The Legend of the Titanic (Spanish: La leyenda del Titanic, Italian: La leggenda del Titanic) is a 1999 internationally co-produced animated fantasy film directed by Orlando Corradi and Kim J. Ok.[4] The film is a very loose adaptation of the RMS Titanic sinking and featured several fantasy elements such as anthropomorphic animals - with by far its most fantastical contribution being the implication that nobody on the Titanic - not even the captain - lost their lives that night.[5][6]
| The Legend of the Titanic | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover art | |
| Directed by | Orlando Corradi Kim J. Ok |
| Written by | Celelia Castaldo Loris Peota |
| Produced by | Orlando Corradi |
| Edited by | Emanuelle Fogelietti |
| Music by | John Sposito (Gianni Sposito) |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Mondo TV |
Release date |
|
Running time | 84 minutes |
| Countries | North Korea Spain Italy United States [1][2][3] |
| Language | Italian |
The Legend of the Titanic was followed by a 2004 sequel titled Tentacolino and a 2011 television series, Fantasy Island (not to be confused with the popular 1977–1984 fantasy drama of the same name).[7]
Plot
editIn New York City, an old mouse named Connors tells his grandchildren the supposedly "true" story of the RMS Titanic, after discouraging one of his grandchildren from playing with a shark whistle, telling him it will attract Mr Ice.
In April 1912, Connors was a young sailor mouse on the Titanic's maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. A young Brazilian mouse named Ronny, who enjoys playing soccer, befriends Connors, while at the same time. Mr. Ice, a tiger shark who escaped from prison is asked to arrange the destruction of the ship. Mr. Ice and his gang of sharks prepares to sink the Titanic. Geoffreys asks the radio man to send an urgent wire from Maltravers to his whaling ships by telegraph, but the mice chew apart the wires to stop it from being sent.
Ice and his gang fool a giant innocent-minded octopus named Tentacles into heaving an iceberg to the surface of the ocean. The Titanic crashes into the iceberg, during which Maltravers and his entourage flee the ship in a lifeboat. In order to fix the telegraph wires, the mice enlist the help of a French mouse named Camembert, who insist they tie the wires to his moustache, electrocuting him to death.
Suddenly, several whales and dolphins arrive to help with the rescue, while a guilt-ridden but determined Tentacles tries to hold the bow and the stern together as they are splitting apart, and keep the ship on the surface for as long as possible. Everyone jumps off the Titanic into the sea and are saved by a whale. Once everyone on the ship has been saved, the Titanic finally sinks, taking Tentacles with it and seemingly crushing him. In the morning, the passengers are taken aboard the RMS Carpathia. The said ship arrives in New York and disembarks the passengers. Tentacles and Camembert show up, inexplicably unharmed.
Back in modern-day New York old Connors tells his grandchildren that whales are still hunted, and that they must do whatever they can to stop the whaling scheme at all costs.
Cast
editOriginal version
edit- Emanuela Rossi – Elizabeth
- Vittorio Guerrieri – Don Juan
- Stefano Crescentini – Top Connors
- Maria Teresa Cella – Ronnie
- Luca Ward – Barone Van Der Tilt
- Ferruccio Amendola – Denti di Ghiaccio
- Oliviero Dinelli – Tentacolino
English dub
edit- Gregory Snegoff – Maltravers / Smiley / Mr. Ice / Mouse Captain / Additional Mice
- Francis Pardeilhan – Don Juan
- Jane Alexander – Elizabeth Camden / Tentacles / Grandchildren
- Anna Mazzotti – Ronnie / Stella / Dolphins / Additional Mice
- Sean Patrick Lovett – Top Connors / Camembert / Geoffreys / Don Juan's Friend / Orcy
- Teresa Pascarelli – Rachel / Dolphins
- Frank von Kuegelgen – Captain Edward J. Smith (uncredited)
- John Stone – Mr. Krey (uncredited)
Production
editThe Legend of the Titanic was an international effort between North Korea's state owned SEK for animation, and Spanish ITB and American Hollywood Gang as producers, as well as an Italian writing team and composer.[8][9][10]
Reception
editTim Brayton of Alternate Ending gave the movie a 0.5/5, stating "A giddy, so-bad-it's-the-most-essential-movie-I've-ever-seen disaster of tasteless incompetence."[11]
See also
edit- Titanic: The Legend Goes On, another animated film about the Titanic
- List of films about the Titanic
References
edit- ^ "The Legend of Titanic (1999)". Allmovie.
- ^ "The Legend of Titanic". The Big Cartoon DataBase. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013.
- ^ "La leggenda del Titanic". johnsposito.it. John Sposito official page.
- ^ MUBI
- ^ "It's the Titanic All Over Again". Manila Standard. 24 June 2002. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ Renzetti, Jackie. "Not Your Cameron's "Titanic"". The Minnesota Daily. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ "Mondo tv S.P.A - LIBRARY FANTASY ISLAND". www.mondotv.it. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014.
- ^ "The Legend of Titanic (1999)". Allmovie.
- ^ "The Legend of Titanic". The Big Cartoon DataBase. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013.
- ^ "La leggenda del Titanic". johnsposito.it. John Sposito official page.
- ^ Brayton, Tim (19 May 2020). "The Legend of the Titanic (1999)". Alternate Ending. Retrieved 3 May 2023.