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Atlantis: The Lost Empire - Full Cast & Crew

• 52   Metascore
• 2 hr 0 mins
• Family, Action & Adventure, Kids, Science Fiction
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A team of explorers searches for a mythical underwater world in this exciting Disney animated adventure. In 1914, awkward scholar Milo Thatch (voice of Michael J. Fox) plunges into high adventure when he looks for the lost city of Atlantis with a motley group led by a tough commander (voice of James Garner). Other voices include Cree Summer, John Mahoney and Leonard Nimoy.

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Assoc. producer, production company, art director, supervising sound editor, sound/sound designer, special effects, production designer.

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire

June 15, 2001

Action, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction

The world's most highly qualified crew of archaeologists and explorers are led by historian Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox) as they board the incredible 1,000-foot submarine Ulysses and head deep into the mysteries of the sea. The underwater expedition takes an unexpected turn when the team's mission must switch from exploring Atlantis to protecting it through friendship and teamwork.

Rated: PG Release Date: June 15, 2001

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The Voyage to Atlantis: The Lost Empire

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire

The world's most highly qualified crew of archaeologists and explorers are led by historian Milo Thatch as they board the incredible 1,000-foot submarine Ulysses and head deep into the mysteries of the sea. The underwater expedition takes an unexpected turn when the team's mission must switch from exploring Atlantis to protecting it. Filled with stunning visual effects, this captivating story is loaded with laughs and messages of friendship and teamwork.

Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Atlantis: the Lost Empire

Film details, brief synopsis, cast & crew, gary trousdale, patrick pinney, steven barr, phil morris, catherine bott, cree summer, technical specs.

It's the year 1914 and nerdish linguist Milo Thatcher has just received a treasured copy of "The Shepherd's Journal", a guide to finding the lost city of Atlantis from the wealthy Preston B. Whitmore, a friend of Milo's late explorer grandfather, Once Milo cracks the highly undecipherable language of the Atlantean people, Whitmore hires Commander Rourke and the beautiful Helga to lead a submarine expedition to find the legendary submerged civilization. However finding the city is only half the battle. Once they arrive in Atlantis, they must contend with an ancient king out to protect the land's mysterious crystal power source as well as his beautiful daughter, Princess Kida, from the unknown intentions of their new visitors.

Florence Stanley

Dessislava stafanova, sarah eyden, jacqueline obradors, john mahoney, corey burton, don novello, dawn heusser, natalie strom, liz constantine.

James Garner

Leonard nimoy.

Michael J. Fox

David ogden stiers, jim cummings, claudia christian, john aardal, gina aarniokoski, georges abolin, brett achorn, laurence adam-bessiere, janette adams, vince addante, sue adnopoz, meabh agnew, eileen aguirre, raul aguirre, jenny aleman-holman, joyce alexander, kathy alexander, marco allard, jonathan allen, lara wahlberg almond, paulo r alvarado, carmen regina alvarez, eric alvarez, todd h ammons, heidi marie andersen, jennifer ando, bill andres, alexandrea andrews, pete anthony, virgilio john aquino, john a armstrong, marcia arreola, barry atkinson, jeff atmajian, william f atwater, etienne aubert, kirk axtell, hans bacher, robert bagley, karen bailey, d jay baker, thomas baker, jean-luc ballester, lorenzo russell bambino, tom bancroft, marie-claude banville, anne marie bardwell, richard m barnes, tina lee barra, marko barrows, noreen beasley, jeff beazley, dale r beck, matthew jon beck, jennifer behnke, barbara bele, glenn c bell, george benavides, jawad benchikhi, frank bennett, sylvie bennett-fauque, lesley bentivegna, robert bergen, janet e berlin, david berthier, olivier besson, james c bette, peter bielicki, patricia billings, phyllis bird, steve blakey, cathy e blanco, russell blandino, allen blyth, robert edward boas, kirk bodyfelt, froydis boe, michael bolds, jamie kezlarian bolio, rik bomberger, daniel bond, nicolette bonnell, tamara j bonnell-truitt, roberta lee borchardt, janine boudreaux, claire bourdin, karen marcia boyd, charline f boyer, edward derian boyke, david braden, barri brennan, jo ann breuer, liza breuninger, aileen brimecombe, philippe briones, brad brooks, jennifer brown, sheila brown, robbie buchanan, bruce d. buckley, kirsten a bulmer, rodger bumpass, letha l burchard, david burgess, kimberly burk, james burks, brent burley, jennifer burns, scott burris, jason buske, robert buske, serge bussone, carlos cabral, joey calderon, ofra afuta calderon, tim campbell, scott caple, rudy cardenias-rios, judith a cardinale, mark r carlson, ryan l carlson, steven c carpenter, william t carpenter, john w carr, john k carr, hortensia m casagran, vicki l casper, erica cassetti, janice m caston, christenson m casugo, sally catic, michael cedeno, thierry chaffoin, lawrence chai, chen-yi chang, christophe charbonnel, christine chatal-poli, farouk cherfi, karen n china, rikki chobanian, tenny chonin, peter l chun, wesley chun, charles church, terry claborn, amy beth clark, peter clark, michael clay, casey clayton, garry kanawyer clingen, casey coffey, earl scott coffman, shawn colbeck, ray c coleman, karen comella, patti conklin, troy conrad, brandy contreras, tom corrigan, jesus cortes, annamarie costa, penny coulter, sarah ann crawford, travis crenshaw, coralie cudot-lissillour, lynnette e cullen, donna dubuc curtis, sherrie cuzzort, florida d'ambrosio, mike d'isa, missy dallas, patrick dalton, margie daniels, mathilde danton, jennifer darling, chris darroca, jamal m davis, jay n davis, maureen davis, miscellaneous notes.

Winner of the 2001 Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing - Animated Feature Film, Domestic and Foreign by the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE).

Expanded Release in United States June 15, 2001

Released in United States 2001

Released in United States on Video January 29, 2002

Released in United States Summer June 8, 2001

Shown at Tokyo International Film Festival (Closing Night) October 27 - November 4, 2001.

Released in United States 2001 (Shown at Tokyo International Film Festival (Closing Night) October 27 - November 4, 2001.)

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire

The hero of Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a terrifyingly enthusiastic young museum scholar named Milo who wears giant circular specs and talks (in the voice of Michael J. Fox) with a breakneck alacrity you rarely hear outside of cartoons. On a submarine voyage to find the mythical city of Atlantis, Milo is accompanied by a crew of ”colorful” assistants who babble on in the same tone of tireless jovial zeal; we might be watching ”20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” starring the cast of ”Scooby-Doo.” The sub reaches Atlantis, a series of ruins in paradise, but with its pristine cliffs and forests and waterfalls, the place just looks like the world’s most ancient biosphere.

Has my eye, seduced by the devious and tactile delights of ”Shrek,” already evolved in tandem with the technological leaps in computer animation? Or is ”Atlantis” simply a Disney dud? A bit of both, perhaps. But it does feel as if the studio’s animators are huffing and puffing to create new marvels out of an arsenal of image tropes — water flowing, lava erupting, earth cracking, a mystical crystal glowing — that we long ago gawked at and digested.

