Atlantis: The Lost Empire

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Directed by	Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Produced by	Don Hahn
Written by	Tab Murphy
Starring	Michael J. Fox Cree Summer James Garner Corey Burton Don Novello Phil Morris Claudia Christian Jacqueline Obradors Leonard Nimoy John Mahoney Florence Stanley Jim Varney David Ogden Stiers
Music by	James Newton Howard
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	June 15, 2001
Running time	95 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$120 million
Followed by	Atlantis: Milo's Return (2003)
IMDb profile

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a 2001 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 15, 2001. An animated sci-fi mixed action movie, it was written by Tab Murphy, directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and produced by Don Hahn. The 40th film in the Disney animated features canon, it is set in the year 1914, where an expedition crew goes off to find the lost city of Atlantis.

[edit] Plot summary

The film begins with an explosion and a massive wave washing over the island of Atlantis. Giant, robotic sentries started to activate to defend its capital, and the Queen is drawn into a glowing blue beam projected from the "Heart of Atlantis," a huge crystal which powers the city's defenses. She leaves behind a young daughter, Princess Kida, under the supervision of her husband (King Kashekim Nedakh), as the island's capital disappears beneath the ocean waves and ocean floor, leaving the rest of the island flooded and many people drowned.

Thousands of years later, set in 1914, Milo Thatch is an aspiring, kindhearted, and dreaming cartographer, linguist, and explorer, although his employers, the staff of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., has little use for him other than keeping the boilers running. Milo believes that his research has revealed the location of The Shepherd's Journal, a Viking manuscript text in Atlantean that allegedly reveals the way to Atlantis. His dreams are to prove to the world, that his grandfather, Thaddeus Thatch, really did discover a clue that could lead to the discovery of one of the greatest mysteries of all. Most of all, his dreams are to have something to believe in. After his proposal is rejected by the staff due to a time delay caused by Milo's boss Mr. Fenton Harcourt (who doesn't believe that Atlantis can exist), he goes home unhappy, and finds a mysterious woman, Helga Sinclair, who invited Milo to see her employer for a proposition. His name is Preston B. Whitmore, an eccentric millionaire who went to Georgetown University with Milo's grandfather in 1866. Preston told Milo that he had bet Thaddeus that he could not find the Journal and funded a successful effort to find the journal. After Thaddeus found it in Iceland, he convinces Preston to give it to Milo when he's ready, concerning that Preston is recruiting Milo to translate the book and lead an expedition to Atlantis. Milo happily agrees to lead the expedition, promising Whitmore that he won't regret this.

Milo sets out with a crew headed up by Commander Lyle Rourke, a military man who led the expedition to recover the Journal, Helga, and a crew of oddballs. Among the crew are Vinny Santorini, the crew's Italian demolitions expert, Gaetan 'Mole' Moliere, the borderline crazy geology specialist from France, Dr. Joshua Sweet, the ship's medical officer, Audrey Ramirez, the teenage tomboyish mechanic, Jedidiah 'Cookie' Farnsworth, the ship's Western redneck cook, and Wilhelmina Packard, the elderly communications expert. They set out in the Ulysses, a massive submarine, which was launched from a massive ship called the 'Lewis & Clark'. As the team tries to find to a large crevice that leads to an underground cavern that holds an ancient highway leading to Atlantis (according to the Journal), the Ulysses is attacked and destroyed by the Leviathan, a huge robotic defender of Atlantis. Because of the firepower that wasn't enough to stop the Leviathan, Milo, Rourke, and a small complement of crewmembers forced themselves to escape in small sub-pods and a cargo hauler and after reaching the crevice and the underground cavern, they continue ahead on foot and vehicle. They are tracked all the while by some Atlanteans.

In the team's camp, Milo was trying to take a whizz until he accidentally scared several glowing bugs that set the camp on fire, killing several people. The team started to move out to cross a bridge, but the bridge broke down (due to its lack of arches), leading the team into a base of a dormant volcano. But nevertheless they managed to reach Atlantis after drilling out from the volcano. After doing so, the crew are greeted by Kida, now a young woman, although "young" is relative to her appearance only, as she is now many thousands of years old. Kida brings the group to meet her aging father, King Kashekim Nedakh, who wants them to leave as soon as possible, since their presence cannot mean any good. Rourke request the King to give his team one night to stay in order to rest, resupply, and be ready to leave by morning, and the King grants it. Atlantis has fallen into ruins since disappearing into the earth, and Kida enlists Milo's help in deciphering the runes throughout the city, the Atlantean written language having been unknown to the people for centuries, despite the fact that they can speak it. Milo helps her discover the nature of the Heart of Atlantis, but can't tell how it works or where it is, since a page of the Shepherd's Journal is missing.

