Titan A.E., 10 Years Later

Tuesday morning (Dec. 21st), I caught Titan A.E. on Fox and got completely hooked! I had seen the movie before, probably about more than eight to ten years ago- somewhere from the film's release date and a couple of years after it was put on DVD. I vaguely remember it; possibly the only scene I did remember was seeing Matt Damon's animated naked butt. I remember not getting hyped up about it that first time around, but somehow my view was completely altered during this revival in my mind. 

Titan A.E. was a Don Bluth film released in the summer of 2000, currently his last full-length animated film to be produced. Because of its lack of breakout in the box office (barely making half of its budget), it marked the end of the Fox Animation Studios, until in 2009 when Fantastic Mr. Fox revived it.

  Since missing the first five minutes of the film and wanting to see the prologue, and to share it with the rest of my family, I ordered the DVD on Netflix, which arrived in the mailbox two days later. As I watched it, I noticed lots of areas where I would have wanted to improve. So much that I wish I could go back in time and work with the production company, or at least go and have seen it in the theatre. The concept was fantastic, which is the whole reason why I love it, and probably for these two reasons: Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet. 

It has been an known fact that since Bluth quit his job with Disney to produce his own work, there was a competition that not only made Bluth's films successful, but caused Disney to improve their creations- producing the Disney Renaissance. The post-Renaissance era consisting of Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Treasure Planet (2002) had a gritty, edgy, more action-pact aspect to each, contrasting to your typical musical cartoon. Growing up as a young teen on these films gave me a fresh perspective than the other type of animated films that I still loved equally. I loved feeling like I had stepped into a comic book. Neither of those movies mentioned above did well in Box Office like their fellow Titan A.E., but that's another story for a different time.

Re-watching, Titan A.E., however, I noticed some striking similarities and contrasts between the film and with the other two Disney movies; particularly with with Treasure Planet. Now this is not a post about putting the blame on who ripped off who (the films being made so closely to each other, releasing in a span of up to two years, it would be very difficult to figure that out; and it would be fun to do a break down of comparing some notable scenes, but that is for a later time), this is more so how the technology has changed within a mere year or two between the films.

I recall the submarine montage in Atlantis, how it was completely computer generated with the exception of the subtle head-turn by main character Milo being a 2-dimensional tidbit. What had always boggled my mind is how flawless the two mediums were painted together. The 3D looks absolutely like 2D! So how come Titan A.E. look nowhere near seamless like its counter-parts?

I have two theories. The first would be that the production company wasn't up to par, where as the Disney team might have had some people on board that was able to crack that code between 3D and 2D. The other theory would be that the technology really did change between those few months when both films were in the middle of production.

Whichever of those theories may be true, still leaves me with these questions: If Titan A.E. would have waited a year or two, would the animation be better? Or would there had to be the Titan A.E. that we know as a stepping stone to improving films in the future? Why, yes. There are questions I ponder...

Another point I was not in favor of Titan A.E. was the soundtrack. I understand the grittiness it was going for, yet I still felt that the selection of songs did not quite fit in with the film. The edginess was just slightly too harsh. In Treasure Planet, John Rzeznik wrote two tracks for the film, which I felt like that worked out well. That leads me to think that maybe if Titan A.E. stuck with one great artist, that might have been a better foundation. I was quite content with the end credit track, "Not Quite Paradise" by Bliss 66. I would vote for more music like that, which appropriately fit the film.

One last note would be the predictability of being the great Bluth. His fabulous style sometimes gets the best of him. The main character Cale looks strikingly like a blonde Dimitri (from Anastasia, 1997), and all of the mannerisms that went with it... There was even a scene towards the climax of the film where Cale gets knocked out in the same position that young Dimitri got hit unconscious. I'll let the slightly cheesy and predicable dialogue slide (since I'll admit, I still enjoyed that), but then there was a scene in the prologue where young Cale is consoled by his father to leave in a different aircraft. Cale reluctantly agrees until he is handed to an alien friend, then Cale struggles against the plans. So which is it, kid? A sniffling "Okay" or a kicking-and-screaming "NO! WAIT!" Pick one! That could be sloppy editing/animating there, who knows?

I wonder where this critique does any good, as it is 10-and-a-half years overdue. What would have happened if it got a bit more attention, had one more person buying a ticket to see it on the silver screen? Would it had made any difference in the Sullivan Bluth Studios? Since human knowledge and technology is better, would there be a chance to revive a Box Office hit under Bluth's name? Or is it now that Bluth is 73 that he deserves retirement, rather than spending the rest of his life trying to produce more films? It's hard to say what would have become of any of this, and until I can get a time machine to help me through this withdrawal of Golden Aged-animated films, I'll just have to see what entertainment will bring me (or what I will bring to entertainment) in the future.