”Atlantis,” with its gee-whiz formulaic characters, is the essence of craft without dream, but the movie, in a strange way, is more personal than the artists who made it realize. Its real lost empire might almost be the day that hand drawn animation in the conventionally Colorform Disney style could still saturate us with wonder.

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a 2001 American  animated   science-fantasy   action - adventure film  created by  Walt Disney Feature Animation , marking the 41st entry in  Disney's animated features canon  and its first  science-fiction film . Written by  Tab Murphy , directed by  Gary Trousdale  and  Kirk Wise , and produced by  Don Hahn , the film features an ensemble cast with the voices of  Michael J. Fox ,  Cree Summer ,  James Garner ,  Leonard Nimoy ,  Don Novello ,  Phil Morris ,  Claudia Christian ,  Jacqueline Obradors ,  Jim Varney  (in his final role),  Florence Stanley ,  John Mahoney ,  David Ogden Stiers  and  Corey Burton . Set in 1914, the film tells the story of a young man who gains possession of a sacred book, which he believes will guide him and a crew of mercenaries to the lost city of  Atlantis .

Development of the film began after production had finished on  The Hunchback of Notre Dame  (1996). Instead of another  musical , the production team decided to do an action-adventure film inspired by the works of  Jules Verne .  Atlantis  was notable for adopting the distinctive visual style of comic book creator  Mike Mignola . The film made greater use of  computer-generated imagery  (CGI) than any of Disney's previous  traditionally animated  features, and it remains one of the few to have been shot in  anamorphic format .  Linguist   Marc Okrand   constructed  an  Atlantean language  specifically for use in  Atlantis .  James Newton Howard  provided the film's score. The film was released at a time when audience interest in animated films was shifting away from hand-drawn animation toward films with full CGI.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire  premiered at the  El Capitan Theatre  in  Hollywood, California  on June 3, 2001, and went into general release on June 15. Released by  Walt Disney Pictures ,  Atlantis  performed modestly at the box office. Budgeted at around $90-120 million, the film grossed over $186 million worldwide, $84 million of which was earned in North America. Due to the film's lackluster box office performance, Disney quietly canceled both a spin-off television series and an underwater attraction at its  Disneyland  theme park. Some critics praised it as a unique departure from typical Disney animated features, while others disliked it due to the unclear  target audience  and absence of songs.  Atlantis  was nominated for a number of awards, including seven  Annie Awards , and won Best Sound Editing at the 2002  Golden Reel Awards . The film was released on VHS and DVD on January 29, 2002, and on  Blu-ray  on June 11, 2013.  Atlantis  is considered to be a  cult favorite , due in part to Mignola's unique artistic influence. A direct-to-video sequel,  Atlantis: Milo's Return , was released in 2003.

• 3 Keepers of the Journal
• 4 Quotations (in Atlantean)
• 5.1.1 Language
• 5.2 Writing
• 5.3 Animation
• 5.4 Music and sound
• 6.1 Marketing and promotion
• 6.2 Soundtrack
• 6.3 Video games
• 6.4 Home media
• 7.1 Box office
• 7.2 Critical response
• 7.3 Themes and interpretations
• 7.4 Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water controversy
• 7.5 Accolades
• 8 Cancelled franchise
• 10 See also
• 11 References
• 12 External links

Many centuries ago, a  tsunami  threatens to drown the continent of  Atlantis . In the midst of an evacuation from the capital city, the Queen of Atlantis is caught by a strange, hypnotic blue light and lifted up into the "Heart of Atlantis," a powerful crystal protecting the city. The crystal consumes her and creates a dome barrier that defends the city's innermost district. She leaves behind her young daughter, Princess Kida, as the island sinks beneath the ocean. Her husband, King Kashekim Nedakh, is blinded during the event as he protects Kida from the light. The legacy of Atlantis disappears from existence henceforth to have been described by Plato in 360 B.C.

In 1914, Milo Thatch, a cartographer and linguist at the  Smithsonian Institution is marginalized for his research on Atlantis. Milo's late grandfather, Thaddeus Thatch, who was an archaeologist, had been scorned by the academic community remarking his conviction in Atlantis as disillusioned. Milo is determined to vindicate his grandfather's theory. He believes to have found the location of The Shepherd's Journal , an ancient manuscript that contains directions to the fabled lost continent preserved somewhere in Iceland . Though the museum board declines Milo's proposal to search for the Journal , a mysterious woman, Helga Sinclair, introduces Milo to Preston B. Whitmore, an eccentric millionaire, and lasting best friend of Milo's grandfather. Whitmore has already funded a successful effort to retrieve the Journal as repayment of a debt to Thaddeus, recruiting Milo to lead an expedition to Atlantis, as soon as he receives it. Milo immediately accepts the task. Whitmore also built a journeymen task force 200 - strong, equipped with military grade weapons and munitions.

The expedition departs with a specialist team led by Commander Lyle Rourke, who also led the Journal recovery expedition. Among the crew are Vinnie Santorini, the crew's Italian demolitions expert; Gaetan 'Mole' Molière, the borderline crazy geology specialist; Dr. Joshua Sweet, the ship's medical officer; Audrey Ramirez, the 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 . During the voyage, they come to a sight of ruined Vikings ships and are attacked by the monstrous  Leviathan , a robotic lobster-like creature that guards Atlantis. The  Ulysses  is subsequently destroyed, but Milo, Rourke, and a small complement of crewmembers escape sub-pods and a cargo hauler to a cavern, described in the Journal as the entrance to Atlantis.

After traveling through a network of caves and a dormant volcano, the team reaches the borders of Atlantis, where they are greeted by Kida and Atlanteans. However, Kida's father is not pleased with any outsiders, but agrees with Rourke for a one-night stay. Kida enlists Milo in deciphering the Atlantean written language and culture, long forgotten by the natives. By diving deep within the city's submerged ruins and translating underwater murals, Milo helps Kida uncover the nature of the Heart of Atlantis: it is a fragment of a comet that passed over the Earth and landed in 100,000 B.C. founded by Atlanteans that supplies the natives with longevity and technological advancements through the crystal shards worn around their necks. Milo is surprised this is not mentioned in the Journal but guesses a page is missing.

Returning to the surface with Kida, Milo found out Rourke has the missing page. Rourke and the crew are actually hired mercenaries, intending to bring the crystal to the surface and sell it. Rourke mortally beats Kashekim while trying to extract information of the crystal's location, instead finds it himself hidden beneath the king's throne room. The crystal detects a threat and merges with Kida, whom Rourke and the mercenaries lock in a crate, and then prepare to leave the city. Knowing that when the crystal is gone the Atlanteans will die, Milo berates the crew for renouncing their consciences, and ultimately convinces Sweet, Audrey, Vinny, Mole, Cookie, and Packard to leave Rourke and remain in Atlantis. Kashekim explains to Milo that the crystal has developed a consciousness; it thrives on the collective emotions of the Atlanteans and will find a royal host when Atlantis is in danger. He then reveals that the sinking of Atlantis was caused when he attempted to use it as a weapon of war, so he hid the crystal to prevent history from repeating itself and Kida suffering the same fate as her mother. As he dies, he gives his crystal to Milo, entrusting him to save Atlantis and Kida. Milo rallies the crew and Atlanteans to stop Rourke by teaching them how to operate Ketaks, stone combat vehicles powered by means of energy components with crystal shards, Kida shown him earlier.

