Looking back on: Titan A.E.

[CaptHawkeye]

Brushing through old VHS collection, I had come across an old tape gathering dust like crazy. It turned out to be none other than my HBO recording of Titan A.E. I remembered it well. Back when I had gotten it, I watched that movie over and over again for months. It would often be the first thing I flipped to when it was on HBO.

I was surprised when I realised that even as an 18 year old, I was still thoroughly enjoying the movie. Plot holes galore, but none of them were beyond what my suspension of disbelief could handle.

One plot point I liked is that it decided to be original and lose the "human empire" wank for once. Human Nation? What nation? The Drej conquered the fuck out of them 15 years ago! Now humanity is the galaxy's trailer trash.

Arguably the strongest aspect of the movie to me was the characters. They were all interesting and entertaining. Preed was a maniacal first mate perfectly voiced by Nathan Lane. Cale reminded me of a more mature Luke Skywalker. The fate of the universe thrust onto his shoulders...and still joyriding through asteroid fields and gas giants! Korso was a strong yet realistic space captain with a sense of "Shoot first and ask question later, but only if we don't have a choice."

The Drej weren't the most convincing villains at times. Blowing up Earth was nice, their creepy "gimp walk" was ok. But something about them felt kind of weak.

(For those of us Firefly fans, Joss Whedon had helped write the movie. Upon watching it, I realized that he was likely using the movie as a template or shall we say "prototype" for Firefly. When you watch the crew of the Valkerie, it almost seems like for a moment you're watching an episode of FF.)

Upon looking through the Wikipedia entry for it, I was saddened by a certain listing at the bottom of the page. It seems that Titan A.E. was the last major project our intrepid Don Bluth ever worked on. Mike pointed out in his movie list that it is blamed for sinking Fox Animation studio. A tragedy indeed, it was actually a very fun movie that sank a competant director's career. Sure he wasn't Walt Disney, but DB was still pretty good.

The movie itself is arguable Don's strongest work. And it killed his career? Was this the result of the "Critic Army" and their pack of conforming hyenas? It would seem likely, given their opinions on Star Wars Episode 1.

[Molyneux]

I loved Titan AE, and still do - it was space opera of the highest caliber, with a great payoff at the end and some really well-done animation.

It also opened my eyes somewhat, in that I realised that you could really have realistic violence in Western animation without it seeming silly. I still think it's on my top-twenty list of movies, and I have nothing but disdain for the parents who brought their toddlers to see it in theaters (same thing happened with FF: Spirits Within!) because it was a 'kids' cartoon'.

[Starglider]

Good things in TitanAE:

* Sentient birdlike aliens. With cool flying scenes. Massive plus in my book.
* Wake angels/piloting sequence. Love the music.
* Gun-obsessed female alien was a great character.
* Humans being reduced to 'trailer trash' as noted above.

That's about it though. Everything else was 'meh'.

[Crazedwraith]

That film is awesome. Especially Goone. "I built this during the night. I put a button on it! I wish to press the button but I don't know what will happen if I do!" I'm glad that device didn't turn Deus Ex Machina in the end.

[The Cooler King]

I went to see it opening weekend, having first heard about it under its original title, Planet Ice. I did think that the characters themselves were well done, but the voices, for some reason, sounded weak. Drew Barrymore, especially, never really sounded 'right', for some reason. I can't quite explain; it just sounded like she was stoned or something when she was doing her voice work. Apart from that, I loved it. Loved that humans were considered scum, and I especially liked the "Hm. An intelligent guard. Didn't see that coming."

(For those of us Firefly fans, Joss Whedon had helped write the movie. Upon watching it, I realized that he was likely using the movie as a template or shall we say "prototype" for Firefly. When you watch the crew of the Valkerie, it almost seems like for a moment you're watching an episode of FF.)

I can see the connection, but the movie that really cemented that feeling for me was Alien Resurrection, also written by Whedon. The crew of the Betty could easily be the Firefly crew, with minor changes. Johner/Jayne is the easiest one, Elgyn shares similarities with Mal and with Jayne, while Christie is a male version of Zoe . Call is a cross between Kaylee and Simon, while even Ripley shares many aspects of River's character.

[Gustav32Vasa]

Planet Bob.

Its a good popcorn movie.

[haard]

I loved it, watched it several times. My wife hated it - did not see even the first half through. Still, I was a student back then and downloaded it, so 0% of the potential viewers actually made any money for Don Bluth and Fox Animation. Of course it was a disaster.

[andrewgpaul]

Thought it was an excellent movie, then and now. I dragged the DVD out from the heap a week ago, actually. The bit in the crystal asteroids is a bit hokey; do they not use radar in the future?, and the soundtrack is a bit dodgy at times, but fun, nevertheless.

"Who's your daddy? Goone's your daddy!"

[tim31]

Enjoyed the movie, and I thought the soundtrack was a winner.

[CaptHawkeye]

I will say one thing that annoyed me was that absurd character betrayal about half way through. Sorry, but that bit fell on its face. Better yet, was the entire crew in on it? Nope, just Korso and Preed. How exactly did he intend to explain this to Gune, Stith and Akeema? Kill them? His character is losing coolness fast. Oh Korso, if so street smart you are, why did you not forsee the Drej queen backstabbing you with that? You're a human for christ sake! She hates your primate ass the same as any other human!

[Molyneux]

I will say one thing that annoyed me was that absurd character betrayal about half way through. Sorry, but that bit fell on its face. Better yet, was the entire crew in on it? Nope, just Korso and Preed. How exactly did he intend to explain this to Gune, Stith and Akeema? Kill them? His character is losing coolness fast. Oh Korso, if so street smart you are, why did you not forsee the Drej queen backstabbing you with that? You're a human for christ sake! She hates your primate ass the same as any other human!

