Titan A.E.

Titan A.E. is a 2000 animated sci-fi space adventure movie from Twentieth Century Fox. The title refers to the fictional Titan spaceship that is central to the plot, with A.E. meaning 'After Earth'. The film's animation technique combines traditional hand-drawn animation and an extensive use of computer generated imagery. The film is in color, running 94 minutes in length and is rated PG for action violence, mild sensuality and brief language. Its working title was Planet Ice.

The movie opens on the future Earth under attack by the Drej, aliens consisting of pure electrical energy with a hive mind that is ruled by a "queen". The Drej mothership, which is also formed out of pure electrical energy, blows up the Earth with an energy beam after just a few space shuttles full of humans manage to escape. One of the escapees is young Cale Tucker who has been given a ring by his father, Sam Tucker. Also, the legendary spacecraft Titan escapes.

Flash forward 15 years. Cale Tucker is now in his early twenties and works on a salvage station. Without a home planet, humans are constantly bullied and looked down on by the other aliens. A spacecraft captain named Korso and his pilot Akima -- two humans -- seek out Cale and explain that he must help them find the Titan, which holds a mechanism to save humanity. However, the Drej want it just as much.

With Korso's help, Cale discovers that the ring his father gave to him contains a genetically encoded map to the Titan. Thus begins Cale's race across the universe aboard Korso's ship, accompanied by Korso, Akima, and a number of other colorful crew members. But soon, Cale and Akima find out that Korso is searching for Titan only for the purpose of handing it over to the Drej.

Cale and Akima are stranded upon a drifter station shortly after they learn of Korso's true intentions. The two manage to repair one of the wrecked spacecraft that comprise the giant drifter station and, christening it the Phoenix, make their way to an ice field in which the Titan has been hidden.

Within the Titan, Cale and Akima discover that Cale's father, Sam Tucker, was one of the main architects in designing the spaceship over fifteen years ago. Anticipating the destruction of the Earth, the Titan was designed with the ability to create a new planet. The ship also has stored the DNA of every living thing on Earth for the purpose of repopulating the new planet. Unfortunately, the ship's energy has been long since been drained and it will not start-up. Korso, who by now has also found and boarded the Titan, confronts Cale and Akima. After a brief battle, Korso experiences a change of heart. The three then work together to defend the Titan against the impending Drej attack. It is during the attack that the protagonists realize that the energy comprising the Drej ships may be utilized to power up the Titan's systems, and they work towards bringing the vessel online. Korso sacrifices himself in order to bridge a jammed circuit breaker just as the Drej mothership fires a destructive energy beam at the Titan. Channeling the beam's power into its system, the Titan powers up and drains all the Drej energy, creating a new planet and destroying the Drej mothership in the process. The movie ends with Akima and Cale standing upon their newly-created world, with Cale considering naming it Planet Bob.

Cast & crew

• Cale Tucker: Matt Damon
• Akima: Drew Barrymore
• Korso: Bill Pullman

Other actors providing voices for the movie include Nathan Lane, John Leguizamo, Janeane Garofalo, and Tone Loc. The movie was directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman.

• Writer: Joss Whedon

Titan A.E. was not financially successful; it is often listed with Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and Treasure Planet as an example of an animated science-fiction/fantasy movie that failed to attract an audience.

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