In the ensuing battle inside the volcano, Rourke's men blown a hole through the top of the volcano and attempt to fly out on a zeppelin-like balloon, Milo crashes his Ketak to make it lose altitude but ends up fighting Rourke who gets the balloon ascending again. A dying Helga uses the last of her strength to get back at Rourke for betraying her and fires a flare gun destroying the balloon to descend permanently. Rourke and his mercenaries are all killed. Milo survives and the others successfully retrieve and fly the crystal back to the city, when a huge impact of the balloon causes the volcano to erupt. With lava flowing towards the city, Kida (in her crystal form) rises into the air and creates a  protective shield . The lava freezes and breaks away harmlessly, showing a restored Atlantis and the crystal returns Kida to Milo. Having fallen in love with Kida, Milo becomes the new king of Atlantis, along with Kida as the next queen, and stays behind to help her rebuild the lost empire. The surviving crew members return to the surface, donned with crystal shards and rewarded with piles of gold, promising to keep the discovery of Atlantis a secret. Whitmore received a package from Milo on behalf of helping his family realize their dream. Milo completes the construction of a stone effigy of Kashekim to join the other past kings orbiting the Heart of Atlantis as it once again hovers above the newly improved city.

• Milo James Thatch (voiced by Michael J. Fox ) — A cartographer and linguist, and 12th (current) King of Atlantis.
• Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh (voiced by Cree Summer) — The 8,500-year-old princess of Atlantis and (current) Queen Matriarch Savior of Atlantis.
• Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke (voiced by James Garner) — An army commander and expedition leader.
• Gaetan "Mole" Moliére (voiced by Corey Burton) — A French geologist.
• Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini (voiced by Don Novello) — An Italian demolitions expert.
• Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet (voiced by Phil Morris) — An African-American medical officer.
• Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair (voiced by Claudia Christian) — Rourke's second-in-command.
• Audrey Rocio Ramirez (voiced by Jacqueline Obradors) — A young Hispanic mechanic.
• King Kashekim Nedakh (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) — Princess Kida's father and 11th King of Atlantis.
• Preston B. Whitmore (voiced by John Mahoney) — An eccentric millionaire and an old friend of Milo's grandfather.
• Wilhelmina Bertha Packard (voiced by Florence Stanley) — A communications expert.
• Jedidiah Allardyce "Cookie" Farnsworth (voiced by Jim Varney ) — A cook.
• Fenton Q. Harcourt (voiced by David Ogden Stiers ) — Milo's boss at the Smithsonian Institution.

Keepers of the Journal [ ]

At some point between the sinking of Atlantis (6586 B.C.) and when Solon first hears about the lost continent (640 B.C.), Aziz, a nomadic shepherd, happened upon a deep schism in the earth. Over a two year period, Aziz learned about it's culture, language, and, most of all, the crystals that serve as their power source. As King Kashekim Nedakh would have had outsiders killed on sight to protect Atlantis, the shepherd would conduct his research as secretly and discreetly as possible. Upon returning to the surface, Aziz was declared a madman and sent to an asylum. While imprisoned, he wrote down on numerous scrolls about his discovery in great detail. However, he document all of this in the Atlantean Language and thus they would be immediately dismissed as incomprehensible scribbles. These writings originally be christened The Scrolls of Aziz, but it later be converted into a book known as The Shepherd's Journal .

A secret society founded in the year 997 AD soon after a failed attempt by a Viking expedition to find Atlantis with the aid of the Shepherd's Journal , when their longboat was destroyed by the Leviathan and the crew lost except for one survivor Thorfinn Karlsefni . Thorfinn vowed to find the Journal , which had been lost in the incident, and preserve it to its rightful home in Iceland. After Milo becomes the new king of Atlantis, he would used the Journal as an educational guide for the natives thanks to Aziz's records.

Quotations (in Atlantean) [ ]

• Atlantean Pilot #1 : "NEE-puk! GWEE-sit TEE-rid MEH-gid-leh-men!" ("You fool! You've destroyed us all!")
• Atlantean Pilot #2 : "Shoam KOO-leh-beh-toat! LOO-den-tem WEE-luhg KAH-behr-seh-kem!" ("It's gaining! We have to warn the city!")
• Atlantean Pilot #2 (cont'd): "Nahl YOH-deh-neh-toat!" ("Too late! AAAAAAAGHHH!")
• Additional Pilots : "GWEE-sit khoab-DEH-sheh-toat! SOH-lesh-tem MOO-tih-lihm-kem!" ("We're doomed! All is lost!")
• Princess Kida : "MAH-tihm!" ("Mother!")
• Princess Kida : "Deh-GEEM, TAH-neb-toap. Way-DAH-go-sen NEH-bet behr-NOH-tib-mick." ("Greetings, Your Highness. I have brought the visitors.")
• King Kashekim Nedakh : "MOAKH TAH-mar GWEE-sin puhn-NEB-leh-nen KEE-duh-toap. WEEL-tem neb GAH-moh-seh-toat deg DOO-weh-ren TEE-rid." ("You know the law, Kida. No outsiders may see the city and live.")
• Princess Kida : "TAHB-toap, LOO-den NEH-bet kwahm GEH-soo BOH-geh-kem deg YAH-seh-ken GEH-soo-goan-tokh." ("Father, these people may be able to help us.")
• King Kashekim Nedakh : "GWEES DOH-sep-tem SOH-bin kwahm AH-lih-teh-kem." ("We do not need their help.")
• Princess Kida : "Uhd TAHB-toap..." ("But Father...")
• King Kashekim Nedakh : "Puh-SEEL-leh-toat. TAH-ges DOH-tesh-tem neb YOO-teh-poan-kem." ("That is enough. We will discuss this later.")
• Princess Kida : "MOH-khit GWEH-noag-loh-nick!" ("I will kill you for that!")
• Princess Kida : "NEE-shen-toap AHD-luhn-tih-suhg, KEH-loab-tem GAHB-rihn KAH-roak-lih-mihk bet gihm DEH-moat-tem net GEH-tuh-noh-sen-tem behr-NOAT-lih-mihk bet KAH-gihb LEH-wihd-yoakh." ("Spirits of Atlantis, forgive me for defiling your chambers and bringing intruders into the land.")
• Princess Kida : "SOH-lesh MAH-toh-noat, MY-loh THATCH-toap. Kwahm TEH-red-seh-nen." ("All will be well, Milo Thatch. Be not afraid.")

Production [ ]

Development [ ].

