Flight of Dragons - Science fiction meets (sorta) science fact

Sometimes it's really fun when you come across something that's both old and new, such is the case with Flight of Dragons. This charming story was produced by Rankin and Bass as a DTV movie in 1982, then later shown as a an animated TV special in 1986. I had never even heard of the film until its recent release by the Warner Bros. Archive Collection, but since I was already re-watching several other Rankin and Bass movies I decided to order a copy and give it a try. What I found was a very well written - if mediocre looking - film chalk full of unique ideas and concepts.

The inspiration for Flight of Dragons comes from the the Peter Dickinson novel of the same name and the Gordon Dickson novel "The Dragon and the George". It features a young man named Peter Dickinson who has given up his life as a scientist in the quest to write a novel about dragons. Short on funds Dickinson creates a board game (like Dungeons and Dragons) in the hopes that it will prove successful enough to finance his stagnate writing career. Unbeknownst to Peter the characters comprising his game actually exist in an age long past, a time period of waning magic. In this bygone era mankind has begun to embrace science over magic and as a result all the worlds magical creatures face extinction. This is not just a problem for beings of magic though, mankind will also suffer because magic is the source of human inspiration and imagination.

The wizard Carolinus is first to recognize how dire a threat this is when he's unable to perform a simple vanishing spell early in the film. Summoning his three brothers for the first time in four centuries, Carolinus proposes that they combine their remaining powers and use it to create the "Last Realm of Magic", a sanctuary where all magical creatures can live on long after mankind has forgotten magic. Two of the brothers agree to this plan but the third - Ommadon - refuses. Being a wizard of darkness Ommadon plans to use humanities greedy and violent nature against them, all the while growing stronger by inspiring evil deeds. Bound by a cosmic law preventing the four brothers from ever fighting, Carolinus must instead seek out a champion to stop Ommadon. Reaching across time Carolinus is guided to Peter who is brought back into the past and given the task of stealing Ommadon's Red Crown. There are a lot of other important story points that I could detail here but the synopsis above should be sufficient for this review.

What I enjoy most about the writing of Flight of Dragons is the use of science in the realm of magic. Over the centuries there have been some pretty silly mythical creatures. Mermaids for example. Why would a mammal living under the ocean's surface have hair on its head, opposable thumbs, or eyebrows? Same goes for Dragons. A giant fire breathing lizard weighing thousands of pounds that's capable of flight, really? Do you have any idea how enormous that wing span would have to be, or the sheer physical exertion necessary to achieve and sustain lift? I'm no biologist - or physicist for that matter - but I'm pretty sure these animals couldn't exist without the all important "magic" loophole. Yet Flight of the Dragons does something truly fantastic, it actually offers up a scientific explanation for dragons. In the film we learn that dragons fly by filling portions of their body with lighter-than-air gas. Once airborne they use their wings and tail to steer. To dive or lower themselves back to the ground the gas is released and simultaneously ignited via the dragons mouth, thus dragons breath fire. Yes the science here is still pretty spotty, but the fact that such a reasonable explanation is even offered made me exceedingly happy.

Additional lessons in science are offered throughout the film, occasionally giving the movie a "Mr. Wizard" vibe. Every now and again I felt like I was watching a deviously disguised after school special, one trying to trick me into thinking science was cool. Fortunately this feeling would soon pass as the movie would slip back into the standard setting of an action/adventure quest. Besides the excellent use of science, Flight of the Dragons really is a good story featuring an eclectic cast of characters and some genuinely somber moments. I'm not going to use words like "brilliant" or "perfect" to describe its writing, but I will say that I found the movie very clever and lots of fun.

Visually the movie is very average. Being a Rankin and Bass film one should not be surprised to find minimal animation and TV quality backgrounds. Though I like the look and feel Rankin and Bass brought to many of their movies, I also hate that they could never muster more respectable budgets for them. On the positive side I didn't see a lot of the squat, hobbit like designs that often plague these films, a merciful omission to be sure. Additionally the dragon designs were both plentiful and varied, definitely the strongest looking part of the movie. Still there just isn't much to get excited about here.

Another pedestrian aspect of the film would be its audio. Outside of the solid James Earl Jones performance for Ommadon, I wasn't impressed with any of the movies voice acting. Harry Morgan was okay as Carolinus and John Ritter didn't offend me as Peter Dickinson, but neither of these performances really added much to the film either. Musically the soundtrack gets the job done, just not in a very memorable fashion. Ultimately I felt that Flight of the Dragons neither suffered, nor succeeded due to its tepid music or run of the mill voice acting.

Despite the movies lackluster production value, Flight of the Dragons proves to be a surprisingly good film. Much like the battle between science and magic, good storytelling and characterization prove too strong for average animation and mediocre sound to overcome. I definitely recommend this film to any fans of Rankin and Bass, or to anybody who loves fantasy animation. You can get the manufactured on demand DVD from the Warner Brothers website or Amazon.

NOTE: Manufactured on demand DVDs are not exactly the same as DVDs you buy from the store. Mass produced DVDs (like the ones at Wal-Mart or Best Buy) are stamped and should play in any DVD enabled device. Manufactured on demand DVDs are burnt (much like you would do yourself with a DVD burner) and will sometimes not work in secondary DVD devices like video game counsels or PC computers. The reason some movies are only available by manufacture on demand is that it helps keep costs down and storage space minimal for the company producing it. For more obscure movies and tv shows this is the only way the studio can turn enough profit to make a DVD release worthwhile. Though the quality of video is no different and the packaging still quite good, I wanted to make sure that I at least called this out.

Men in Black the Series - So forgettable its like being neuralized

In 1997 a fun little movie called Men in Black was released. It featured Will Smith (before he was a mega-star) and Tommy Lee Jones as secret agent type policemen who keep extraterrestrial life on earth in check. Like many other moviegoers I really enjoyed the film which featured a perfect mix of action and comedy. Not surprisingly the films success spawned an animated adaption, Men in Black the series. Running four seasons from 1997 until 2001, MIB the series saw a total of 53 episodes produced, a very respectable number for modern day action/adventure cartoons. This would put the show in the same class as Batman Beyond and Superman the Animated series in terms of length, good company for any action/adventure show to keep. But does the show have the same level of quality as Batman and Superman, or does it go the way of so many other movie to TV adaptations and stink up the joint? Ultimately I would say that it falls somewhere in between, definitely not bad, but certainly not good.

I remember occasionally watching MIB the series when it was first on TV. Since it shared the same channel as Batman Beyond I would sometimes watch both, or catch the tail end of MIB before Batman would start. I felt very ambivalent about the show, it didn't offend me at all but I wasn't really drawn in either. For the longest time I forgot it even existed, like the show had been wiped from my mind with the same neuralizer MIB agents use to erase peoples memory. Eventually I stumbled across some episodes online and decided it was time to give the series a full re-watching. What I found was complete justification for my initial feelings of ambivalence.

