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Atlantis: The Lost Empire is the 41st Walt Disney Animated Classics produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 15, 2001. It was the first science-fiction entry to the Disney animated features canon. The sci-fi action movie was written by Tab Murphy, directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and produced by Don Hahn. Set in the year 1914 during the eve of World War I, the film tells the story of a young linguist who gains possession of a sacred book which he believes will guide him to the mythical city of Atlantis. He enlists a band of ragtag archaeologists and excavators to find the city, but struggles against mutineers who want to sabotage the mission for their own profit. The film was noted for using the simple artistic style of comic book artist Mike Mignola as well as continuing the recent Disney attempts at producing animated features without musical interludes. Atlantis: The Lost Empire received mostly mixed reviews and achieved only modest success at the box-office. It is also Jim Varney's final film, after he passed away in February 2000.
[edit] Plot
The movie begins with a reenactment of the sinking of Atlantis. A flash is seen in the ocean, followed by multiple Atlantean vehicles fleeing the area. In the capital city of Atlantis, the ground itself shakes and crumbles as a massive tidal wave approaches from the direction of the flash. As the people flee to the shelters, a young girl named Kida loses her mother (later revealed to be the queen) when the woman is lifted up into the sky and encircled by large glowing stone faces. A powerful blue force field of unknown energy rises up to cover the city, shutting out many of the fleeing Atlanteans. As the wave comes closer, the glowing of the energy field intensifies, until finally in a clash of water against the force field the island sinks and the waves cover the island, putting it underwater. The main story begins thousands of years later in 1914, when Milo James Thatch (Michael J. Fox), an aspiring young cartographer/linguist/explorer working in the boiler room at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., believes he has found the secret to the location of Atlantis through a manuscript called the Sheppard's Journal. When his request to lead an expedition is denied by the Institution's board, he finds himself contacted by millionaire Preston B. Whitmore (John Mahoney), who reveals he was a friend of Milo's grandfather, Thaddeus Thatch, who had originally located the Journal, had given it to Whitmore, wanting him to give it to Milo when he was ready for it. Whitmore requests that Milo become part of a team to search for Atlantis as their linguist expert, which Milo eagerly agrees to. Milo is introduced to the specialists on the team, led by Commander Lyle Rourke (James Garner) and his second-in-command Helga Sinclair (Claudia Christian). The team includes Italian demolitions expert Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini (Don Novello), crazed French geologist Gaetan "Mole" Molière (Corey Burton), medical officer Dr. Joshua Sweet (Phil Morris), teenage tomboy mechanic Audrey Ramirez (Jacqueline Obradors), redneck cook Jebidiah Allerdyce "Cookie" Farnsworth (Jim Varney), and elderly cynical communications expert Wilhelmina Packard (Florence Stanley). The team initially teases and plays tricks on Milo but slowly warm up to him over the adventure. The expedition quickly meets a fateful start when a robotic Leviathan destroys the main submarine, and most of the ship's crew are killed during the evacuation, but Milo's team are able to find the underwater cavern described by the Journal that leads to Atlantis, and proceed with the exploration, unaware they are being watched. After misadventures with the local fauna and discovering the caves are resting on a dormant volcano, they find themselves at the outskirts of Atlantis - now resting in a subterranean cavern. Kida (Cree Summer), one of the Atlantians that had been tracking the group, invites the team to see her father, King Kashekim Nedakh (Leonard Nimoy). However, the King demands that the team leave immediately, but acquiesces when Commander Rourke asks to stay the night to recover and refresh supplies. While the others relax, Rourke orders his soldiers to arm themselves. Kida discovers that Milo can read and speak the Atlantean language, something that her people have long forgotten, and enlists his help to transcribe ancient murals that can be used to save the city. Diving near some of the city's ruins, Milo and Kida learn that the city is protected by the Heart of Atlantis, and that the strange blue gems that each Atlantean wears are connected to it. Kida recalls when her mother was taken away from her by the Heart in order to save the city from a mega-tsunami. As they leave the ruins, they are caught by Rourke and the rest of the team, who have turned mercenary and are after the Heart. The armed men take Milo and Kida by force to the King. Rourke mortally wounds the King when he refuses to reveal the location of the Heart, but manages to deduce the location anyway from the clues in the Journal. Rourke, Helga, Milo, and Kida travel to a chamber below the King's quarters, finding the Heart to be a large blue crystal hanging in mid-air. Kida is drawn to the crystal and is infused with its power; as she is walking towards the crystal, she tells Milo in Atlantean that he should not worry. Rourke forces Kida, still at gunpoint, into a metal chamber they will use to return her to the surface, using her