There was a recent post about the re-release of a directors cut version of The Dark Crystal This is a film that could never have been Jim Henson's first project. It's incredibly "risky" by hollywoods standards. When it was released they didn't give it much $ for promotion so Henson bought the film from the studios and put his own money behind it. It made $40mm box office in the US. I'm not sure how much it cost, I didn't see that listed in the wikipedia post. Point is, you don't get to be risky until you've proven yourself and even then you often have to pony up your own money.
Hell, take that back to Citizen Kane. $15m, by the way. Half the cost of Blade Runner, $5m more than E.T.
Thanks. 1982 was one hell of year indeed. Some gems in there. Another film that had a big impact on me as a kid was The Secret of N.I.M.H You remember that one from '82?
Book is waaaaaaaaay better. Like, way. In the movie, the Rats are these secret-ass mystics who solve problems through gnostic sorcery. In the book, the rats are rats made extra-clever through government experimentation who solve problems through engineering. You got kids. Jump on that shit.