Seeing as it was a popular movie most people already know what the premise behind Men in Black is. For anyone who doesn't know however, it goes as follows. Men in Black is a top-secret agency (but not a government agency) that polices all alien activity on earth. It is comprised of "agents" who wear black suits and have had all traces of their existence erased from public record. They do not have any distinguishing marks or even fingerprints. Names are never used, opting instead to go by their first initial (so if your name was Bob you would be Agent B). They are no longer a part of the system, they are above the system, they are the Men in Black.

Before I get going with my review here I would like to offer the following disclaimer. I have never read the original Men in the Black comic book by Lowell Cunningham. I mention this because my review is based on the assumption that MIB the series is mostly influenced by MIB the movie, not the comic book. I really don't know how close the actual movie or cartoon is to the source material so if any of the discrepancies or issues I have are a result of said source material I apologize for my ignorance.

To start things off the writing on MIB the series is decidedly uneven. The show's first season is certainly the worst with the first eight or so episodes being - for the most part - awful. Things do get better though, and by the time season one ends the series is clearly starting to find its feet. This isn't too surprising with veteran cartoon writer Greg Weisman contributing regularly in season two. Weisman is by far the show's best writer having created Disney's excellent Gargoyles series, and later the Spectacular Spider-man. Still, when not watching Weisman's stronger episodes the show becomes very hit and miss.

On the positive side I really enjoyed MIB episodes that revolved around Agent K's past. With years of experience it was only natural that K would be carrying lots of baggage, both good and bad. Some of these stories were better in concept than in execution (Agent A for example), but taken as a whole I found them at least interesting.

On the negative side MIB the series recycles heavily from MIB the movie, most notably in terms of humor. Here's a checklist of what to look for in an average episode:
1) Agent J makes an alien faux pas - Check.
2) Alien Worms declare their love/obsession for coffee - Check.
3) Agent J complains about not getting to drive - Check.
4) Frank the stooley reminds someone he's not a real dog - Check.
5) Agent J does some variation of the line "I make this look good" - Check.
6) Someone shoots pawnshop owner Jeebs in the head - Double Check.

Of course I'm exaggerating when I say that you will find all six of these bits in any given episode, it's probably closer to three out of six. My point is that the writers think they're being clever by using jokes we'll recognize from the movie, but in truth they simply appear lazy by continually beating a dead horse.

Speaking of lazy, I have to call out the writing for the series finale of MIB. In the two part story (the only two part story arc in the entire show) Earth is invaded by an alien fleet that wants our oil. This invasion is portrayed as an Independence Day style event complete with the destruction of Washington Monument and the United Nations headquarters. No longer able to hide the existence of extraterrestrial life, MIB goes public so that they can lead Earth's defenses. In the end our home is saved but the proverbial cat has been let out of the bag, after all you can't neuralize an entire planet. Or can you? During a worldwide press conference Agent L realizes that the whole world is watching them on TV, so all they have to do is wipe every ones memories right then and there and everything will go back to normal. Perfect solution, right? Except the whole idea is preposterous and the basic logic behind it is nothing short of insulting (I'm talking Battlefield Earth, jet flying caveman insulting). Besides the fact that not everyone on Earth has a TV, the idea that each and every person is looking directly at said TV during the exact moment the neuralizer goes off is ridiculous. You mean nobody was taking a leak? How about sleeping, after all it would have been the middle of the night in Australia? What if you're blind? Then there would be all the records of the invasion itself; TV footage, newspapers, home videos. My god do you really think that an alien invasion of such massive proportions could be covered up with a single flash from a neuralizer? I know this is just a cartoon, and I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, but you have to show a little more respect for your audience’s intelligence, even if they're kids.

This brings us to the shows characters. Naturally the producers of MIB the series wanted to capitalize on the success and charm that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones brought to Agents J and K. This led to the decision to "ignore" the movies ending. As you probably know the ending of MIB the movie had Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) retiring from service, complete with a neuralizer memory wipe from protegee Agent J (Will Smith). In MIB the cartoon however, Agent K is still in service, mentoring Agent J. This would not be so bad except that the cartoon references events from the movie (like the death of giant cockroach alien Edgar) multiple times, thus implying that all the events of the movie (minus K's retiring) are a part of the animated universe. Now I know what some of you are saying "But K was de-neuralized in MIB 2, so it makes sense". We'll I'm afraid that MIB the series started and finished before MIB 2 was even released, so that's not the reason. The truth is that movie properties turned cartoons will often take liberties with theatrical events to better fit their own entertainment medium, such is the case with MIB the series. Despite the potential for confusion though (no explanation is ever offered) I don't hold this against the shows creators. Only a fool would try and do an MIB cartoon without both K and J. Besides the decision to use both was most likely a mandate from the studio.

But I digress, lets talk about the animated adaptations of our two heroes. I said before that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones brought a lot of charm to Agents K and J. This then begs the question, do the cartoon versions of these characters have that same charm? In a word ... No (or as Will Smith would say, Awwww hell Naw). Sadly, both Agents K and J come off as mere imitators, and poor ones at that. Where Will Smith brought a boastful, cocky yet lovable personality to Agent J, the animated version feels like a clown. A buffoonish blowhard that never seems to learn from any of his incessant mistakes, cartoon J just isn't very likable. His counterpart is similarly frustrating, but in the opposite extreme. While Tommy Lee Jones does a great job of bringing the folksy, know-it-all, seen-it-all Agent K to life, cartoon K just feels ... cold. For whatever reason the produces of MIB the series mistook K's matter of fact nature as being emotionless. This led to a very monotonous version of the character, one I became quickly bored with. This just isn't the same chemistry found in the movie, an obnoxious rookie and a droning veteran, not exactly the dynamic duo. I'll have more to say about this when I get to the shows voice acting.

Writing on MIB the series never does quite click into place. Characters don't really develop, bad science and plot holes abound, jokes become tired and don't even get me started on the overuse of coffee loving alien worms in season three. If that's not enough, checkout the additions of Agent X and Dr. Zeeltor in season four as well. Obviously the show wanted to expand out beyond its somewhat mundane cast, but bringing in these two was not the answer. Not only are neither of these characters any good, but the move just smacks of desperation, like when they brought in cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch. When it's all said and done what we are left with is a very averagely written show, occasionally spotted with both excellence and stupidity.