The idea for  Atlantis: The Lost Empire  was conceived in October 1996 when  Don Hahn ,  Gary Trousdale ,  Kirk Wise , and Tab Murphy lunched at a Mexican restaurant in  Burbank, California . Having recently completed  The Hunchback of Notre Dame  the producer and directors wanted to keep the  Hunchback  crew together for another film with an  Adventureland  setting. Drawing inspiration from  Jules Verne 's  A Journey to the Center of the Earth  (1864), they set out to make a film which would fully explore  Atlantis  (compared to the brief visit depicted in Verne's novel). While primarily utilizing the Internet to research the mythology of Atlantis, the filmmakers became interested in the  clairvoyant  readings of  Edgar Cayce  and decided to incorporate some of his ideas—notably that of a mother-crystal which provides power, healing, and longevity to the Atlanteans—into the story. They also visited museums and old army installations to study the technology of the early 20th century (the film's time period), and traveled 800 feet underground in New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns to view the subterranean trails which would serve as a model for the approach to Atlantis in the film.

The filmmakers wanted to avoid the common depiction of Atlantis as "crumbled Greek columns underwater", said Wise. [26 ]  "From the get-go, we were committed to designing it top to bottom. Let's get the architectural style, clothing, heritage, customs, how they would sleep, and how they would speak. So we brought people on board who would help us develop those ideas." [27 ]  Art director David Goetz stated, "We looked at  Mayan architecture , styles of ancient, unusual architecture from around the world, and the directors really liked the look of Southeast Asian architecture." [28 ]  The team later took ideas from other architectural forms, including  Cambodian ,  Indian , and  Tibetan  works. [29 ]  Hahn added, "If you take and deconstruct architecture from around the world into one architectural vocabulary, that's what our Atlantis looks like." [30 ]  The overall design and  circular  layout of Atlantis were also based on the writings of  Plato , [29 ]  and his quote "in a single day and night of misfortune, the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea" [31 ]  was influential from the beginning of production. [20 ]  The crew wore  T-shirts  which read "ATLANTIS—Fewer songs, more explosions" due the film's plan as an  action-adventure  (unlike previous Disney animated features, which were  musicals ). [32 ]

Language [ ]

Marc Okrand , who developed the  Klingon language  for the  Star Trek  television and theatrical productions, was hired to devise the Atlantean language for  Atlantis: The Lost Empire . Guided by the directors' initial concept for it to be a " mother-language ", Okrand employed an  Indo-European  word stock with its own  grammatical structure . He would change the words if they began to sound too much like an actual, spoken language. [27 ]  John Emerson designed the written component, making hundreds of random sketches of individual letters from among which the directors chose the best to represent the Atlantean alphabet. [33 ] [34 ]  The written language was  boustrophedon : designed to be read left-to-right on the first line, then right-to-left on the second, continuing in a zigzag pattern to simulate the flow of water. [7 ]

Writing [ ]

Joss Whedon  was the first writer to be involved with the film but soon left to work on other Disney projects. According to him, he "had not a shred" in the movie. [36 ]   Tab Murphy  completed the screenplay, stating that the time from initially discussing the story to producing a script that satisfied the film crew was "about three to four months". [37 ]  The initial draft was 155 pages, much longer than a typical Disney film script (which usually runs 90 pages). When the first two acts were timed at 120 minutes, the directors cut characters and sequences and focused more on Milo. Murphy said that he created the centuries-old  Shepherd's Journal  because he needed a map for the characters to follow throughout their journey. [38 ]  A revised version of the script eliminated the trials encountered by the explorers as they navigated the caves to Atlantis. This gave the film a faster pace because Atlantis is discovered earlier in the story. [39 ]

The directors often described the Atlanteans using  Egypt  as an example. When  Napoleon  wandered into Egypt, the people had lost track of their once-great civilization. They were surrounded by artifacts of their former greatness but somehow unaware of what they meant

The character of Milo J. Thatch was originally supposed to be a descendant of Edward Teach, otherwise known as  Blackbeard  the pirate. The directors later related him to an explorer so he would discover his inner talent for exploration. [41 ]  The character of Molière was originally intended to be "professorial" but Chris Ure, a story artist, changed the concept to that of a "horrible little burrowing creature with a wacky coat and strange headgear with extending eyeballs", said Wise. [42 ] [43 ]  Don Hahn pointed out that the absence of songs presented a challenge for a team accustomed to animating musicals, as solely action scenes would have to carry the film. Kirk Wise said it gave the team an opportunity for more on-screen character development: "We had more screen time available to do a scene like where Milo and the explorers are camping out and learning about one another's histories. An entire sequence is devoted to having dinner and going to bed. That is not typically something we would have the luxury of doing." [27 ]

Hahn stated that the first animated sequence completed during production was the film's  prologue . The original version featured a  Viking  war party using  The Shepherd's Journal  to find Atlantis and being swiftly dispatched by the Leviathan. Near the end of production, story supervisor John Sanford told the directors that he felt this prologue did not give viewers enough emotional involvement with the Atlanteans. Despite knowing that the Viking prologue was finished and it would cost additional time and money to alter the scene, the directors agreed with Sanford. Trousdale went home and completed the  storyboards  later that evening. The opening was replaced by a sequence depicting the destruction of Atlantis, which introduced the film from the perspective of the Atlanteans and Princess Kida. [44 ]  The Viking prologue is included as an extra feature on the  DVD release . [45 ]

Animation [ ]

At the peak of its production, 350 animators, artists and technicians were working on  Atlantis [46 ]  at all three Disney animation studios:  Walt Disney Feature Animation  ( Burbank, California ),  Disney Feature Animation Florida  ( Orlando ), and  Disney Animation France  (Paris). [47 ]  The film was one of the few Disney animated features produced and shot in  35mm   anamorphic format . The directors felt that a widescreen image was crucial, as a nostalgic reference to old action-adventure films presented in the  CinemaScope  format (2.39:1), noting  Raiders of the Lost Ark  as an inspiration. [48 ]  Because switching to the format would require animation desks and equipment designed for widescreen to be purchased, Disney executives were at first reluctant about the idea. [27 ]  The production team found a simple solution by drawing within a smaller frame on the same paper and equipment used for standard  aspect ratio  (1.66:1) Disney-animated films. [48 ]  Layout supervisor Ed Ghertner wrote a guide to the widescreen format for use by the layout artists and mentioned that one advantage of widescreen was that he could keep characters in scenes longer because of additional space to walk within the frame. [49 ]  Wise drew further inspiration for the format from filmmakers  David Lean  and  Akira Kurosawa . [27 ]

The film's visual style was strongly based upon that of  Mike Mignola , the comic book artist behind  Hellboy . Mignola was one of four production designers (along with Matt Codd, Jim Martin, and  Ricardo Delgado ) hired by the Disney studio for the film. Accordingly, he provided style guides, preliminary character and background designs, and story ideas. [50 ]  "Mignola's graphic, angular style was a key influence on the 'look' of the characters," stated Wise. [51 ]  Mignola was surprised when first contacted by the studio to work on  Atlantis . [52 ]  His artistic influence on the film would later contribute to a  cult following . [53 ]

