The third and final project produced by Fox Animation Studios, the film was theatrically released on June 16, 2000, by 20th Century Fox in the United States. Along the way, he joins up with a ship's crew and their captain, who help him find the ship before the aliens can destroy it. The film tells the story of a young man who, after a hostile alien species destroys Earth, receives a mission to save humanity and protect the giant ship that can create a new planet. The animation of the film combines 2D traditional hand-drawn animation with the extensive use of computer-generated imagery. Its title refers to the spacecraft central to the plot with A.E. is a 2000 American animated science fiction film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and starring Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo and Drew Barrymore.