“Don Bluth” and “Science Fiction” is not an association you might automatically make even if, like me, you believe that An American Tail should rightly be considered part of the Giant Fighting Mech Animé genre.

And that would be entirely correct. Apart from his video game Space Quest, there’s nothing in Bluth’s oeuvre to suggest that he would ever make a big epic space opera. So, why Titan A.E?

Well, firstly we have to remember where Bluth was in his career at this point. After finding early indie success with Secret of NIMH, Bluth hit the big time by partnering with Stephen Spielberg. When that relationship broke down, Bluth floundered with a number of increasingly bizarre and often subpar films before finding a place with Fox’s new animation studio, essentially as a hired gun. So, if Titan A.E. seems like a complete break from Bluth’s usual fare, that’s because this was basically a work for hire job. And, at the risk of sounding like a heathen…good?

Look, I respect Don Bluth a whole lot, I think he’s a true auteur and one of the most important figures in American animation. But I can’t help but feeling that his best work was done when he was executing someone else’s artistic vision. The Land Before Time is very much a Stephen Spielberg film. Anastasia is transparently Fox demanding a Disney princess movie and Bluth dutifully providing them with one. It just so happens to be the best Disney princess movie that Disney never made and one of Bluth’s most accomplished films to boot. So if you tell me that a certain movie was just a job for Bluth and not a passion project, I’m actually more inclined to breathe a sigh of relief than shake my fist in impotent rage. Because I’ve seen Don Bluth’s passion projects.

Oh. Yeah. So, here’s the thing. Mini-Mouse has been asking to read my reviews so I’m gonna try and keep this one family friendly. Say hi in the comments, folks!

Okay, so, Titan AE entered production in the late nineties which was a weird, febrile and exciting time in American animation. The Disney renaissance was still very much in effect, but Toy Story had landed like a nuclear bomb and everyone was holding their breath to see whether CGI animation would supplant traditional animation or simply supplement it. Additionally, there was a cultural sea-change in how animation was viewed, being driven both by the ever increasing popularity of animé and the success of television animation aimed at adults like The Simpsons, Batman the Animated Series and Beavis and Butthead. In the new millennium, both Disney and its competitors would try to expand the core demographic for feature length animation from pre-teen and predominantly female and try to convince teenage boys that cartoons weren’t just for little kids and chicks. Of this little mini-genre, in which you can include Treasure Planet and Atlantis: The Lost Empire the first was Titan A.E.

The movie opens in the year AD 3028. We witness the evacuation of Earth through the eyes of a young boy named Cale Tucker. Cale’s father, Professor Sam Tucker was working on something called “The Titan Project” which drew the attention of an alien species known as the Drej. Sam bundles Cale up, puts him on a transport with his friend Tek, an alien scientist, and hands him a gold ring that might as well have “Plot Relevant Maguffin” engraved on it. He tells Cale to stay with Tek and that he’ll see him again soon, but that he’s got to get the Titan to safety. Cale has to watch his father leave and then has to watch his planet get destroyed by the Drej. That’s a lot for a five year old.

As an opening, it’s excellent. First thing that strikes you is the animation. One of the things I really admire about Don Bluth is that he never stopped improving as an animator. There are definitely dips in quality across his films but on the whole the trend was always up. I have made many criticisms of Bluth’s animation over the years; over-acting, overly busy designs. None of those criticisms apply here. This is excellent, semi-realistic human animation and I would put it in the top tier of Bluth’s filmography if judged solely on technique. There’s also some strong visual storytelling here. Cale first realises something is wrong he’s playing in a forest by a clean, sparkling stream and looks up to see a massive flock of birds of many species fleeing the disturbance caused by the evacuation. Why does that matter? Because, the time constraints of the movie mean we can’t spend much time on Earth before its destroyed. But this scene shows us that this far future Earth is healthy. It’s green, and living and full of life. The humanity of this far off time actually got their shit together and the planet is thriving. So when the Drej come and destroy it, it feels all the more tragic.

The next thing that strikes you is the CGI. While the characters are traditionally animated (with some exceptions), the vehicles and spaceships are done in primitive CGI. Really primitive CGI. Swinging a club, ooga booga, sacrificing the chief’s daughter to appease the great hot sky fire kinda CGI.

But, much like how mediaeval art has a charm and beauty that transcends its technical limitations, I think enough time has passed that Titan A.E.’s shonky CGI kind of adds to the film’s whole appeal.