The final pull-out scene of the movie, immediately before the end-title card, was described by the directors as the most difficult scene in the history of Disney animation. They said that the pullout attempt on their prior film,  The Hunchback of Notre Dame , "struggled" and "lacked depth"; however, after making advances in the process of  multiplaning , they tried the technique again in  Atlantis . The scene begins with one 16-inch (40.5 cm) piece of paper showing a close-up of Milo and Kida. As the camera pulls away from them to reveal the newly restored Atlantis, it reaches the equivalent of an 18,000-inch (45,720 cm) piece of paper composed of many individual pieces of paper (24 inches [61 cm] or smaller). Each piece was carefully drawn and combined with animated vehicles simultaneously flying across the scene to make the viewer see a complete, integrated image. [54 ]

At the time of its release,  Atlantis: The Lost Empire  was notable for using more  computer-generated imagery  (CGI) than any other Disney traditionally animated feature. To increase productivity, the directors had the digital artists work with the  traditional animators  throughout the production. Several important scenes required heavy use of digital animation: the Leviathan, the  Ulysses  submarine and sub-pods, the Heart of Atlantis, and the Stone Giants. [56 ]  During production, after Matt Codd and Jim Martin designed the  Ulysses  on paper, Greg Aronowitz was hired to build a scale model of the submarine, to be used as a reference for drawing the 3D  Ulysses . [55 ]  The final film included 362 digital-effects shots, and computer programs were used to seamlessly join the 2D and 3D artwork. [57 ]  One scene that took advantage of this was the "sub-drop" scene, where the 3D  Ulysses  was dropped from its docking bay into the water. As the camera floated toward it, a 2D Milo was drawn to appear inside, tracking the camera. The crew noted that it was challenging to keep the audience from noticing the difference between the 2D and 3D drawings when they were merged. [58 ]  The digital production also gave the directors a unique " virtual camera " for complicated shots within the film. With the ability to operate in the z-plane, this camera moved through a digital  wire-frame set ; the background and details were later hand-drawn over the wire frames. This was used in the opening flight scene through Atlantis and the submarine chase through the undersea cavern with the Leviathan in pursuit. [59 ]

Music and sound [ ]

Since the film would not feature any songs, the directors hired  James Newton Howard  to compose the  score . Approaching it as a live-action film, Howard decided to have different musical themes for the cultures of the surface world and Atlantis. In the case of Atlantis, Howard chose an  Indonesian orchestral sound  incorporating chimes, bells, and gongs. The directors told Howard that the film would have a number of key scenes without dialogue; the score would need to convey emotionally what the viewer was seeing on screen. [60 ]

Gary Rydstrom  and his team at  Skywalker Sound  were hired for the film's  sound production . [61 ]  Like Howard, Rydstrom employed different sounds for the two cultures. Focusing on the machine and mechanical sounds of the early industrial era for the explorers, he felt that the Atlanteans should have a "more organic" sound utilizing ceramics and pottery. The sound made by the Atlantean flying-fish vehicles posed a particular challenge. Rydstrom revealed that he was sitting at the side of a highway recording one day when a  semi-truck  drove by at high speed. When the recording was sped up on his computer he felt it sounded very organic, and that is what is heard within the film. Rydstrom created the  harmonic  chiming of the Heart of Atlantis by rubbing his finger along the edge of a champagne flute, and the sound of sub-pods moving through water with a  water pick .

Release [ ]

Atlantis: The Lost Empire had its world premiere at Disney's El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on June 3, 2001 [1] and a limited release in New York City and Los Angeles on June 8; a wider release followed on June 15. [2] [3] At the premiere, Destination: Atlantis was on display, featuring behind-the-scenes props from the film and information on the legend of Atlantis with video games, displays, laser tag, and other attractions. The Aquarium of the Pacific also loaned a variety of fish for display within the attraction. [4]

Marketing and promotion [ ]

Atlantis was among Disney's first major attempts to utilize internet marketing . The film was promoted through Kellogg's , which created a website with mini-games and a movie-based video game give-away for UPC labels from specially marked packages of Atlantis breakfast cereal. [5] The film was one of Disney's first marketing attempts through mobile network operators , and allowed users to download games based on the film. [6] McDonald's (which had an exclusive licensing agreement on all Disney releases) promoted the film with Happy Meal toys, food packaging and in-store decor. The McDonald's advertising campaign involved television, radio, and print advertisements beginning on the film's release date. [7] Frito-Lay offered free admission tickets for the film on specially marked snack packages. [8]

Soundtrack [ ]

The soundtrack to Atlantis: The Lost Empire was released on May 22, 2001. It consists primarily of James Newton Howard's score and includes " Where the Dream Takes You ", written by Howard and Diane Warren and performed by Mýa . It was also available in a limited edition of 20,000 numbered copies with a unique 3D album cover insert depicting the Leviathan from the film. A rare promotional edition (featuring 73 minutes of material, compared to the 53 minutes on standard commercial editions) was intended only for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters but was bootlegged and distributed with fan-created artwork. Concerning the promotional edition, Filmtracks said, "Outside of about five minutes of superior additional material (including the massive opening, "Atlantis Destroyed"), the complete presentation is mostly redundant. Still, Atlantis is an accomplished work for its genre." [9]

Video games [ ]

Template:Video game reviews There are several video games based on the film. Atlantis The Lost Empire: Search for the Journal (commonly known as Atlantis: Search for the Journal ) was developed by Zombie Studios and published by Buena Vista Games , a subsidiary of Disney Interactive . It was released on May 1, 2001, for the Microsoft Windows platform and was a first-person shooter game, the first of two games based on the film developed by Zombie Studios and released for UPC labels from Kellogg's products for promotion. [10] [11] Atlantis: The Lost Empire—Trial by Fire (commonly known as Atlantis: Trial by Fire ) was the second game developed by Zombie Studios and published by Disney Interactive, and was released May 18, 2001, for the Microsoft Windows platform. [12]

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is an action game developed by Eurocom for the PlayStation console which was released June 14, 2001. The player controls Milo, Audrey, Molière, Kida and Vinny as they traverse Atlantis, unlocking its secrets. Some features in the game unlock others (such as a movie) by finding items hidden throughout the game. [13] THQ released Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire for the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color . It is a platform game in which the player controls Milo and three other characters from the film across 14 levels on a quest to discover Atlantis. [14] [15] [16] The game was met with average to mixed reviews upon release. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 74% and 73 out of 100 for the PlayStation version; [17] [18] 65% for the Game Boy Color version; [19] and 56% and 51 out of 100 for the Game Boy Advance version. [20] [21]

Home media [ ]

Atlantis: The Lost Empire was released on VHS and DVD January 29, 2002. [22] During the first month of its home release, the film led in VHS sales and was third in VHS and DVD sales combined. [23] Sales and rentals of the VHS and DVD combined would eventually accumulate $157 million in revenue by mid-2003. [24] Both a single-disc DVD edition and a two-disc collector's edition (with bonus features) were released. The single-disc DVD gave the viewer the option of viewing the film either in its original theatrical 2.35:1 aspect ratio or a modified 1.33:1 ratio (utilizing pan and scan ). Bonus features available on the DVD version included audio and visual commentary from the film team, a virtual tour of the CGI models, an Atlantean-language tutorial, an encyclopedia on the myth of Atlantis, and the deleted Viking prologue scene. [22] The two-disc collector's edition DVD contained all the single-disc features and a disc with supplemental material detailing all aspects of the film's production. The collector's-edition film could only be viewed in its original theatrical ratio, and also featured an optional DTS 5.1 track. Both DVD versions, however, contained a Dolby Digital 5.1 track and were THX certified. [22] [25] Disney digitally remastered and released Atlantis on Blu-ray on June 11, 2013, bundled with its sequel Atlantis: Milo's Return . [26]

Reception [ ]

Box office [ ].