The strongest aspect of MIB the series would have to be its visuals. From an animation standpoint the show does not impress during its first season, but the remaining seasons all look very solid. At times the animation even excels with surprisingly good fight choreography and fluid character movement. Backgrounds are a little unusual with a more illustrative, pen and ink, style being employed. Colors tended to be more muted and sometimes even monochromatic in appearance as well. Despite being less painterly than other cartoons however, these aesthetic choices do work well with the shows character designs and ultimately I liked that.

Speaking of character design, I have to say that I found the design work on MIB the series excellent. Though I'm not sure he did the entire show, Miguelznxo Prado is credited as the shows character designer, and I - for one - really enjoyed his work. Especially the original look of J and K found in the show's title sequence. Where most people had been content to simply follow the "Bruce Timm" look for action/adventure cartoons, Prado brought his own unique style to the series. Unfortunately this look must not have been good for mass production because the in show animation of the characters does trend on the simpler side. Still I like that MIB the series didn't just go for a generic look; aliens, space suites, star ships and various other technologies are all very well designed and - for the most part - look unique. Though the shows appearance would fluctuate more often than I would like, I think the series had a lot of visual ambition and was often successful in implementing it.

Like so many other aspects of MIB the series the shows audio has its ups and downs. Secondary characters Elle, Zed, Frank and Jeebs all feature solid voices and I had no issues with any of them. What I did have a problem with were the voices of Agents K and J. I mentioned before that these two main characters had none of the charm found in their feature film counterparts. A big reason for this stems from the very off the mark casting of both K and J. To start with Agent J is supposed to be very self assured person, but the voice of cartoon J lacks any real confidence. Oh the writers try and fill him with all the false bravado they can muster, but none of it comes across in actor Keith Diamond's performance. At best he makes J sound like a self-deluded, happy-go-lucky goofball. Worse is the monotonous voice used for Agent K. Gone is the cadence and inflection that Tommy Lee Jones brought to the role. In its place we get a robotic performance that fails in its ability to deliver even the simplest of punch-lines. Interestingly enough the voice of K was performed by two different actors. Ed O'Ross did the voice in season one while Gregg Berger did so for seasons two through four. Though the change is indeed noticeable both O'Ross and Berger fall into the same traps when handling the character. This actually makes me wonder if the problem is not so much with the actors but with the shows producers. Given the characterization and writing for Agents K and J it is very possible that O'Ross, Berger and Diamond were coaxed into these misguided incarnations of the characters, otherwise it was just bad casting. Just one additional thing I want to mention, Agent L (Elle) also had a voice acting change going into the shows final season. Jennifer Lien was the original actress and Jennifer Martin was her replacement. Both do a good job so the change isn't really that big a deal, but I still would have preferred more consistency from the show.

Musically MIB the series is pretty average. The in show music gets the job done but offers nothing memorable. I did like the title song though, it had a very harmonic "alien" sound that fit the series nicely. In fact I would have to rank MIB's opening as one of the better title sequences made during the 1990s.

Men in Black the series featured a lot of talented creators; Frank Paur, Victor Cook and Greg Weisman to name a few. Unfortunately none of these individuals were showrunners. Though Executive Producer Duane Capizzi's resume is respectable, he just doesn't have that little extra something necessary to be considered good, just like MIB the series. Given a stronger creative talent like Greg Weisman or Boyd Kirkland this show may have stood a chance of escaping its perpetual mediocrity. That said, when you compare MIB with other live action movie to TV cartoon adaptations the show takes on a whole new light. Take, for example, The Mummy, King Kong and Godzilla. All of these shows came about as a result of "blockbuster" movies, yet they all sucked unbelievable ass. It would have been real easy for MIB the series to go down that same cheap and easy road. Thankfully it at least tried to do something more. As for recommending the show I would probably not advise anyone to go out of their way to do so, especially since it's not even available on DVD in the US. The only release I know of was in the UK, and that was just for season one. If you are bound and determined to watch anyway then you'll probably need to do so online.

The Last Unicorn - Classic fantasy done right

The Last Unicorn is a very respectably made animated film from 1982, it's also the first non-action/adventure cartoon I've reviewed here. The story of the Last Unicorn actually started as a novel of the same name by Peter S. Beagle. Written back in 1968 the book has been translated into multiple languages and sold over 5 million copies world wide. In part the book's growth in popularity stems from this beloved 1982 film which was directed by the famous team of Rankin and Bass. Even if the names Rankin and Bass don't sound familiar it's a fair bet you've seen their work, especially if you enjoy the stop-motion holiday films Rudolf, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Clause is Comin' to Town. Though mostly known for these excellent holiday specials, Rankin/Bass would venture into traditional animation on a regular basis with such works as The Hobbit, Return of the King, The Flight of Dragons and - of course - The Last Unicorn.

I was about six or seven years old when this movie came about and I watched it on a regular basis. Truthfully I remember being a little scared at times due to the more serious nature of the story, and of course the giant flaming Red Bull. As with many things the movie became a distant memory during my teen years and it wasn't until my college days that I rediscovered it. Sadly the only version of the film available at the time was a pan and scan full screen with tons of dust and scratches. Now with the 25th anniversary edition having been released I can finally enjoy a re-mastered version of the film in widescreen format.

To be clear I have never read the novelized version of The Last Unicorn, so this review will not compare and contrast the book and animated film at all. That said the story of The Last Unicorn is about - as you can probably guess - a unicorn discovering she is the last of her kind, as well as her quest to uncover what happened to the others like her. Along the way she befriends a bumbling wizard named Schmendrick and a middle aged woman by the name of Molly Grue. It is soon revealed that all the missing unicorns have been captured by a magical creature called the Red Bull, and to find them our heroes must travel to the castle of King Haggard. As our three companions journey closer to their goal however, the Red Bull appears and begins chasing the last unicorn. With no other options left for stopping the Red Bull Schmendrick casts a spell that turns the unicorn into a creature the bull has no interest in, a human. The remainder of the film deals with the mystery behind all the missing unicorns, as well as the last unicorns struggle with becoming human. Faced with emotions no other unicorn has ever felt, Lady Amalthea (the name given to the last unicorn after her transformation) must ultimately decide if she should stay mortal (as opposed to an ageless unicorn) or return to her original form.