Take this shot:

After the destruction of Earth we move forward 15 years to find the now adult Cale making a living in a spaceship junkyard. And, while he’s traditionally animated, the space-suit that he’s in is CGI. And…if the idea is just to be a seamless integration of both styles of animation it does not work at all. It’s distracting as all hell. But it’s also kind weird and trippy and cool looking and, I guess I’m saying that enough time has passed that this CGI has stopped being bad and has become kind of a vibe.

So one thing you’ll notice with this weird little sub-genre of turn-of-the-millenium science fiction adventures desperate for male teenage audiences (let’s call them “Boy Thirsty Movies”. Wait, let’s not) is that they are visually audacious and beautiful…

…and incredibly risk-averse when it comes to story and characters. Not bad, mark you, but thuddingly conventional. For example. I want you to imagine what kind of character Cale has become after that opening. Did you guess a cynical bad-boy loner with a secret heart of gold and unresolved Daddy issues? Congratulations! You have psychic powers, and shall rule over all us lesser mortals.

Another way this movie was a real trailblazer in terms of where animation was heading was in its all-star cast. Indeed, Fox executive Chris Meledandri called it “about the finest assembled for an animated film.” That “about” is doing Trojan work (and Antz was already in production) but sure, they managed to get some pretty big names on board. Drew Barrymore, Bill Pullman and of course Matt Damon. Now, I have nothing against Matt Damon. Why would I? That would be like having something against potatoes. He’s a perfectly solid staple of a balanced movie diet. But this is a classic example of one of my biggest bugbears, casting for star power rather than vocal acting ability. Fortunately, there are some more distinct voices in the mix. Nathan Lane as a giant smarmy fruit bat is not something I thought I needed in my life. But, I can’t argue you with you movie. I needed this.

So Cale’s all bitter and hot-headed ever since Dad went out for space cigarettes and never came back. He gets rescued from some space-racists by Captain Joseph Korso (Bill Pullman), who tells him he worked with his father on the Titan Project and that he needs Cale’s help to find it. Cale, obviously, refuses the call because it’s that kind of movie but suddenly the station is attacked by a Drej invasion from a PS1 cutscene.

I kid, but I actually love this design. Having the Drej be the only characters rendered in CGI works to make them seem truly alien, I dig it.

So Cale has no choice but to join Korso on his ship, the Valkyrie, where he meets his crew of loveable archetypes. There’s Preedex, the Nathan Lane voiced fruitbat alien first mate. Gune (John Leguizamo) a turtle scientist, Stith (Janeane Garfolo), a trigger happy kangaroo and Akima Kunimoto (Drew Barrymore, maaaaaan that would not fly today) who is a human woman and the ship’s pilot.

Korso activates Cale’s ring which causes a holo-map to light up on his hand. So we got us a Maguffin hunt. The Valkyrie sets course for the planet Sesharrim.

Titan A.E. was originally conceived as a live action movie before it was decided to make do it in animation and the Sesharrim sequence really shows why. This movie is committed to taking the kind of stuff you’d see on old the cover of old mid-century sci-fi pulp novels and putting it up on the big screen.

A sense of exploration and sheer wonder is something I feel is sorely missing from modern sci-fi but Titan A.E. uses its medium to the fullest extent to show worlds that are actually alien.

The planet is inhabited by the Gaoul, the demonic looking bat creatures who show Cale how to use the map. Cale has a moment where he realises that his father probably stood right where he’s standing, but it’s cut short when the Drej attack. Akima and Cale are taken prisoner and the Drej learn of the Titan’s location and jettison Akima into space in a stasis pod.

Here the movie kind of feels like there’s a few scenes missing. Akima’s pod gets taken on board an alien trading station and we meet Korso, Preedex and Stith in the middle of a plan to rescue her by posing as slave traders who are trying to sell Korso. We then get this scene:

• Preed: [attempting to pass himself and Stith off as slave traders and Korso as a slave] Hello. Ah. Uh, I’m an Akrennian trader. I wonder if we might sneak a peek at the new shipment before they go on the market.
• Slave Trader Guard: You’re not allowed.
• Preed: Traditionally, no. You’re absolutely right. But you see, I need a new slave rather badly.
• [slaps Korso]
• Preed: Stop fidgeting, worm! And I can’t wait till auction. I have to be on the shuttle. I have an appointment to have my ear shaved. It has to be booked months in advance. You see my problem.
• Slave Trader Guard: Hmm. You’re lying. He’s not a slave, and you’re not traders.
• Preed: But…
• Slave Trader Guard: [pointing to Korso] He doesn’t carry himself like a slave. Look at the way he stands. Probably ex-military.
• Preed: How…
• Slave Trader Guard: Akrennian traders always threaten before they ask a favor. It’s tradition.
• [to Stith]
• Slave Trader Guard: And your robes are made out of bedspreads.
• Preed: Ah. Just out of curiosity, did we have a plan ” B”?
• [Stith knocks the guard out]
• Preed: Hmm. An intelligent guard. Didn’t see that one coming.