The Heart of Atlantis, merged with Princess Kida

Rourke turns out to have the missing page and betrays Milo, he and Helga having known about the Heart all the while. Rourke turns the tables by forcing Milo and Kida to help him find the Heart of Atlantis so that he can take it back to the surface and make a fortune from its sale. He first thinks King Nedakh knows all about it, but King Nedakh refuses to disclose it, so he manages to beat him, much to Sweet's dismay, who then comes on Milo's side. Once found, the Heart merges with Kida, causing her to fall into a trance as her body becomes a glowing blue crystal. Rourke locks up Kida and prepares to leave for the caves. Before departing, he punches Milo and mocks him, breaking his beloved grandfather's picture, and tears of sorrow, heartbreak, and despair swell up in Milo's eyes. But just before they leave, Vinnie, Audrey, Mole, Cookie, and Packard started to feel a little remorseful on Milo and have a dramatic change of heart, decided not to leave Atlantis wiped out. They angrily confronted Rourke about their conditions during the expedition, but he rebuffs at them and leaves along with Helga and their men, and prevents the crew from stopping him by blowing up the bridge, which leads from the volcano to the city. Later, in the palace, King Nedakh (who has internal bleeding, according to Sweet, who has nothing more he can do) tells Milo all about the Heart of Atlantis, explaining why the crystal has a mind of its own and why Atlantis went underwater. The King then gives his crystal to Milo and tells him to save Atlantis and Kida, just before he dies. Milo is reluctant as first, pointing out that every bad thing on this expedition happened because of him, but with courage and support from Sweet, he rallies the crew and many Atlantean warriors to stop Rourke and his army and manages to restart several Atlantean vehicles to create an aerial fighting force to challenge the villains.

In the ensuing battle, Rourke, Helga, and their army are killed, and Kida is liberated, but a volcanic eruption ensues, due to the fact that the battle took place inside the dormant volcano. The city's total destruction is imminent until Milo and his gang brought Kida back to Atlantis, in which she is able to restore the city's systems to full power which include the memorials of the past Kings of Atlantis and the sentinels who again rise to protect Atlantis. The Atlanteans thank the visitors who helped save Atlantis and give them a huge treasure, including small crystals. The surviving crew, now insanely wealthy, returns to Whitmore's mansion back in Washington to rehearse their cover story to hide the existence of Atlantis (although Packard's pictures gives full proof of the existence), while Milo stays to help Kida (who becomes Queen) rebuild the Atlantean empire. Eventually Whitmore receives a crystal packed in Thaddeus's picture and a message from Milo, knowing that the crystal is proof enough for him. Whitmore smiles and places the crystal around his neck. The movie ends back at Atlantis, where Milo builds a memorial of King Nedakh that joins with the Heart of Atlantis.

[edit] Box office

Atlantis: The Lost Empire did not do well at the box office, making approximately $85 million dollars in its United States theatrical run, well below its production cost of $120 million and nowhere near the animation high-water mark of $312 million set by 1994's The Lion King. Although it grossed only about $186 million worldwide that covered up the budget for good, it still can be seen as part of a series of early-2000s Disney disappointments, a stretch that includes Treasure Planet and Home on the Range.

[edit] Praise and criticism

The film has a dramatic opening sequence depicting the fall of Atlantis, a first act that establishes the story, bold dialogue, and an interesting visual look in part from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. It also won some praise for daring to break away from the comfort of Disney's animated musicals that dominated the 1990s by trying a serious, action-adventure story.^{[citation needed]}

That said, critics generally disliked the film. Critics noted the one-dimensional characterizations in the too-large cast of supporting characters, the remoteness of Milo, a lack of audience involvement, a deus ex machina climax, and a general lifelessness that accompanies the by-the-book trudging from one set piece to the next following the destruction of the Ulysses.^{[citation needed]}

Some of the movie's internal logic has been found lacking as well.^{[citation needed]} The Atlanteans, with multi-millennia life-spans, forget to read their own written language, yet they are able to speak Latin and other modern languages like French and English when meeting Milo and his team, due to connections to the linguistic roots.

Those who are familiar with many historical merit such as Plato's Atlantis and the original Greek legend were disappointed to see that most of it was not included in the movie.^{[citation needed]} These traditional elements include Neptune worship, Atlas, titans, nymphs, Orichalcum, canals, medicine, wealth, and war versus the Athenians. Also, all of the things that people popularly associate with Atlantis today — mermaids, Neptune, etc. — were also not present.