Without a doubt the story of The Last Unicorn is an excellent one. Layered and intelligent, we just don't get enough of this kind of writing in entertainment these days. Since the screenplay was penned by the books author (Peter S. Beagle) it would probably be a fair bet to say the movie holds very true to the source material. Themes such as lonely vs. loneliness and regret make for interesting subject matter and I'm sure they were a part of the original story. At times I must admit that these ideas were a little underdeveloped, but given the films length (90 minutes) I felt they still worked well. If I had to find any fault with the movies plot/pacing it would be during the Captain Cully scene. Basically Schmendrick is captured by a roving band of outlaws and must tell a story involving Robin Hood to humor his captors. In doing this he actually conjures an apparition of Robin Hood and his Merry Men which allows him to escape. This may not sound all that bad but in the movie the whole scene plays out rather oddly. Something about the edits between Schmendrick and the unicorn left me wondering who really performed the magic. Also the decision to start using magic while telling the tale comes about very suddenly and somewhat unnaturally. The end of the film also feels a tad counter intuitive with the Red Bull backing down rather quickly once he is confronted. I do not bring these points up to condemn the movie in any way, they're just unusual hiccups in an otherwise solid narrative.

Unfortunately visuals from The Last Unicorn are a bit on the uneven side. Animation is decidedly minimal with stilted and inexpressive movements taking away from the characters performances. There are several scenes where the voice actors really pour their passion into the well written dialog, only to have the animation fail in conveying the emotion; most notably when Molly Grue first meets the unicorn and when King Haggard confronts Lady Amalthea. I don't blame the animators per se, it's clear the movie had a limited budget and the limited animation is nothing more than a byproduct of this. Given deeper pockets I am sure the Japanese animation studio could have rendered these characters superbly.

While the animation from The Last Unicorn is somewhat lacking, I would consider the films backgrounds a resounding success. Don't get me wrong, this isn't Disney quality stuff, but it's still very well designed and painted. I was especially impressed with the last unicorn’s forest from the beginning of the film. The look of the trees combined with a shifting color pallet ranging from warm to cool colors reminded me of a storybook type design. Later during the journey to King Haggard's castle, we are treated to a more harsh and rocky terrain. Once again the background painters do an exceptional job setting the mood with darker, more muted hues while detailing the stony surface admirably. Besides the story, I would rank the backgrounds as my favorite feature in the film.

Character designs are either really good, or really bad. Much like they did in the Hobbit, Rankin and Bass used a lot of squat, bulbous human design in the film. Captain Cully, witch Momma Fortuna, Rukh and others suffer from this unattractive look. Though Molly Grue does not share this shortcoming she does sport one of the most ridiculous looking hair styles ever, an unkempt rats nest made worse by the movies limited animation. Fortunately the look of Schmendrick, King Haggard and Price Lir fare much better. The best design work, however, would have to be the creature designs for the Unicorn, Red Bull and Harpy Celaeno. The unicorn is especially good because it goes beyond just the standard “horse with a horn” look and instead creates a very stylized, majestic animal, one worthy of the stories focus.

Overall the visuals from The Last Unicorn serve their purpose. Yes some of the design work could have been better, but ultimately it's the limited budget that hurts the film most. If the movies animation studio Topcraft had been given more money to work with they would have - no doubt - knocked our stocks off. After all many of the people comprising Topcraft went on to work for Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, one of the greatest animation outfits in history.

Like the films visuals, the audio from The Last Unicorn has its ups and downs. The movies score works well with a very folksy soundtrack courtesy of America, but towards the end of the film we get two very out of place songs from both Lady Amalthea and Prince Lir. The purpose of these numbers is to illustrate the last unicorn’s struggle to remember what she is while at the same time falling in love with the prince. While this may be commonplace in a Disney film the songs here just don’t work. They are poorly written, performed and are ultimately superfluous. I personally felt that the movie could have conveyed all these emotions through regular dialog and spared us these musical mishaps.

From a voice acting standpoint I thought the movie had a pretty decent cast. Alan Arkin does a good job as do Christopher Lee (King Haggard) and Tammy Grimes (Molly Grue). The only real complaint I had just happens to be with the stories most important character, the last unicorn. Mia Farrow does the voice of both the last unicorn and Lady Amalthea, but while she possesses the ethereal sound necessary for the character her delivery was lacking. By contrast Arkin really did not have the best voice to fit his character Schmendrick, but made up for it by performing his lines well and thus the character worked.

In the end The Last Unicorn is a flawed, but ultimately solid movie. It would be easy for me to dwell on what could have been, but instead I choose to enjoy the film for what it did right. For anyone who wants to pick this up on DVD I would recommend the 25th anniversary edition. It has a short interview with the book’s author, Peter S. Beagle, and features a re-mastered widescreen picture (though there are still a lot of dust and scratches to be found).

Aeon Flux - Deranged, Violent ... Brilliant

The first time I saw Aeon Flux was the summer of my 16th year. I was up late with a friend watching Liquid Television on MTV. It was a fun, eclectic show and I enjoyed watching the unusual animated shorts. It was the show's last short that took me completely by surprise though. Instead of funny, oddball cartoon characters, a half naked woman wielding a gun came racing across the screen. There was no dialog, and the story was short (about 2 minutes), but I was blown away by the intense action. Instead of the laser guns I was used to seeing in action/adventure cartoons, characters in Aeon Flux were shooting bullets, actual bullets. People were getting shot, bleeding and even dieing. I had never seen anything, ANYTHING, like this before. Keep in mind this is before the influx of Japanese anime to America, and what little had made its way here I had not seen (with the exception of shows like Voltron and RoboTech). The very idea that an action/adventure cartoon could be like this was as mind boggling as the layered story the show revolved around. Re-watching these short stories (as well as the regular series) now, I am once again floored by the absolute brilliance of this show and its creator Peter Chung.

Aeon Flux premiered in 1991 on the avant-garde MTV show Liquid Television. The cartoon's creator was Peter Chung, a young animator working on - or all things - Rugrats. Feeling frustrated with the restrictions of both the character's movements - as well as conventional editing rules - Chung took full advantage of the freedom MTV's late night show offered. With a variety of inspirations Chung created a 12 minute pilot that was broken up into six parts and shown over the course of multiple Liquid Television episodes. In 1992 a second series of Aeon Flux shorts followed. Based on fans overwhelmingly positive response, MTV finally decided to order ten half hour episodes in 1995. For Peter Chung to do a full fledged show however, several changes had to be made. To start with there needed to be actual dialog, something that was all but absent in the Liquid Television vignettes. In terms of story there was no real carry over as well. This is understandable when you consider that Aeon dies at the end of all the shorts (kind of like South Park's Kenny). Another change came in the form of toned down violence, though saying the series is less violent than the short stories is like saying boxing is less violent than ultimate fighting. Still, the regular series - and shorts - each have their own unique qualities, equally impressive and ground breaking. For the sake of sanity however, I will be basing the rest of this review on the full length Aeon Flux episodes done in 1995.