And, no lie, my first thought watching that scene was “wait a minute, that’s Whedon dialogue, by cracky!”

And I checked and, yeah, Joss Whedon did a rewrite on the script.

They rescue Akima and race to beat the Drej to the Titan. Meanwhile, Cale manages to escape the mothership and hijack a Drej fighter and rejoin the crew. Anyone else getting a “running in place” kinda vibe. We now, unfortunately get my single least favourite part of the movie.

The ship stops at a human colony for supplies and Cale and Akima just happen to be walking by Korso’s office and they hear him yelling at the Drej queen over the holo-scanner. Because he’s actually working for the Drej.

So…this is stupid. This is real stupid. Firstly the “yelling about your plan to help your species go extinct and not even locking the door” part is howlingly dumb. Secondly, like any bad twist this comes out of nowhere. There was no hint that Korso was actually in league with the Drej. They tried to kill him plenty of times. And lastly, this just completely torpedoes Korso’s character. They try to play it for tragedy because Cale’s been starting to look on Korso as a father figure and at the end he kinda redeems and switches sides again…but, I’m sorry. This guy collaborated in the attempted genocide of the entire human species…for money. I don’t see a guy like that repenting and seeing the error of his ways. That’s just pure scumbaggery.

Anyway, Cale and Akima are taken prisoner by Preed who is also a baddy now (this is less of an asspull). They make a break for it but Akima is shot during the escape and the Valkyrie leaves without them. Cale brings the injured Akima to her family on the station and, for the first time, gets to experience life amongst other human beings and finally understands what was lost with the destruction of Earth.

Akima gets fixed up and, with the help of the human colonists, they’re able to fix up an old spaceship and chase after the Valkyrie which has tracked the Titan to the middle of an ice field. This leads to a scene which is simultaneously freaking cool and dumb as hell where the two ships try to spot each other between infinite reflections in the ice like they’re Batman and the Joker in a house of mirrors.

Stith and Gune have a moment of…

And mutiny against Korso and Preet. The two sides reach the Titan, which was apparently drawn by Leonardo Da Vinci…

Cale hears a message from his father explaining that the Titan is actually a planet-maker that can make a new Earth to replace the one that was destroyed by the Drej to stop the Titan from making a new Earth to replace the one that hadn’t been destroyed yet. I dunno. This seems like a lot of work for a universe where habitable worlds seem about as common as they are in Star Trek.

Anyway, the Drej attack, and Preet reveals that he’s been working with them against Korso while pretending to work with Korso and the Drej against Cale while pretending to be working with Korso and Cale against the Drej. Blimey. It’s the back-stabbing equivalent of the Korbut flip.

Korso kills Preet and seems to plummet to his death. Cale and Akima try to activate the Titan but it’s not working and the Drej are about to open fire. Cale runs down into the engine and finds a still living Korso who has a change of heart and sacrifices himself against the Drej to allow Cale to fire the Titan. The Drej mothership and the surrounding ice cloud is destroyed and formed into a new planet that Cale names “Bob”. They share a completely unearned kiss and the movie ends with humanity arriving on Bob to get this whole crazy human race thing going again.

***

I don’t need to tell you that this movie has a cult following. It’s a weird genre animation that failed at the box office but has a ton of gorgeous art design and hints at a fascinating larger world. Course it has a cult following. I remember not liking it as a child but as an adult I can definitely see its strengths.

Don Bluth is approaching 90 now and Titan A.E. will probably be his last film. It is dark, weird, flawed, beautiful, simultaneously ahead of and of its time and no one else could have made it. As a capstone to a great career in animation, you could do a hell of a lot worse.

Scoring

Animation 16/20

Knock off a point for the CGI but still excellent.

Leads: 08/20

Pure boiler-plate.

Villains: 14/20

A mixed bag. The Drej are cool and genuinely alien. Preet is a fun henchman. Korso makes no sense as a character.

Supporting Characters: 13/20

A veritable cantina of fun and interesting alien designs that don’t quite get enough screentime to make them real characters.

Music: 10/20

Standard action movie pomp.

FINAL SCORE: 61%

NEXT UPDATE: Sorry, another longer than usual gap. I have to start planning holidays in a more blog friendly way. 05 September 2024.

NEXT TIME: He likes little puzzles, doesn’t he?