power for financial gain; however, without the Heart, the city and its residents will soon die. The other team members quickly recognize Rourke's motive was not part of the mission and stand behind Milo in demanding him to release Kida. Rourke refuses, leaving the others stranded while he and his men leave the city. Before going in pursuit of Rourke, Milo sees the king for the last time. Sweet informs Milo that the king has internal bleeding caused by Rourke's attack. The king pleads to Milo for the return of his daughter and the survival of Atlantis. The king also adds that the Heart would choose a host of royal blood, like Kida and her mother before her, to protect itself and its people. It thrives on the collective emotions of previous hosts, in return the Crystal would grant them power, protection, and longevity. Through the years and ages that passed the Crystal began to develop a mind of its own. He attempted to use the Crystal as a weapon of war, but its power was too great to control, which led to their destruction, so he hid the crystal beneath the city so that history wouldn't repeat itself. The king also warns that if Kida remains fused to the crystal for too much time, she would be lost forever, the same fate that Kida's mother suffered. The king in his last moments tells Milo that he will be gone and his daughter too, hands him the crystal he wore and tells him that it is up to him to save Atlantis. With those words, the king dies. Milo, the other team members, and the Atlanteans discover how to use ancient flying machines to give chase to Rourke, who is trying to launch the chamber with Kida in it to the top of an extinguished volcano which leads right to the surface. A large battle ensues between the Atlanteans (with Milo and the expedition gang) and Rourke, Helga, and their soldiers. In an attempt to save Kida, Milo rams his vehicle into part of the balloon. Rourke tells Helga to lighten the load and throws Helga off as well, stopping at nothing to win. Milo finally makes it on board, and fights Rourke. Down below, Helga takes her last breaths and fires a round from her flare gun into the balloon, helping Milo to win. Milo, finding a shard of glass powered by the crystal, jabs it into Rourke, crystallizing him. He tries to knock Milo off the balloon, but is caught unaware of the balloon's propeller which shreds Rourke to bits and dies. The battle has caused the volcano to start to erupt, the lava threatening to destroy Atlantis. Milo returns Kida to the center of the city where she is taken once again by the Heart; her life force is used to activate giant stone guardians at the city's edge that form a protective barrier from the lava. After the city is saved, Kida is returned to Milo's arms from the Heart, no longer infused with its power. The rest of the surface team prepares to return with vehicles full of treasure as thanks from the city, but Milo decides to stay behind, smitten in love for Kida and determined to help restore Atlantis to its former glory, and passes a note (using his picture of him and his grandfather) to be given to Whitmore, with a blue life crystal as evidence he found the city and his thanks for the opportunity. Whitmore is enlightened by this, and the rest of the team, after returning to the surface, concoct a tale for the public with Whitmore's cooperation that they never found Atlantis, despite their newfound wealth, and that Milo, Rourke, and Helga were missing in action. The film ends with Milo and Kida creating a memorial for the dead King while going forward to help restore Atlantis back. [edit] Cast
[edit] Production notesTo 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. Atlantis is notable as one of the few animated films shot in the anamorphic widescreen process. Other ones were Lady And The Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, The Black Cauldron, and later Brother Bear. 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. 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). Pomeroy himself said that Milo "is the closest I've come to animating a self portrait!"[1] 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 since 1995's Pocahontas to have a character of Native American descent, Dr. Joshua Sweet, in the roster of main characters. Atlantis was one of the last Disney films to include a smoking character, Packard, a minor character who consistently puffed a cigarette. According to co-director Kirk Wise, the character of Molière was originally very professorial, but one of the story artists changed the concept to that of a "horrible little burrowing creature with a wacky coat and strange headgear". Apparently, the character of Vinny was at first supposed to be slightly violent due to his profession, but that was changed, as were the mood swings the original character was supposed to go through. However,this was not completely edited out, as the final product character is still extremely sarcastic. He was also supposed to be surprisingly clumsy, as a comical contrast to the fact that he is a demolition expert. That was taken out because the aspect of some deaths being his fault and the character still being mentally stable was a stretch. There are some close calls in the movie the writers just couldn't resist,though. Vinny was created to be sort of a clash character with Milo. Viewers can see this succeeded, as they are exactly the same height, and their attitudes are completely different. [2] Not seen in the original film, but shown as an extra in the DVD release and the PC game, Atlantis: Trial by Fire, was a deleted scene that was intended to be an alternate beginning to the movie. This involves a Viking war party, in which the leader has the Shepherd's Journal, and is following the directions in order to find Atlantis and plunder it. However, the Vikings are swiftly dispatched by the Leviathan and the journal is thrown overboard. 