The premise behind Aeon Flux is a little difficult to describe. If I was to try and boil it down to its essence I would have to say the show revolves around the relationship of Aeon Flux and Trevor Goodchild. Aeon is from the nation of Monica, a society that appears to be based around personal freedoms and self expression. Trevor is from the nation of Bregna, where he serves as head of state for the centralized "big brother is watching you" government. This dichotomy is further illustrated in the uniforms that each nation wears. Monican agents are scantly clad in black leather, showing off their unique physical appearance, reveling in their individuality. By contrast, Bregna soldiers are literally covered from head to toe in identical brown and blue uniforms, even their faces are hidden by a nondescript mask. But the show isn't really about warring nations or ideologies, it's mostly about the psychotic, romantic relationship of Aeon and Tevor. Despite constantly finding themselves at odds, Aeon (an anarchist) and Trevor (a controlling, manipulating politician) actually have a mutual infatuation with one another. Further complicating this bizarre love affair is the fact that neither person really desires the other to change, they don't want each other any other way, even if they end up killing one another. This fatal attraction is played out in most of the shows ten episodes, and it's the only real "constant" found amidst the shows episodic format.

As for Aeon Flux's writing, it's layered, psychological, sexual and at times even metaphysical in nature. Ironic Hitchcock like endings are common, as is the use of sexual fetishes and perversions to characterize persons. Obviously this is not your typical action/adventure cartoon. Instead of thinly veiled and formulaic stories, we get a bold, experimental show that goes places few will. Themes such as identity, free will, humanity, reality and the mind are used as a basis for episodes, with the stories being built around them. This can lead to a somewhat inconsistent tone at times, luckily the shows episodic format and self contained feel keep this from ever becoming a problem.

Given the deeper nature of Aeon Flux you will also find that the show stands up well to repeated viewings. You can come away with something different almost every time you watch an episode. This is something that Chung encouraged while doing the show, even now he does not seek to "interpret" story meanings but instead leaves it to the viewer. To say that the show was "edgy" is an understatement. Even if it were to premiere now - some fifteen years later - the series would be considered ahead of its time (though perhaps less visually original since anime has become so prevalent world wide).

It's not all gumdrops and lollipops though, some episodes do suffer from ambiguity, specifically the latter ones. Demiurge is probably the worst offender with an overabundance of symbolism and a story that is far too "loose" for viewers to come away with anything concrete after viewing. This treads dangerously close to the dreaded "p" word (pretentious), and could easily turn off potential viewers should it be their first exposure to the series. Still, given the unconventional nature of the show this is both understandable and forgivable.

At this time I would like to take a brief interlude and talk about MTV during the 1990s. When you think about important or influential animation from the last couple decades certain studios and networks come to mind. Off the top of my head there's (of course) Disney, Pixar, Warner Bros. Animation, Nickelodeon, Fox, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Studio Ghibli. All of this is good and well, but I would like to argue that MTV would make a worthy addition to this list. For close to a decade MTV pushed the boundaries and took chances on experimental animation that few (if anybody) would. I've already mentioned Liquid Television, an obvious precursor to Adult Swim. From this show we got both Aeon Flux and Beavis and Butthead. Of course I love Aeon, but I've never been a huge fan of B&B. Still, you cannot deny both their impact and success on animation, and without them we wouldn't have gotten the fabulous spin-off Daria. In the mid 1990s we were treated to MTV's Oddities, a show featuring The Head and The Maxx. As you may be able to tell from the title "Oddities" both of these shows featured surreal characters and concepts. The Maxx was especially good, sporting a mixture of animation techniques flawlessly executed to tell the story of a homeless superhero. Unfortunately, towards the end of the decade MTV began to stray away from groundbreaking cartoons, dazzled by the enormous ratings found in reality programing. At the turn of the century we did get a couple short-lived gems in Clone High and MTV's Downtown, but eventually the network all but abandoned cartoons to up and comers like the aforementioned Adult Swim. Looking back over their body of work however, one has to admire the courage and gumption MTV showed in pursuing such edgy animation. I personally feel lucky to have gone through both my teens and early twenties during this time period.

With that little love letter out of the way, lets talk about animation. I mentioned before that Peter Chung was frustrated with conventional editing techniques in animation. The end result of this frustration was a very visually unique show in Aeon Flux. Camera angles, perspective, character movements and proportions are all intensely staged and extremely exaggerated. In fact, I would have to say that the word "extreme" is very appropriate when describing the show's look. For example, the way that Chung and crew play with space. I love how characters can slide through narrow spaces you would never expect, or open the gateway located in a mans chest then crawl inside. Legs, arms, even spines can twist and bend to impossible degrees. Characters can run, jump and flip in ways acrobats can only dream of. Fun stuff.

As for the quality of animation itself, I have to say it varies. Some episodes simply look better than others. Character models are always consistent though, and very rarely does anything look "bad". Truth be told the animation from the Aeon Flux shorts is superior. This is probably because the run time was so small and they didn't have to stretch the budget as far. Overall this is a very good looking show though, especially for a cartoon from 1995.

Production design from Aeon Flux is another win. According to Wikipedia, besides the obvious influence of anime, Peter Chung drew much of his visual inspiration from Egon Schiele and Jean Giraud. While watching the special features of this DVD set I did not come across anything to confirm this however, so I cannot say for certain that this is the case (though looking at a couple of images by each artist I would have to conclude that the Wiki author is correct). Regardless the show's design is awesome. Peter Chung's character designs are so fantastically different that people always recognize them. Backgrounds are equally unique and give the quasi-futuristic look necessary to the show. Guns, grappling hooks, robotic spider-bombs and all the other cool spy gear put James Bond to shame. Even the show's color palette is unusually superb, sporting a mute, pastel look very uncommon in animation. All across the board Aeon Flux's design impresses.

As for sound, Aeon Flux is once again excellent. Like so many other aspects of the show, the music is very distinct. I'm not really sure how to describe it, you just have to hear it. Voice acting for the regular series is very good as well. There was a little bit of a controversy with some fans not wanting Aeon to be voiced, but I think that the casting of Denise Poirier in the role was perfect. Even better was the casting of John Rafter Lee as Trevor. He just has that perfect amount of British arrogance to voice the egomaniacal leader. Early on in the regular series there was a couple moments of stiff delivery, but overall I feel that the voice acting - as well as the music - of Aeon Flux succeeded beautifully.

The first Aeon Flux short premiered almost twenty years ago, and it's as mind blowing now as it was then. Visually stunning with complex sub-text, the show doesn't just stand up to today's standards, but in many ways it surpasses them. Admittedly the show is not for everyone, but I have to give Aeon Flux a full recommendation nonetheless (keeping in mind that the show is for mature audiences only). Your DVD options are limited, but that's ok because the 2005 DVD release gives you everything you need (it's appropriately titled "The Complete Animated Collection"). All the Aeon Flux shorts and regular series episodes are included with this set. You also get select commentaries, a featurette and various other special features. Amazon has a listing for a Blu-ray release of this collection, however no date has been given as of this review. A great show and a great DVD set, what more can you ask for?

