were traditionally animated. Many of the scenes were enacted by the animation staff using handbuilt props before being captured by a computer. Many scenes and backgrounds were painted by concept artist Paul Cheng, who had worked on Anastasia and its direct-to-video spin-off Bartok the Magnificent (1999). Much like Anastasia, the storytelling and tone in Titan A.E. is much darker and edgier than Bluth and Goldman's previous films with the film being regularly compared to Japanese anime. Although Bluth and Goldman denied any influence by anime, they have acknowledged the comparison. During production of Titan A.E., Fox Animation Studios suffered a number of cutbacks which ultimately led to its closure in 2000. Over 300 animation staff were laid off from the studio in 1999 and as a result, much of the film's animation was outsourced to a number of independent companies. Several scenes were contracted to David Paul Dozoretz's POVDE group; the "Wake Angels" scene was animated by Reality Check Studios (their first feature film work) while the film's "Genesis" scene was animated by Blue Sky Studios, who would later go on to making 20th Century Fox's Ice Age and Rio film franchises as well as Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and The Peanuts Movie (2015). Under pressure from executives, Bill Mechanic was dismissed from 20th Century Fox prior to Titan A.E.s release eventuating in the closure of Fox Animation Studios on June 26, 2000, ten days after the film's release. All these events stunted the film's promotion and distribution. Casting On November 24, 1997, Matt Damon joined the cast of the film along with Bill Pullman, Drew Barrymore, Nathan Lane, Jim Breuer, Janeane Garofalo and Lena Olin. Later, John Leguizamo joined the cast. Music Soundtrack The soundtrack to Titan A.E. was released on audio cassette and CD by Capitol/EMI Records on June 6, 2000 and featured 11 tracks by various contemporary rock bands, including Lit, Powerman 5000, Electrasy, Fun Lovin' Criminals, The Urge, Texas, Bliss 66, Jamiroquai, Splashdown, The Wailing Souls and Luscious Jackson. Creed's song "Higher" was played in many of the theatrical trailers for Titan A.E., but the song did not appear either on the soundtrack or in the movie itself. Score Titan A.E.s score was composed and conducted by Graeme Revell. Although an official album containing the movie's underscore was not originally released alongside the film, it was eventually made available for the first time on October