"Time Masters": More Than Just Trippy Visuals? A Few Thoughts...

Okay, so I just rewatched "Time Masters" for the first time in probably fifteen years. What a strange film. Visually, it's undeniable – Moebius's influence is dripping off every frame, and the animation, while dated, has a certain handcrafted charm that CGI just can’t replicate. But I'm pondering the thematic stuff now, beyond the cool spaceships and bizarre creatures. I'm wondering if anyone else picks up on the, frankly, pretty damn depressing undercurrent about fractured families and the weight of responsibility? Jaffar, the absentee father figure, is constantly being pulled in different directions, unable to fully commit to Piel. The dying father's message is almost cruelly vague, throwing a small child into a cosmic game he’s clearly not prepared for. Even the Tick-Tock character, with his rigid adherence to a pre-programmed task, feels like a comment on the dangers of blindly following orders and not questioning authority. It's all quite bleak, isn't it? For a 'kid's film', anyway. And the Time Masters themselves? We only get glimpses, but are they truly benevolent? Manipulating events from afar, intervening only when they deem it necessary? It feels a bit... unsettling. Like a critique of cosmic paternalism, perhaps? I know the plot's a bit all over the place and the pacing occasionally drags, but I think there's a lot more going on beneath the surface than just cool visuals. Maybe more than meets the eye here and maybe I'm overthinking, but that's the fun of it, right? Thoughts?