Dungeons & Dragons - Short, but oh so sweet

The latest 1980s action/adventure show to makes its way through my DVD player is the short lived Dungeons and Dragons. Unlike the weekday afternoon shows (such as Transformers and GI Joe), Dungeons and Dragons was a true Saturday morning cartoon. Instead of watching the show every day you got to watch it once a week. This lack of repetition made the series less impressionable for me in my youth, thinking back on it I couldn't remember if I liked the show or not. Combine that with the small number of episodes produced - 27 in total - and I really had no idea what to expect from this cartoon. What I got was a truly amazing series.

To briefly summarize, Dungeons and Dragons is an action/adventure show that premiered in 1983. It was based on - and shared the same name as - the popular roll playing game. This was actually a point of controversy for the show being that overly protective parents had a real hard-on for D&D at this time (kind of like violent video games these days). Despite this similarity in name, Dungeons and Dragons turned out to be a truly harmless and family friendly cartoon. It featured a group of six children who accidentally travel through a portal to another dimension (while on a carnival ride of all things). Once there they are each given a magical object to protect themselves with. These objects correspond with a different D&D character type (Ranger, Acrobat, Thief, Cavalier, Magician and Barbarian), and are provided by their mysterious benefactor Dungeon Master. As for the characters themselves, they consist of Hank the leader (Ranger), Diana (Acrobat), cowardly smart mouth Eric (Cavalier), nerdy Presto (Magician), Sheila (Thief), and young Bobby (Barbarian). Of course being a show of the 1980s the group has an obligatory "cute" sidekick, in this case it's a baby unicorn named "Uni". Trapped in this new realm together, our heroes must learn to work together, brave countless dangers and find a way home.

Normally I start reviews with an assessment of the shows writing. This will not be the case today however. Instead I will be leading off with the shows animation. Overall I would have to say that Dungeons and Dragons looks really good. The animation is pretty fluid for an 80's action/adventure series. Far superior than shows like Defenders of the Earth and at times as good as G.I. Joe. On the bad side there is some shifting of character models and animation style. These shifts are small however and do little to hurt the show (especially when you compare them to the massive changes in style found in Defenders of the Earth). On the positive side Dungeons and Dragons uses scale really well in several places. Things like giant stone guardians and overly large chains feel truly immense compared to the shows characters. This effect is tricky to pull off, and it's something you don't see very often in TV action/adventure animation.

Production design on Dungeons and Dragons is relatively good as well. All the main character designs are solid, however secondary character designs can be hit and miss. Backgrounds look good and have a nice variety, but they are definitely "TV" quality in execution. Like I said, the design work is nice, it's just not the strongest feature of the show and I've seen better from the time period.

In terms of music, I'm afraid that Dungeons and Dragons falls flat. Not only does the show lack an opening theme song (a staple mark of most action/adventure cartoons from the 1980s), it recycles tons of in-show music. I don't mean that they just recycle their own in-show music, they use other shows music. Spider-man and his Amazing Friends, G.I. Joe and the Hulk are all present and accounted for in the Dungeon and Dragons soundtrack. Considering the quality and expense of the series, I would have expected the show to have its own unique sound, sadly this is not the case.

Rounding out the sound department is the show's vocal cast. I really don't have a lot to say here. The actors give solid performances - and the voices are all distinct - but only Sidney Miller (Dungeon Master) stands out as exceptional. Much like the production design, I would grade Dungeons and Dragons voice acting as "above average".

Up to this point I've told you that Dungeons and Dragons has good animation, solid production design, nice voice acting and bad music. So why was I singing the show's praises in my opening statement? Simple, Dungeons and Dragons has the best writing I've ever seen in any 1980's action/adventure cartoon, period. Maybe this is because the show only consists of 27 episodes (as opposed to the 90 or even 100 plus episodes of other shows), or perhaps the writers are just better. Either way the quality of storytelling in Dungeons and Dragons puts most cartoons from this time period to shame. That's not to say that other shows like G.I. Joe don't have well written episodes, far from it. In just the first season of G.I. Joe there was; Traitor, Twenty Questions, The Viper is Coming, Worlds Without End and There No Place Like Springfield. But for every good episode there were also lots of mediocre, and even bad episodes. Episodes like; The Gamemaster, Lasers in the Night, Ea De Cobra, Cold Slither, The Great Alaskan Land Rush and The Wrong Stuff are egregiously bad. By contrast the worst episodes of Dungeons and Dragons would be no worse than mediocre, and those would be in the minority, the bulk of D&D shows are really good.

Still the thing that really sets Dungeons and Dragons writing apart is "Dragon's Graveyard". Considered the quintessential episode of the D&D cannon, "Dragons Graveyard" is the single best action/adventure story done in the 1980s. The emotion, characterization and subject matter are so mature - yet accessible - you almost forget you're watching a glorified toy commercial. Credit has to go to the episodes writer Michael Reaves. I'm sure it wasn't easy to get the network to agree to do such an unconventional story, but it was worth the fight. We wouldn't see these kinds of stories again until Batman the Animated series changed action/adventure cartoons forever in 1992.

Another superior aspect to Dungeons and Dragons is the theme. Basically the show boils down to a couple of kids just trying to find their way home. This is something anybody can relate to. Almost all of us have been lost before, so imagining ourselves in their shoes doesn't take a lot of effort. Especially when consider that other shows were using grandiose ideas like "stopping global terrorist organizations" or "protecting earth from alien dictators". By comparison Dungeons and Dragons just feels more ... personal.

Sadly the series finale never got produced. At the end of the shows third season, NBC commissioned Michael Reaves to write a final episode, one that would have seen our young heroes finally get home. Unfortunately, ratings decline and expense prevented this script from ever being realized. There is some good news though. If you buy the collectors edition of D&D you can actually listen to this story in a radio style format (basically the settings are described and the dialog acted out, just like they used to do on old radio shows). It's not quite the same as seeing the story animated, but being able to actually get closure to such a fantastic series was a real treat.

So where do I rate Dungeons and Dragons amongst the plethora of 1980s action/adventure cartoons? Well at the risk of looking like a cop out, I'm going to put D&D dead even with G.I. Joe. The latter has superior production value and execution, but the former presents a much tighter collection of episodes, including the best single action/adventure story ever. As for the DVD set itself, you have two options. There's the bare bones edition with no extras, and the collectors edition with a ton of extras (including the finale I mentioned earlier). Personally I recommend the collectors edition, but there is a catch. The collectors set is out of print, so you will have to pay a lot more to get your hands on it. If this idea does not appeal to you then I would go with the standard edition, it's still in print and very cheap. Either way I am highly recommending this show to any fan of action/adventure animation.