Before the film's release, reporters speculated that it would have a difficult run due to competition from DreamWorks ' Shrek (a wholly CGI feature) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (an action-adventure film from Paramount Pictures ). Regarding the market's shift from traditional animation and competition with CGI films, Kirk Wise said, "Any traditional animator, including myself, can't help but feel a twinge. I think it always comes down to story and character, and one form won't replace the other. Just like photography didn't replace painting. But maybe I'm blind to it." [3] Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly noted that CGI films (such as Shrek ) were more likely to attract the teenage demographic typically not interested in animation, and called Atlantis a "marketing and creative gamble". [27]

With a budget of $100 million, [28] the film opened at #2 on its debut weekend, behind Lara Croft: Tomb Raider earning $20.3 million in 3,011 theaters. [29] The film's international release began September 20 in Australia and other markets followed suit. [30] During its 25-week theatrical run, Atlantis: The Lost Empire grossed over $186 million worldwide ($84 million from the United States and Canada). [2] Responding to its disappointing box-office performance, Thomas Schumacher , then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, said, "It seemed like a good idea at the time to not do a sweet fairy tale, but we missed." [31]

Critical response [ ]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 49% of 143 professional critics have given Atlantis: The Lost Empire a positive review; the average rating is 5.51/10. [32] The site's consensus is: " Atlantis provides a fast-paced spectacle, but stints on such things as character development and a coherent plot". [32] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 52 out of 100 based on 29 reviews from mainstream critics; this was considered "mixed or average reviews". [33] CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend revealed the average grade cinema-goers gave Atlantis: The Lost Empire was an "A" on an A+-to-F scale. [34]

While critics had mixed reactions to the film in general, some praised it for its visuals, action-adventure elements, and its attempt to appeal to an older audience. Roger Ebert gave Atlantis three-and-a-half stars out of four. He praised the animation's "clean bright visual look" and the "classic energy of the comic book style", crediting this to the work of Mike Mignola. Ebert gave particular praise to the story and the final battle scene and wrote, "The story of Atlantis is rousing in an old pulp science fiction sort of way, but the climactic scene transcends the rest, and stands by itself as one of the great animated action sequences." [35] In The New York Times , Elvis Mitchell gave high praise to the film, calling it "a monumental treat", and stated, " Atlantis is also one of the most eye-catching Disney cartoons since Uncle Walt institutionalized the four-fingered glove." [36] Internet film critic James Berardinelli wrote a positive review of the film, giving it three out of four stars. He wrote, "On the whole, Atlantis offers 90 minutes of solid entertainment, once again proving that while Disney may be clueless when it comes to producing good live-action movies, they are exactly the opposite when it comes to their animated division." [37] Wesley Morris of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote positively of the film's approach for an older audience: "But just beneath the surface, Atlantis brims with adult possibility." [38]

Other critics felt that the film was mediocre in regards to its story and characters, and that it failed to deliver as a non-musical to Disney's traditional audience. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C+ rating, writing that the film had "gee-whiz formulaic character" and was "the essence of craft without dream". [39] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said the storyline and characterizations were "old-fashioned" and the film had the retrograde look of a Saturday-morning cartoon, but these deficiencies were offset by its "brisk action" and frantic pace. [40] Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote, "Disney pushes into all-talking, no-singing, no-dancing and, in the end, no-fun animated territory." [41] Stephanie Zacharek of Salon wrote of Disney's attempt to make the film for an adult audience, "The big problem with Disney's latest animated feature, Atlantis: The Lost Empire , is that it doesn't seem geared to kids at all: It's so adult that it's massively boring." [42] Rita Kempley of The Washington Post panned the film, calling it a "new-fashioned but old-fangled hash" and wrote, "Ironically Disney had hoped to update its image with this mildly diverting adventure, yet the picture hasn't really broken away from the tried-and-true format spoofed in the far superior Shrek ." [43]

Themes and interpretations [ ]

Several critics and scholars have noted that Atlantis plays strongly on themes of anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism . M. Keith Booker, academic and author of studies about the implicit messages conveyed by media, views the character of Rourke as being motivated by "capitalist greed" when he pursues "his own financial gain" in spite of the knowledge that "his theft [of the crystal] will lead to the destruction of [Atlantis]". [44] Religion journalist Mark Pinsky, in his exploration of moral and spiritual themes in popular Disney films, says that "it is impossible to read the movie ... any other way" than as "a devastating, unrelenting attack on capitalism and American imperialism ". [45] Max Messier of FilmCritic.com observes, "Disney even manages to lambast the capitalist lifestyle of the adventurers intent on uncovering the lost city. Damn the imperialists!" [46] According to Booker, the film also "delivers a rather segregationist moral" by concluding with the discovery of the Atlanteans kept secret from other surface-dwellers in order to maintain a separation between the two highly divergent cultures. [47] Others saw Atlantis as an interesting look at utopian philosophy of the sort found in classic works of science fiction by H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. [48]

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water controversy [ ]

When the film was released, some viewers noticed that Atlantis: The Lost Empire bore a number of similarities to the 1990–1991 Japanese anime television program Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water , particularly in its character design, setting, and story. [49] The similarities, as noted by viewers in both Japan and America, were strong enough for its production company Gainax to be called to sue for plagiarism . According to Gainax member Yasuhiro Takeda , they only refrained from doing so because the decision belonged to parent companies NHK and Toho . [50] Another Gainax worker, Hiroyuki Yamaga , was quoted in an interview in 2000 as: "We actually tried to get NHK to pick a fight with Disney, but even the National Television Network of Japan didn't dare to mess with Disney and their lawyers. [...] We actually did say that but we wouldn't actually take them to court. We would be so terrified about what they would do to them in return that we wouldn’t dare." [50]

Although Disney never responded formally to those claims, co-director Kirk Wise posted on a Disney animation newsgroup in May 2001, "Never heard of Nadia till it was mentioned in this [newsgroup]. Long after we'd finished production, I might add." He claimed both Atlantis and Nadia were inspired, in part, by the 1870 Jules Verne novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea . [51] However, speaking about the clarification, Lee Zion from Anime News Network wrote, "There are too many similarities not connected with 20,000 Leagues for the whole thing to be coincidence." [52] As such, the whole affair ultimately entered popular culture as a convincing case of plagiarism. [53] [54] [55] In 2018, Reuben Baron from Comic Book Resources added to Zion's comment stating, "Verne didn't specifically imagine magic crystal-based technology, something featured in both the Disney movie and the two similar anime. The Verne inspiration also doesn't explain the designs being suspiciously similar to Nadia ' s." [55]

Critics also saw parallels with the 1986 film Laputa: Castle in the Sky from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli . Atlantis directors Trousdale and Kirk both acknowledged Miyazaki's works as a major influence on their own work. [49] Critics also drew parallels with the 1994 film Stargate . Milo's characteristics were said to resemble those of Daniel Jackson , the protagonist of Stargate and its spinoff television series Stargate SG-1 —which coincidentally launched its own spinoff, titled Stargate Atlantis . [56]

Accolades [ ]

Cancelled franchise [ ].

