At TAD 2026, the original artwork of The Secret of NIMH will be publicly exhibited for the first time in history. Forty years. No museum ever did it. No gallery. The artwork stayed out of sight — held in private hands, unseen by the public.
Don Bluth left Disney in 1979 and made something with a small group of animators that nobody thought possible. The Secret of NIMH became a cult classic and a landmark in animation history. The artwork that made that film possible has been waiting for this moment ever since.
What you’ll see is a carefully chosen selection from one of the largest NIMH collections in Europe — featuring key pieces that have never been seen by the public before. No reproduction. No print. The original work, out of the shadows for the first time.
This expo is curated by Geert Rutten. Geert grew up with animation in his blood and has spent years collecting raw sketches by Disney artists.This year, he brings that passion to Playgrounds with a pop-up expo on Don Bluth’s groundbreaking The Secret of NIMH (1982), together with his friend Henny, who holds the largest private collection of this film in Europe.
