bluth Group, driving the studio once again into bankruptcy.

[17] In its early days, the studio worked on undeveloped projects—which included Beauty and the Beast and Satyrday—and commercials while seeking a suitable feature film project.

In 1984, as the studio was preparing to move to its new headquarters, Bluth was approached by Steven Spielberg with an idea for a feature film about a mouse family emigrating to America, An American Tail.

With backing from Spielberg's production company Amblin Entertainment, and distributors Universal Pictures, the film was released in November 1986, accompanied by a major publicity campaign.

[18] An American Tail was very successful at the box-office, grossing $47 million in the United States and becoming the highest-grossing animated film on an initial release.

[21] This, along with Sullivan's own investment, funded the foundation of a large and sophisticated new animation studio near Dublin's Phoenix Park.

[20] Despite the majority of operations eventually being moved to the Dublin studio, an executive office was retained in Burbank, California to maintain ties with US producers and distributors.

Early ideas for a dog-based story starring Burt Reynolds had been mooted after the completion of The Secret of NIMH, but never progressed beyond rough storyboards.

The move helped strengthen the studio's presence in the North American market, and early promotion for All Dogs Go to Heaven included a presentation at the 1989 San Diego Comic-Con and sales of animation cels from previous productions.

[33] The unspectacular reception for All Dogs Go to Heaven led the studio to reconsider its approach to public relations in hopes to impress the American film critics.

The threat of the closure of the studio was raised that month in the Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, also known as Ireland's national parliament) in the hopes of securing its future.

[45] A condition of the investment was that Merlin Films and Media Assets would have a close involvement in the management of Don Bluth Entertainment's financial operations, following reports of the studio's past mismanagement.

[46] On July 27, 1993, Star TV, the parent company of Media Assets, was purchased by News Corporation, also owner of 20th Century Fox.

[48] MGM/UA, who planned to distribute the films in the United States, had already backed off in the wake of Don Bluth Entertainment's bankruptcy, doubtful that the pictures would ever be completed.

MGM/UA stepped in to become distributors for the film in the United States, and at a relatively late stage in production insisted on making extensive changes, cutting some sequences, removing some characters, and re-recording many of the voices.

[citation needed] The Pebble and the Penguin was released on April 14, 1995, and again made a loss at the box office, grossing almost $4 million in the United States.

[54] Bluth did not remain disassociated with The Pebble and the Penguin, supervising a high-definition remastering on March 27, 2007, that corrected some of the animation and shooting errors caused by the rushed production.

[55] In addition, MGM hired the Dublin studio to work on the animation for their All Dogs Go to Heaven sequel, albeit with no involvement from Bluth himself and no creative input.

With the departure of Bluth and Goldman, Media Assets received offers to have the Dublin studio sold off and delayed the company's closure to consider them.

[60] After the release of The Pebble and the Penguin on April 14, 1995, the studio was renamed to Screen Animation Ireland Limited[61] as they could no longer use Bluth's name while US branches were dissolved.

New York-based investor Richard McDonald was in serious talks to acquire the studio but negotiations broke down in September 1995 after his group was unable to propose a substantial deal.

[67] Throughout the 1980s, Disney strove to revitalize its output, and while the next feature after Bluth's departure, The Black Cauldron, was a commercial and critical failure (attributed by Hill to the use of the latest animation technology at the expense of the story), the films that followed (The Great Mouse Detective and Oliver & Company) marked the beginning of a period of increasing success for the studio in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with each successive film earning 40–50% more than its predecessor, culminating in The Lion King earning nearly $800 million worldwide in 1994.

[20] The animation sector in Ireland has grown to become a very successful industry as indigenous studios have all produced films and TV series for international markets.