Atlantis: the Lost Empire was meant to provide a springboard for an animated television series entitled Team Atlantis , which would have presented the further adventures of its characters. However, because of the film's under-performance at the box office, the series was not produced. On May 20, 2003, Disney released a direct-to-video sequel called Atlantis: Milo's Return , consisting of three episodes planned for the aborted series. [64] In addition, Disneyland planned to revive its Submarine Voyage ride with an Atlantis theme with elements from the movie and the ride was promoted with a meet-and-greet by the movie's characters. These plans were canceled and the attraction was re-opened in 2007 as the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage , its theme based on the 2003 Disney · Pixar animated film Finding Nemo , which was far more successful commercially and critically. [65]

• The flying craft in the movie are remarkably similar to the Vimana, ancient aircraft appearing in texts of ancient India, the concept of which was rumored to have been adapted by the Atlanteans into their own craft.
• Eason Chan and Karen Mok provided the voice of Milo and Kida respectively in the Cantonese version of the film.
• 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.
• After Milo gets seasick on the first ship, his line, "Carrots? Why are there always carrots? I didn't even eat carrots!" was ad-libbed by Michael J. Fox .
• Because the movie was planned out as an action/adventure, the production crew wore T-shirts to work that read "ATLANTIS - Fewer songs, more explosions."
• The written Atlantean language is to be read left to right, drop down a line, and read right to left, continuing this cycle. It was done to create a flowing, water-like movement reminiscent of the Atlantean culture. This style, called boustrophedon, was also how Ancient Greek was written.
• 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.
• At the tattoo parlor in the Atlantean city, there is a sign that says "EAT FISH."
• The spiral "Atlantis" symbol can be found hidden in many places in the movie, particularly because it is supposed to substitute for the letter "A."
• 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.
• This was the first Disney animated feature to receive a PG rating since The Black Cauldron , 16 years earlier (although The Nightmare Before Christmas , James and the Giant Peach , and Dinosaur were rated PG, they are not usually put in the canon of Disney animated features).
• This would start a series of several Disney animated features rated PG, including Lilo & Stitch , Treasure Planet , and Home on the Range . Ironically, The Princess Diaries which released that year was rated G, something rare in a live-action film at the time (most of the Disney live-action films at that time were almost always rated PG). Unfortunately, none of these PG-rated Disney animated features (except for Lilo & Stitch ) turn out to be successful.
• When Helga is hitting the ground, there is not blood and gore visible in Disney movies. It most likely that Blood and gore were censored that it would disturbing for young children.
• The teaser trailer was attached to Dinosaur on May 2000 in theatres and the scene shows the Vikings were edited out in the movie.
• The alternate scene is Helga is consumed by lava and burned to death May upset young children so it would be removed so it was very scared for Disney movies.
• The Ulysses is reminiscent of the Nautilus from the 1954 version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea .
• In Preston B. Whitmore's office, there are coelacanths swimming in the tank behind him, but coelacanths were not officially discovered until 1938 , while the film is set in 1914.
• This was Disney 's first 70 mm film since The Black Cauldron .
• According to the writings of philosopher Plato dating back to 360 B.C., "...in a single day and night of misfortune, the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea."
• 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 to study World War I-era clothing and machinery, and toured old army installations to look at submarines and tanks. 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.
• More recently, the Doge's Elite Guards unit from the 2006 real-time strategy computer game Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends seem to be modeled after the soldiers from the Ulysses ' crew, though it is unknown whether Big Huge Games intended to model the unit after them.
• Jim Varney (the voice of 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 that scene.
• 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 Atlantean King bears a striking resemblance to Yensid, the sorcerer in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from Fantasia .
• Originally, the final battle was to be only on land, but the creators decided put the action in the air to create a more dramatic sequence.
• When the surface-dwellers first meet the Atlanteans, the Atlanteans address them in French , Spanish , Italian , Hebrew, German , Greek, Chinese, and Taiwanese. Milo speaks to them in Atlantean, Latin, and French.
• 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.
• Whitmore crosses his fingers behind his back during the launch of the Ulysses , denoting that he is not fully confident of this.
• Despite being a princess, Kida is not considered one of the official Disney Princesses. This is most likely due to the lack of commercial success of the film.

See also [ ]

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

References [ ]