That one bit was weak, but...not a deal-breaker.
One other good thing about it: Janeane Garofalo as a seven-foot-tall, trigger-happy kangaroo mechanic...it fits so well!

[Adrian Laguna]

I found Preed an oddly sympathetic character. His justification for betraying everyone is (paraphrased), "I very much like the health plan the Drej are offering. In exchange for you, they guarantee my life."

It's quire reasonable rather than some old personal grudge or just plain greed, which would make him a ass instead of a pragmatist.

[Admiral Valdemar]

"An intelligent guard... didn't see that one coming."

[Sarevok]

Titan AE had great animation, music and dialogue but the plot was medicore. It could have been much more memorable with a better story.

What saddens me more is we dont see any more movies like Titan AE. The endless stream CGI animal flicks are getting tiring. Toy Story was fun, so was Antz and the Incredibles. But it is about time filmakers stop the endless stream of copycats. Good serious cartoons like Titan AE would be a wonderful change. The animation of Titan AE looks way better than most CGI films. So many good stories could be told in this style instead of yet another lame 3D comedy.

[DPDarkPrimus]

The question has to be asked: How many of Don Bluth's films were actually all that successful commercially?

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Titan AE had great animation, music and dialogue but the plot was medicore. It could have been much more memorable with a better story.

What saddens me more is we dont see any more movies like Titan AE. The endless stream CGI animal flicks are getting tiring. Toy Story was fun, so was Antz and the Incredibles. But it is about time filmakers stop the endless stream of copycats. Good serious cartoons like Titan AE would be a wonderful change. The animation of Titan AE looks way better than most CGI films. So many good stories could be told in this style instead of yet another lame 3D comedy.

Under John Lasseter's supervision, Walt Disney Feature Animation is going back to cell animation by 2009.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Titan AE had great animation, music and dialogue but the plot was medicore. It could have been much more memorable with a better story.

What saddens me more is we dont see any more movies like Titan AE. The endless stream CGI animal flicks are getting tiring. Toy Story was fun, so was Antz and the Incredibles. But it is about time filmakers stop the endless stream of copycats. Good serious cartoons like Titan AE would be a wonderful change. The animation of Titan AE looks way better than most CGI films. So many good stories could be told in this style instead of yet another lame 3D comedy.

Under John Lasseter's supervision, Walt Disney Feature Animation is going back to cell animation by 2009.

Can I get a FUCK YEEEEEAAAAAH!!!!

[Spanky The Dolphin]

At the very least, their intention is to produce The Frog Princess with traditional cell animation.

And those numbers you asked for should be done in a minute.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

The question has to be asked: How many of Don Bluth's films were actually all that successful commercially?

The Secret of NIMH (1982)
Budget: ~$7 million
Gross: $14,665,733 (US)
(Poorly promoted, staggered release, and competed against E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial)

An American Tail (1986)
Budget: NA
Gross: $47,483,002 (US) + $37,059,000 (International)

The Land Before Time (1988)
Budget: ~$12,300,000
Gross: $48,092,846 (US) + $36,368,000 (International)

All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
Budget: NA
Gross: $27,100,027 (US)
(Competed against Disney's The Little Mermaid)

Rock-A-Doodle (1991)
Budget: NA
Gross: $11,657,385 (US)

Thumbelina (1994)
Budget: NA
Gross: $11,373,501 (US)

A Troll in Central Park (1994)
Budget: NA
Gross: $71,368 (US)
(Virtually no promotion whatsoever, though it also got terrible reviews)

The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
Budget: NA
Gross: $3,983,912 (US)

Anastasia (1997)
Budget: ~$53,000,000
Gross: $58,406,347 (US) + $81,398,001 (International)

Titan A.E. (2000)
Budget: ~$75,000,000
Gross: $22,753,426 (US) + $14,001,208 (International)

So that's four, maybe five depending on how much the budget for All Dogs Go to Heaven actually was, out of ten.

[DPDarkPrimus]

I did not know some of those were Don Bluth productions.

[wautd]

Loved the movie. Both the opening scene where they were evacuating earth and the chase in the ice-asteroid field were very enjoyable

[Big Orange]

Titan AE was a decent movie, but I prefered that other late 90s animation The Iron Giant. And Joss Whedon's screenplay for Titan AE was much more successful than his complicity in the rape of the Alien legacy.

[Invictus ChiKen]

It also opened my eyes somewhat, in that I realised that you could really have realistic violence in Western animation without it seeming silly. I still think it's on my top-twenty list of movies, and I have nothing but disdain for the parents who brought their toddlers to see it in theaters (same thing happened with FF: Spirits Within!) because it was a 'kids' cartoon'.

Ohhh boy stories please on that one! *starts doing google searching*

[18-Till-I-Die]

I found Preed an oddly sympathetic character. His justification for betraying everyone is (paraphrased), "I very much like the health plan the Drej are offering. In exchange for you, they guarantee my life."

It's quire reasonable rather than some old personal grudge or just plain greed, which would make him a ass instead of a pragmatist.

Yeah but he was being a tard about it.

These people blew up a planet and killed billions maybe tens of billions of people, the novel even implies they did it to many other worlds who opposed them.

He'd have to be an idiot to think they wouldnt double cross him. Course, Corso and Preed were idiots so...

[Rekkon]

I liked Titan A.E. and still listen to bits of the soundtrack regularly. I recall wondering how many species were forever lost when they had a shootout inside the giant, unprotected shelves of DNA capsules. "Whoops, there goes another calculated risk."