Atlantis: The Lost Empire Review

Atlantis: The Lost Empire


Release Date: 20th September 2001 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Feature Animation

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures Australia


Genre: Animation/Family/

Sci-Fi/Adventure

Rating: PG

Runtime: 96 minutes


Budget: $120,000,000

Box Office Gross: $186,053,725 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Ridiculed all his life for wanting to find the lost city of Atlantis, a young linguist named Milo Thatch becomes part of the expedition financed by a wealthy benefactor, an old friend of his late grandfather. Milo receives an ancient journal that contains clues to its hidden location, a group of intrepid explorers led by Commander Rourke and a submarine that takes him to the bottom of the ocean to find peril and danger. When they finally discover Atlantis, a sinister plot is revealed. Milo has to save Atlantis from its imminent destruction.


Voice Cast
Michael J. Fox - Milo James
Thatch
Cree Summer - Kidagakash
"Kida" Nedakh
James Garner - Commander
Lyle Tiberius Rourke
Corey Burton - Gaetan "Mole" Molière
Claudia Christian - Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair
John Mahoney - Preston B.
Whitmore
Phil Morris - Dr. Joshua
Strongbear Sweet
Leonard Nimoy - Kashekim
Nedakh
Don Novello - Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini
Jacqueline Obradors - Audrey Rocio Ramirez
Florence Stanley - Wilhelmina Bertha Packard
David Ogden Stiers - Fenton P. Harcourt
Jim Varney - Jebidiah Allerdyce "Cookie"
Farnsworth

Crew
Story/Directors - Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale
Story - Joss Whedon and Bryce & Jackie Zabel
Story/Screenplay - Tab Murphy
Additional Screenplay Material - David Reynolds

Associate Producer - Kendra Haaland
Producer - Don Hahn

Developer: Atlantean Language - Marc Okrand

Production Designers - Matt Codd,

Ricardo F. Delgado, James J. Martin

and Mike Mignola

Casting Directors - Ruth Lambert

and Mary Hildago

Art Director - David Goetz

Artistic Coordinator - Christopher Jenkins

Assistant Artistic Coordinator - Kirk Bodyfelt

Character Designer/Visual Development/
Artistic Supervisor: Background - Lisa Keene
Character Designer/Visual Development/
Supervising Animator "Atlantean King" -

Michael Cedeno
Character Designer/Visual Development/
Supervising Animator: "Audrey" -

Anne Marie Bardwell

Artistic Supervisor: Story - John Sanford

Artistic Supervisor: Layout - Ed Ghertner

Scene Planning Supervisor - Thomas Baker

Production Manager - Igor Khait

Supervising Animator: "Milo" - John Pomeroy
Supervising Animator: "Kida" - Randy Haycock
Supervising Animator: "Rourke" - Michael Surrey
Supervising Animator: "Helga" - Yoshimichi Tamura
Supervising Animator: "Dr. Sweet" - Ron Husband
Supervising Animator: "Vinny" - Russ Edmonds
Supervising Animator: "Molière" - Anthony de Rosa
Supervising Animator: "Preston Whitmore" and

"Cookie" - Shawn Keller
Supervising Animator: "Leviathan" -

Mike 'Moe' Merell
Supervising Animator: "Mrs. Packard" and

"Mr. Harcourt" - David Pruiksama

Artistic Supervisor: Clean-Up/Lead Key

Clean-Up Animator: "Miscellaneous" - Marshall Toomey

Artistic Supervisor: Visual Effects - Marlon West

Artistic Supervisor: Computer Graphics Imagery -

Kiran Bhakta Joshi

Editor - Ellen Keneshea

Associate Editor/Supervising Sound

Editor - John K. Carr
Sound Designer/Supervisor/Re-Recording

Mixer - Gary Rydstrom

Assistant Sound Designer - Shannon Mills

ADR/Supervising Sound Editor -

Michael Silvers

Re-Recording Mixer - Gary Rydstrom

Foley Artists - Jana Vance and Dennie Thorpe

Foley Mixer - Tony Eckert

Music/Orchestrator/Score Producer -

James Newton Howard

Executive Music Producer - Chris Montan

Music Production Manager - Tom MacDougall

Electronic Score Producer - James T. Hill

Score Recordist - Shawn Murphy

Review

In the 1990s, Disney enjoyed its successful Renaissance period with huge successes such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. By the time the '90s were over, audiences had grown so tired of the studio churning out every animated musical with the same formula that they instinctively dismissed others of their surprisingly good movies as Disney rip-offs. Disney had become stale and worn out for an increasingly demanding and cynical audience. Some people say that the mid-range quality of Disney's output began with Pocahontas or the box office bomb that was Treasure Planet, which the latter I've already reviewed. Then there's ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE, caught between the end of Disney's Renaissance and the beginning of its early-2000s box office slump. You've got to admit that Disney tried to break away from what they'd done before.

I read on Wikipedia that some people accuse ATLANTIS of being a rip-off of the movie Stargate, but it has nothing to do with it. The film is similar to James Cameron's Avatar. It does not mean that the directors have ripped off that movie, which at the time was in development. I would say that Avatar ripped off ATLANTIS because of its similar plotline, despite the eight-year gap between the two films. While a bold attempt by Disney to do a non-musical animated movie, ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE recaptures the look of the adventure stories of Jules Verne and is mixed with an Indiana Jones feel. Given this unusual combination, the film has a lot of potential and excitement.

Never mind the plot holes, which are minor drawbacks. The picture has a lot of strengths: Mike Mignola's involvement in the outstanding design, humour, great visuals, spectacular action, brilliant animation, the incredible voice cast of Michael J. Fox, Don Novello, James Garner and the late Jim Varney and the magnificent music score by James Newton Howard. ATLANTIS has memorable moments like the Leviathan, the Crystal Chamber and the climax.

Not quite as successful as expected, the film still has its audience and has recently become a cult favourite. Unlike Treasure Planet, I'm glad ATLANTIS didn't kill off the 2D animation genre. It's not just an underrated animated film. It is, in fact, my second favourite Disney movie, and it's a real treat for animation and Disney fans alike.

Star rating: (5/5) Best Movie Ever

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