Hellboy Sword of Storms is Hella Good

Looking through the list of cartoons reviewed on this blog, one thing should become glaringly obvious, I'm a long time comic book geek. Not an unwashed, basement dwelling geek mind you. Just an average joe with several thousand comics taking up room in his closet. I tell you this because despite my long history collecting comics I'm still a relative new comer to the Hellboy franchise. For whatever reason I was never drawn to the character, or its creator's (Mike Mignola) artwork. My first real exposure to Hellboy was the live action movie from 2005 (directed by the fantastic Guillermo del Toro), and despite my generally positive reaction I still lacked any real desire to check out the source material. All that changed with Hellboy animated. Soon after the live action film del Toro and Mignola set out to turn Hellboy into cartoon with two DTV movies. The first was "Sword of Storms" and the second was "Blood and Iron". Something about the look and tone of these two movies piqued my interest in the character, and it wasn't long before I found myself devouring trade paperbacks of Hellboy's original adventures.

Just in case you don't know who Hellboy is I'll explain. Basically Hellboy is a demon from another dimension who was brought to this world - as an infant - to wage war and destroy mankind. Luckily for us Hellboy was rescued and raised by a group of "good men" that later formed the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D. for short). So instead of annihilating us Hellboy protects us from the supernatural things that go bump in the night.

It's this use of the supernatural as an action/adventure vehicle that makes Sword of Storms so much fun. The film starts with a Japanese professor who unwittingly becomes possessed by the two storm demon brothers Thunder and Lighting. The goal of these demons is to free their corporeal forms by destroying the Sword of Storms. Of course the B.P.R.D. is called in and before you know it Hellboy stumbles across the aforementioned sword and is spirited away to another dimension full of feudal Japanese monsters. I could go into more detail but honestly that's all you really need to know.

Not only does Sword of Storms have a solid story (co-written by Mike Mignola himself), it also has fantastic writing. By this I mean that the pacing, dialog and character relationships are all spot on. The film moves at a perfect pace, never bogging down but at the same time never feeling rushed. Banter, especially from Hellboy, is genuinely funny as well. Relationships between the three main characters (Hellboy, Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman) are established early on, feel natural and are fun to watch. This is especially important because the dynamics of Hellboy animated are not the same as the live action film. Liz and Hellboy are not romantically linked in the cartoon, and Abe is far less fragile. I would have to say that with the exception of Liz (who feels like a cross between the comic Liz and the movie Liz), the animated version of these characters are closer to their comic book counterparts than the film versions (personally I think this is a good thing). The story from Sword of Storms also harkens back to the Hellboy comics using folklore as an basis to build the story around (much like Mike Mignola's Hellboy one-shots). The overall movie just feels really tight, not too much or too little, but just right.

In terms of visuals, Sword of Storms is a solid DTV. The animation is very smooth and stylish with nice backgrounds and an attractive color pallet. Compared to other DTVs from the last couple years I will admit that there are better looking films (Wonder Woman and Green Lantern First Flight for example). That said, Hellboy is still on the higher end of animation quality. On the critical side I will call out that there are one or two poorly animated CGI scenes in the movie, still by and large the general look of the film is consistent.

With a great story, solid writing and excellent animation it should be no surprise that the character design from Sword of Storms are - once again - good. This is no easy task since the look of Hellboy animated is completely different than Mike Mignola's comic art style. Where Mignola uses heavy contrast and strong graphical shapes the cartoon version of Hellboy is more in tune with streamlined modern animation styles. Thus the translation of Mignola's art had to be more in "spirit" than in appearance. Luckily the character designer pulls this off relatively well by staying true to the essence of Hellboy while stylizing him in a way that is more appropriate to the medium of animation. Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien also have attractive designs. While these main character design are indeed admirable, the secondary character designs in Sword of Storms are unfortunately lacking. It's not that they look bad per say, it's just a little too "Saturday morning" for my taste. Almost like the characters stepped right out of an episode of the Jackie Chan adventures or something. This is the only real complaint I had with the film, and frankly it's pretty much a non-issue.

Rounding out the strong points from Sword of Storms is the voice acting. Benefiting greatly from their experience in the rolls, Ron Pearlman (Hellboy), Selma Blair (Liz Sherman) and Doug Jones(Abe Sapien) all give fantastic performances. If you've ever heard Ron Pearlman speak then you know that his deep, distinct sound is perfect for Hellboy. Selma Blair's somber, melancholy voice fits the animated incarnation of Liz Sherman very well, as does the David Hyde-Pierce sounding voice that Doug Jones brings to Abe Sapien. Secondary voice actors also turn in strong performances rounding out- what I feel - is one of the better sounding casts you'll find in the DTV arena.

In case you haven't figured it out I'm highly recommending this movie with the following caveat. Hellboy Sword of Storms is closer to PG-13 than it is to PG. There is mild cursing and violence so please keep this in mind before letting youngsters view the film. With that out of the way, Sword of Storms (as well as Blood and Iron) is an all around solid action/adventure DTV. Packed with a ton of good extras the DVD delivers on all fronts and makes a great addition to any action/adventure cartoon collection.

Titan A.E. - Squint really hard and you might see a good film

Having recently re-watched, and reviewed, the animated sci-fi/fantasy film Starchaser: The Legend of Orin, I thought it would be fun to do the same thing for another epic space opera, Titan AE. Titan AE was an animated feature film released in 2000 by Fox Animation Studios. It was helmed by veteran director Don Bluth (along with partner Gary Goldman) and had a lot riding on its success. Unfortunately the movie was a financial failure, and soon after Fox Animation closed its doors for good.

I remember being pretty stoked for this movie back in 2000. A full fledged animated sci-fi/fantasy film was right up my alley, especially since it encompassed both my favorite genre and storytelling medium. Combine that with Don Bluth (the man behind The Secret of Nihm) and I could not see how this movie could go wrong. Sadly, when the closing credits began to roll I found myself both frustrated and disappointed. I could tell that a good movie was in there somewhere, but finding it would have required many fundamental changes in the films animation and story structure.