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, because of its disappointing box office intake, 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. Milo Thatch, Princess Kida, Wilhemina Packard and Commander Rourke were featured as guests in House of Mouse. In addition, several video games were released for various consoles of the time, most notably the PC game, Atlantis: Trial by Fire. There were two main "campaigns" the game; Search For The Journal, which events surrounded the expedition to Iceland in order to find the journal. This segment of the game places the player as one of Rourke's mercenaries (or as the game simply states "Storm Troopers") and must fight their way through various obstacles and enemies, which are called "The Keepers". The player remains in constant radio contact throughout the game, along with the voices of most of the actors in the movie. The "reward" for finding the Journal is a trailer of the movie, also, the player can pilot the Whitmore Wing, as seen in the movie, the aircraft Rourke's mercenaries would use in their attempts to fight off Milo's attack. The second "campaign" of the game; Trial By Fire, takes place during the events of the movie, and the player takes on the role of Milo Thatch. The game follows the movie very closely, and the player goes from finding Atlantis to defending it. Atlantis: Trial by Fire also had a multiplayer component, which featured modes like death match, CTF, and air battles. It also included a 10 minute documentary on how the movie was made. The weaponry used in the film is mostly of the correct time period (1914) such as: the Lee-Enfield rifle, the Lewis Gun, the Broomhandle Mauser and a variant of the Luger (possibly an Artillery Luger pistol). Incorrectly, there are various models of Browning M-1919 .30 caliber light machine guns mounted to vehicles as well. [edit] ReactionAtlantis: The Lost Empire did moderately well at the US box office, making approximately $85 million dollars in its theatrical run,[3] although this is below its production cost of $120 million. The film eventually grossed more than $186 million worldwide[3] which covered the cost of the budget, however it was less successful than other Disney movies from around that time period. [edit] ReviewsAtlantis: The Lost Empire garnered mixed reviews from critics. On the Rotten Tomatoes cumulative review website, Atlantis: The Lost Empire earned a rating of 46% from all reviewers,[4] and a rating of 86% from the "top" reviewers.[5] The consensus stated that the film provided a fast-paced spectacle but lacked character development and a coherent plot.[4] Film critic Roger Ebert gave Atlantis three-and-half stars, indicating a very positive view of the film.[6] Ebert praised the animation's "clean bright visual look" and the "classic energy of the comic book style," and he credited this to the work of comic book artist Mike Mignola (creator of Hellboy). Ebert especially noted Mignola's influence on the "spectacular closing sequence" which he felt stood "by itself as one of the great animated action sequences.".[6] However, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C+ rating, writing that the movie had "gee-whiz formulaic character" and was "the essence of craft without dream."[7] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times noted the storyline and characterizations were "old-fashioned" and the movie had the retrograde look of a Saturday morning cartoon, but these deficiencies were offset by Atlantis's brisk frantic pace.[8] [edit] ControversySome viewers noted that Atlantis bore striking similarities to the popular 1990s Japanese anime television show, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. Similarities included character designs, story flow, and the background settings.[9] Although Kirk Wise, director of Atlantis, said that he and Trousdale were fans of anime,[10] he stated that he had not heard of Nadia when Atlantis was in production. Both the film and the TV show were inspired by the Jules Verne novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.[11] Also, the plot drew striking similarities to both Stargate and Titan A.E., specifically characters who had parallels to Stargate, Titan A.E., or both. [edit] Home releaseIt was released on VHS and DVD on January 29, 2002. The DVD was on a single-disc edition and a 2-Disc Collector's Edition with more Bonus Features. [edit] Awards and nominations
[edit] Video GamesMain articles: Atlantis The Lost Empire: Trial by Fire and Atlantis The Lost Empire: Search for the Journal Two separate video games based loosely on the film were released in 2001. Both were developed by Zombie Studios and published by Buena Vista Games. [edit] SoundtrackMain article: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (soundtrack) [edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
Categories: American films | English-language films | Atlantis: The Lost Empire | 2000s adventure films | 2000s science fiction films | 2001 films | Disney animated features canon | Fantasy adventure films | Fictional-language films | Films featuring anthropomorphic characters | Films set in the 1910s | Steampunk films | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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