[edit] Controversies

Comparison of Nadia and Atlantis

It has also been criticized by some viewers of the film bearing a resemblance to a famous 1990s Japanese anime television show, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. The similarities include character designs, story flow, the background settings, and more. The director Kirk Wise has stated he never even heard of such a show when Atlantis was in production. The similarities might be simply due to both being inspired by Jules Verne novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. [1]

[edit] Overview, production notes and sequel

Atlantis is notable as one of the few animated films shot in the anamorphic widescreen process. To prevent having to purchase and implement larger animation desks, longer animation paper, and so forth, the production team resorted to working within a smaller frame on the same paper and equipment used for the standard aspect ratio Disney films.^{[citation needed]}

Some viewers have noted similarities between the Milo character and motion picture language consultant Dr. Marc Okrand, who developed the Atlantean language for this movie (Okrand has said that animator John Pomeroy sketched him, claiming not to know what a linguist looked or behaved like)^{[citation needed]}. Additionally, an interesting aspect of the film is that very few of the characters are under the age of 30, a rare component for a Disney animated feature. Also, Atlantis is the first animated Disney feature to have a black character, Dr. Joshua Sweet, in the roster of main characters.

The film was originally supposed to provide a springboard for an animated television series titled Team Atlantis, which would have detailed the further adventures of the characters from the film. However, due to the film's failure at the box office, the series was scrapped. On May 20, 2003, Disney released a direct-to-video sequel called Atlantis: Milo's Return, which consisted mostly of stories originally produced for the aborted series.

[edit] Voice cast

Princess Kida

[edit] Crew

[edit] Soundtrack Listing

1. "Where the Dream Takes You" - Performed by Mya
2. The Submarine
3. Milo's Turned Down
4. Atlantis Is Waiting
5. The Levitation
6. Bedding Down
7. The Journey
8. Fireflies
9. Milo Meets Kida
10. The City of Atlantis
11. Milo and Kida's Questions
12. Touring the City
13. The Secret Swim
14. The Crystal Chamber
15. The King Dies / Going After Rourke
16. Just Do It
17. Kida Returns
18. Atlantis

[edit] References to other films

• The Leviathan Graveyard contains ships from every Disney movie, a fact seemingly noted by Milo.
• One of the Gargoyles from The Hunchback of Notre Dame is in Preston Whitmore's library.
• The car that Helga drives to Whitmore's mansion is nearly identical to the one Cruella De Vil drives in One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
• The Ulysses is reminiscent of the Nautilus from the 1954 version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

[edit] Trivia

• In the shot of the Ulysses going down into the depths of the ocean, one of the crewmen is seen waving to the camera. He is visible for a few frames, right after Milo goes out of camera range.
• Vinnie's last name, "Santorini," is also the current name of an ancient chain of volcanic islands in the Mediterranean that erupted with many times the force of Mount Vesuvius (and predated it by many centuries), devastated the Minoan civilization, and may have been an origin of the Atlantean legend. This might also explain Vinnie's profound obsession with explosives, although in the film Vinny's obsession came when there was an explosion in his family's flower shop.
• This was the first Disney animated feature to receive a PG rating since The Black Cauldron, 16 years earlier.
• This would start a series of several Disney animated features rated PG, including Lilo & Stitch, Treasure Planet, and Home on the Range. Unfortunately, none of these PG-rated animated features (except Lilo & Stitch) turn out to be successful.
• This was Disney's first 70 mm film since The Black Cauldron.
• The filmmakers turned to real-life linguistics expert Marc Okrand to create an original readable, speakable language for the film. Using a 29-letter alphabet, Okrand made up hundreds of Atlantean words for the actors to speak.
• To prepare for the production, the filmmakers visited museums and toured old army installations. They also traveled 800 feet underground in New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns to observe the subterranean trails that would serve as the model for the approach to Atlantis in the film.
• When it came to creating the look of the city of Atlantis, the filmmakers wanted to avoid the common conception of "Greek columns under the sea somewhere," says art director Dave Goetz. Instead, they modeled their Atlantis on the architecture of ancient civilizations in China, South America, and the Middle East.
• Lloyd Bridges was originally cast as Preston Whitmore, but he died shortly after production began.
• Tommy Lee Jones, Jack Davenport, and Kurt Russell were considered for the role of Commander Rourke.
• Jim Varney (Cookie) died just before finishing the film. The "I ain't so good at speechifying" line near the end is the only line not spoken by Varney. Steve Barr did the voice for the scene. But for Cookie's last lines in the film, ("Well, we lost her when.....") and (In fact, you could say that he was transmorgified....."), Varnrey spoke them.
• This is the second Disney film to bear an uncanny similarity to a 1990 anime, the first being The Lion King.

[edit] See also

• Atlantis in art, literature and popular culture
• Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

[edit] External links

• Atlantis: The Lost Empire at the Internet Movie Database
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire at Rotten Tomatoes
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire at Metacritic
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire at Box Office Mojo