The story of Titan A.E. goes something like this; in the year 3028 A.D. Earth has been destroyed and the human race now has to wander the universe as galactic drifters. The cause of Earths destruction is the Drej, an alien race comprised entirely of energy. For some reason the Drej fear mankind (something about our boundless creativity) and with the completion of our greatest invention - the Titan spaceship - they decided it would be best to end the human threat by blowing up our planet (can't argue with that logic). The Titan escapes destruction though thanks to its inventor Sam Tucker. Sam manages to launch the Titan and jump to light speed before the Drej can get to it, but in the process he uses up all the energy needed to power the ships true purpose. Before this escape Sam is forced to send his four year old son away on a separate evacuation vessel (since the Titan was the Drej's primary target Sam knew it would be safer this way). During the dramatic goodbye Sam gives his young son Cale a ring and states that "as long as you wear it, there is hope". Fifteen years later Cale is now nineteen years old and works in a space based salvage yard. Soon after the introduction of teenage Cale (complete with cynical, angry attitude) Captain Korso arrives. Korso shows Cale that the ring he still wears is actually a genetically encoded map leading to the location of the Titan. Turns out the Drej are also looking for Cale and before you know it he and Korso find themselves in the middle of a good old fashioned space station shootout. Eventually they escape aboard Korso's ship the Valkyrie, and begin their quest to find the Titan, mankind's last hope. Of course no spaceship is complete without an eclectic crew, and the Valkyrie is no different. Joining Cale and Korso is another human Akima, she is co-pilot of the Valkyrie and obligatory love interest for Cale. On the non-human side we have first mate Preed, navigation expert Gune, and a cranky female weapons/combat officer named Stith. Can this rag-tag bunch find the Titan before the Drej and save mankind? Of course they can, but it’s not the destination that counts, it’s the journey to get there.

As you may have been able to tell from my description above the plot of Titan A.E. is not exactly groundbreaking. It does make for a good action/adventure vehicle however. Executed properly this would be an excellent film. Instead the movie fails in its delivery with uneven story structure and cliché characters. Problem number one occurs during the film's first act. Once Cale joins up with the crew of the Valkyrie we are whisked away to the maps first landmark. With no time to acclimate ourselves to Cale's new surroundings, the movie begins to feel unnaturally rushed. Worse is Cale's capture - and eventual escape - from the Drej. The capture itself serves no purpose other than to allow the Drej to copy Cale's map, and the escape is far too easy and under explained (how is it that Cale can manipulate the Drej energy fields, or fly one of their space craft?). These events just don't feel organic, instead they feel like forced plot points necessary to progress the story. At the same time other important plot points - such as Cale's ability to fix just about anything and Akima's piloting skill - are almost completely ignored. This is especially bad since these character traits play an important role in the movies' climax.

Speaking of characters, I found all three of the central human characters in Titan A.E. to be exceedingly predictable and cliché. I mentioned before that Cale is your typical angry, jaded teenager. He's mad at daddy for leaving him and all he cares about is himself. Of course the journey to find Titan changes all that. Failed attempts to interject humor into Cale don't help either. Jokes about frozen burritos and naming new Earth "Bob" fall completely flat. Korso is even worse (warning I'm about to spoil an important plot point). At first Korso offers Cale friendship and purpose, but Cale soon discovers the ugly truth. Korso is using him to find the Titan so that he can turn it over to the Drej (gasp!). Don't worry though, Korso's betrayal is eventually followed by his redemption as he sacrifices his own life to see the Titan's purpose achieved. Though these are not age old character archetypes they definitely fall into the "modern stereotype" department (much like the space smuggler with a heart of gold, and the naive young hero found in the 1980s). Akima is not as bad but mostly because she lacks definition. Outside of her past as a colony drifter there is very little to be said about Akima. This is unfortunate because I think she had the most potential. A flashback or two from her childhood could have really driven home her passionate desire to find the Titan.

Though I found the story and characters of Titan A.E. somewhat lacking, my real beef with the movie comes from the animation. Have you ever met two beautiful people and thought their children would be gorgeous, only to later find out the kid's butt ugly? Such is the case with Titan A.E. The traditional cell animation and painted backgrounds are fantastic, not surprising when you consider Don Bluth's involvement. Character models are consistent, movement is a fluid 24 frames per second and the overall craftsmanship is decidedly feature film worthy. The same can be said in regards to the movies CGI (computer generated images). Though not as good as the traditional animation, Titan A.E.s CG stands on its own very nicely and there is nothing cheap looking about it. So what happens when you combine these two beautiful forms of animation? You get crap. How can something like this happen you ask? It's simple, the traditional animation and CGI animation look drastically different. Separate from each other they work fine, once they occupy the same space however, the whole illusion necessary for animation to work is destroyed. This is a classic mistake made in other animated films such as Sinbad and Anastasia, it's also baffling. The use of CG in traditionally animated movies was not that new in 2000. Other movies like The Iron Giant (if you have not seen The Iron Giant stop reading and do so now!) and Tarzan were made prior to Titan A.E. and they figured out how to do it, so why couldn't Don Bluth and company do the same? Some scenes do work better than others, but on a whole the effect is simply too distracting. The final scene of Cale and Akima standing atop new Earth is exceptionally bad.

Production and character design is mostly good. I loved a lot of the space colony and space station design as well as the various alien designs. Korso, Preed, Stith and Gune all look good, as does the Valkyrie. Sadly Cale and Akima do have issues. Cale's haircut is exceedingly dated (even back in 2000 it was dated) and Akima's look, though nice, comes across as a little "hipster". Still these are small complaints and do little, if anything, to hurt the film.

Unfortunately the voice acting in Titan A.E. does hurt the film. I've always liked the saying "He has a face for radio", but wondered if the reverse could apply. Well thanks to Matt Damon I now know that the answer is a resounding yes. Matt Damon must have a face for live action entertainment because he certainly does NOT have a voice made for animation. Cale's voice (performed by Damon) is so flat and monotonous it actually becomes distracting during the course of the film. I know studios want to cast big name actors in these roles, but they should at least make sure the person can pull it off first. Drew Barrymore is better as Akima, but there are so many actresses that could have done a better job it’s just sad. On the plus side Nathan Lane (Preed), Janeane Garofalo (Stith) and John Leguizamo (Gune) all turn in good performances. Surprisingly the big standout of the group is Bill Pullman (Korso). I never would have expected such an unassuming actor to have such a distinct voice. His inflection and cadence gives much needed dimension to an otherwise formulaic character.

I don't have much to say about the music of Titan A.E. The movie uses a lot of "popular" songs from 2000, something that can be dangerous if done incorrectly. Luckily the choices were all good and actually complement the film. Still I worry that in another ten years or so the movies soundtrack will date it the same way that the Transformers movie soundtrack does (animated movie from 1986, not the crappy Michael Bay stuff).

Looking back at Titan A.E. I continue to wonder what could have been. If all the issues I've detailed were fixed would the movie be a classic? Probably not, but I do think the film had a real shot at respectability. As it is the movie still has enough positive qualities to warrant a viewing, if for no other reason than the fact we don't get a lot of epic space opera animation these days.