Back in 1997 the one movie on everyone's lips was a little independent film known simply as Titanic, but what few people known is that there is actually a second Titanic Film, released in 2001. But where as James Cameron could fill a money bin worthy of Scrooge McDuck with all the money and awards Titanic would go one to earn, the 2001 Animated Titanic Movie: Titanic: The Legend Goes on, would fade into obscurity. How obscure, I had to download the entire movie off of YouTube, just to prove to myself it was an actual movie and I've studied the Titanic Disaster from top to bottom ever since I was a kid, and I didn't even know it existed. But after seeing it all I can say is this: OH....MY.....GOD......WHAT A TRAIN WRECK. This film is so messed up, you'd sware that you were watching Titanic done by Disney while they were channeling the spirit of Ed Wood. So what's wrong with this movie? All I can say is that when your movie makes every movie made by Uwe Boll look like Oscar material you've got problems.
The animiation is probably the only thing this film got right (somewhat) it's bright, colorful, and actually has a lot of detail, specifically when it comes to the backgrounds, and the CGI replica of the Titanic is probably the highlight of the movie, since it actually looks like the real Titanic before her sinking, and that's about all I can really say that is good about this film.
The first major problem this film runs into is plot, because there isn't one. Instead you are treated to three different storylines, complete with scenes that seem to occur out of order or are reused time and again. The main storyline is pretty much the plot line of the original Titanic movie with elements of Disney's Cinderella and Anastsia added in. This storyline revolves around Will, a wealthy first class passenger who is traveling to America with his Nanny in order to start up a buisness, and Angelica, a poor orphan who is traveling with her stepfamily, who have basicially reduced her to a life of servitude, while she dreams of locating her long lost mother, and how the two fall madely in love with each other at first sight, while Angelica's stepfamily attempts to keep them apart.
The second storyline revolves around a gang of Jewel Theives and the Detective, who I sware looks and acts like his only experence in law enforcment is reading the Shurlock Holmes Series and mystery stories found in old pulp magazines. This story arc is probably the funniest, because the gang are obvious rip offs of Cruella DeVille, Jasper, and Horce from 101 Dalmations, and obviously don't possess a brain cell between them. In one scene they all break into the same cabin, and when the lights accidentally go out, they end up beating each other up, while emerging empty handed.
The third storyline is by far the worst, it revolves around Angelica's Talking Animal Friends, and their attempts to retreave a golden locket that Angelica lost before boarding the Titanic. These characters are by far the worst and obvious rip offs of everything from Looney Toons to An American Tale, but the worst part about this storyline occurs at the beginning of the movie, where one of the dogs, named Fritz, actually breaks into a rap song, complete with boombox, shorts, jersey and side waise baseball cap (last time I checked this was suppose to be set in 1912, not 1997). The primary focus of this storyline is two fold, retreaving the locket Angelica lost, and preparing for a party, which includes sending a mouse who apparently can't tell the differnce between the pipe that leads to Ship's First Class Galley and the pipe that leads to a Ballest tank, to get some of the food they need for the party.
While you expect these three plot lines to cross at some point, I hate to break it too you they don't, not even when the ship strikes the iceberg and begins to sink.
Another major problem is the dialogue, which is filled with clechie lines, and offers little to no character development, half the time, especally in the dubbed versons, the voice actor's speech and the animation in a particular scene don't sync up. Another problem is that many scenes appear to be scattered all about, and as a result the dialogue makes no sense. For example, in one scene William encounters a Fireman who had just come up from a flooding boiler room, and inquires what's going on before asking how to get to the third class areas in the bow. The problem though is that the Fireman only says "you'd better get a lifebelt on" after it's clear William has gone, and the animation used, is the exact same animation that was used in the opening of the scene, where this line logically belonged.
However, what makes this film such a trainwreck is how it handels the actual disaster, the Titanic Legend is all but unrecognizable, with the only major character from the actual disaster being Captain Edward Smith. Nearly all of the major players in the Titanic disaster, including First Officer William Murdoch, Wireless Operater Jack Phillips, Assistant Wireless Operater Harold Bride, The First Class Orchistra, The Californian, The Carpathia, the Straus Family, Thomas Andrews, and J. Bruce Ismay are either not present at all or have been drastically altered. The worst alteration has to be to Titanic's First Officer, known as Striker in this film, who is portrayed as an arrogent jerk, who appears to be concerned more with his own rank and self preservation, then his duty astheTitanic's First Offficer,resorting even to throwing aside other passengers and crew so he can get into the lifeboats, when in reallity Murdoch was in charge of the Starboard Evacuation and ultimatly lost his life in the disaster. Another blunder concerns the Lifeboats, all of which appear to leave fully loaded, as opposed to nearly empty early in early stages of the sinking, while the last lifeboats left fully loaded, or were capsized as the ship sank, with surivors clinging to them. Another major blunder on the part of the production crew is the song used during Titanic's final moments. Instead of Nearer My God to Thee, which is the song everyone associates with the Titanic Disaster, the band, lead by a fictional singer named Molly, as oppose to Wallace Heartley, plays "Holding On" a song written specifically for the movie. However the greatest insult is that at the end, you are given a scene showing William and Angelica marrying and living happily ever after. Not once during the epilogue is there even a passing mention of the 1,523 passengers and crew who went down with ship, nor do the end credits dedicate the movie to victims of the Titanic tragedy.
Over all this film is not only terrible, it's a direct insult to the Titanic Disaster and everyone who died or lost a loved one that night. As a movie I would say it's suitable only for hardcore Titanic buffs, and fans of bad movies.
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