• ↑ World Premiere of Walt Disney Pictures' ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE – Update . Yahoo! (June 1, 2001). Retrieved on September 22, 2011.
• ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BOM
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named USAToday
• ↑ Moseley, Doobie (June 15, 2001). Destination: Atlantis at the El Capitan . LaughingPlace.com. Retrieved on September 1, 2011.
• ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Raugust 2004
• ↑ Steinbock, Dan (2007). The Mobile Revolution: The Making of Mobile Services Worldwide . Kogan Page , 158, 304. ISBN 978-0-7494-4850-9 .  
• ↑ McDonald's Dives into Disney's Atlantis . QSR Magazine . Journalistic, Inc. (June 11, 2001). Retrieved on September 1, 2011.
• ↑ Teninge, Annick (June 21, 2001). Cheetos Lovers Get Tickets To Atlantis . Animation World Network . Retrieved on April 23, 2012.
• ↑ Adams, Dan (April 2, 2001). Atlantis: The Lost Empire—Search for the Journal (PC) . Retrieved on May 15, 2014.
• ↑ IGN Staff (April 27, 2001). CDs 'n' Cereal . Retrieved on May 15, 2014.
• ↑ Adams, Dan (June 7, 2001). Atlantis: The Lost Empire—Trial by Fire (PC) . Retrieved on August 8, 2011.
• ↑ Zdyrko, David (July 17, 2001). Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire (PlayStation) . Retrieved on May 15, 2014.
• ↑ THQ Ships ``Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire for Game Boy Advance . Berkshire Hathaway (September 28, 2001). Retrieved on June 14, 2019.
• ↑ Atlantis: The Lost Empire . GameSpy . Retrieved on May 15, 2014.
• ↑ Atlantis: The Lost Empire - Game Boy Color . Retrieved on May 15, 2014.
• ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GRPS
• ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named MCPS
• ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GRGBC
• ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GRGBA
• ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named MCGBA
• ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Atlantis: The Lost Empire . Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment . Retrieved on August 8, 2011.
• ↑ McCourt, Judith (February 28, 2002). DVD Sales Explode in January as VHS Wanes . Home Media Magazine . Retrieved on August 29, 2011.
• ↑ Vancheri; Weiskind 2003 p. D–2 "Consider what happened with Atlantis: The Lost Empire . It earned $84 million at the box office and rebounded with another $157 million in DVD and VHS rentals and sales, according to Video Business ."
• ↑ Rankins, Michael (May 8, 2002). Atlantis: The Lost Empire : Collector's Edition . DVD Verdict. Retrieved on August 8, 2011.
• ↑ Latchem, John (March 28, 2013). Next Wave of Disney Animated Blu-rays Coming Out June 11 . Home Media Magazine . Retrieved on March 29, 2012.
• ↑ Jensen, Jeff (June 22, 2001). High Toon: As the high-tech Shrek becomes a surprising giant-size success, is the clock ticking for traditionally animated movies? . Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved on September 2, 2011.
• ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NYTimes
• ↑ Atlantis: The Lost Empire Weekend Box-Office . Box Office Mojo . Amazon. Retrieved on July 6, 2011.
• ↑ Atlantis: The Lost Empire International Box-Office . Box Office Mojo . Amazon. Retrieved on July 6, 2011.
• ↑ Wloszczyna, Susan (October 31, 2001). 'Toons Get Their Very Own Oscar Category . USA Today . Retrieved on September 2, 2011.
• ↑ 32.0 32.1 Atlantis: The Lost Empire . Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved on May 23, 2020.
• ↑ Atlantis: The Lost Empire . Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved on July 3, 2011.
• ↑ Drysdale, Rob (June 19, 2001). Box Office Analysis: Lara Croft Raids the Box Office . The Trades. Retrieved on September 21, 2011.
• ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (June 6, 2001). Atlantis: The Lost Empire . Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved on June 26, 2008.
• ↑ McCarthy, Todd (June 7, 2001). Atlantis: The Lost Empire . Variety . Retrieved on July 4, 2011.
• ↑ Zacharek, Stephanie (June 15, 2001). Atlantis —Disney's finally made a cartoon for grown-ups. What was wrong with the old ones they made for kids? . Salon . Retrieved on August 13, 2011.
• ↑ Kempley, Rita (June 15, 2001). 'Atlantis': That Sinking Feeling . The Washington Post . Retrieved on March 25, 2012.
• ↑ Booker 2009, p. 68.
• ↑ Pinsky 2004, p. 202.
• ↑ Messier, Max (June 12, 2001). Atlantis: The Lost Empire . FilmCritic.com . AMC Networks . Retrieved on July 15, 2012.
• ↑ Booker 2009, p. 69.
• ↑ Montalbano 2010, p. 183.
• ↑ 49.0 49.1 Zion, Lee. " Probing the Atlantis Mystery ", Anime News Network , May 15, 2001. Retrieved on July 15, 2012 .  
• ↑ 50.0 50.1 Yasuhiro, Takeda. " The Notenki Memoirs: Studio Gainax And The Men Who Created Evangelion ", Gwern , March 25, 2019. Retrieved on October 29, 2019 .  
• ↑ Patten 2004, p. 187.
• ↑ Zion, Lee. " Nadia vs. Atlantis , Revisited! ", Anime News Network , July 19, 2001. Retrieved on July 15, 2012 .  
• ↑ Reuben, Adrián Arriba. " La Gran Mentira de Disney (2): Atlantis es un Plagio ", CBR , April 3, 2015. Retrieved on October 29, 2019 . (in Spanish)  
• ↑ Ashcraft, Brian. " Some Say Frozen Ripped Off a Japanese Anime. Here's Why. ", Kotaku , March 21, 2014. Retrieved on October 29, 2019 .  
• ↑ 55.0 55.1 Baron, Reuben. " 10 Times Hollywood Ripped Off Anime (And 10 Times It Was Vice Versa) ", Comic Book Resources , July 17, 2018. Retrieved on October 29, 2019 .  
• ↑ Sumner, Darren. Review: Atlantis: The Lost Empire . Gateworld. Retrieved on July 15, 2012.
• ↑ Legacy: 29th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (2001) . International Animated Film Society. Retrieved on August 8, 2011.
• ↑ 2002 DVD Exclusive Winners . Reed Business Information . Retrieved on August 31, 2011.
• ↑ Benzuly, Sarah (June 1, 2002). Black Hawk Down Among MPSE Winners . Mix . Retrieved on August 30, 2011.
• ↑ OFCS Awards for 2001 Nominees . Online Film Critics Society . Retrieved on August 31, 2011.
• ↑ Atlantis: The Lost Empire . Political Film Society . Retrieved on August 30, 2011.
• ↑ Belgian Film Fest to Host World Soundtrack Awards . Billboard . Retrieved on August 30, 2011.
• ↑ Twenty-Third Annual Young Artist Awards 2002 . Young Artist Foundation . Retrieved on August 30, 2011.
• ↑ Rankins, Michael (July 31, 2003). Atlantis: Milo's Return . DVD Verdict . Retrieved on August 8, 2011.
• ↑ Yoshino, Kimi (June 11, 2007). Disney Brings Submarine Ride Back from the Depths . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved on July 4, 2011.

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• 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

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ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE

The lost disney franchise 20 years on.

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire

2001, Kids & family/Fantasy, 1h 35m

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Atlantis: the lost empire   photos.

An inexperienced young adventurer becomes the key to unraveling an ancient mystery when he joins up with a group of daredevil explorers to find the legendary lost empire of Atlantis. A naive-but-determined museum cartographer Milo Thatch , dreams of completing the quest begun by his late grandfather, a famous explorer. When a journal surfaces, an eccentric billionaire funds an expedition and the action shifts to high gear.

Rating: PG (Action/Violence)

Genre: Kids & family, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Action, Adventure, Animation

Original Language: English

Director: Gary Trousdale , Kirk Wise

Producer: Don Hahn

Writer: Tab Murphy , Kirk Wise , Gary Trousdale , Joss Whedon , Bryce Zabel , Jackie Zabel , Tab Murphy

Runtime: 1h 35m

Production Co: Walt Disney Productions

Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, SDDS, DTS, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR

Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Cast & Crew

Gary Trousdale

James Newton Howard

Original Music

Joss Whedon

Bryce Zabel

Jackie Zabel

David Goetz

Art Director

Ellen Keneshea

Film Editing

Mike Mignola

Production Design

Ricardo Delgado

Production Manager

Ken Fischer

Sound Effects Editor

David C. Hughes

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire

• A young linguist named Milo Thatch joins an intrepid group of explorers to find the mysterious lost continent of Atlantis.
• 1914: Milo Thatch, grandson of the great Thaddeus Thatch works in the boiler room of a museum. He knows that Atlantis was real, and he can get there if he has the mysterious Shephards journal, which can guide him to Atlantis. But he needs someone to fund a voyage. His employer thinks he's dotty, and refuses to fund any crazy idea. He returns home to his apartment and finds a woman there. She takes him to Preston B. Whitmore, an old friend of his Grandfathers. He gives him the shepherds journal, a submarine and a 5 star crew. They travel through the Atlantic ocean, face a large lobster called the Leviathan, and finally get to Atlantis. But does the Atlantis crew have a lust for discovery, or something else? — <[email protected]>
• Set in 1914, young linguist orphan named Milo Thatch buries himself in books trying to unlock the secret to the destruction of Atlantis. Althouth his theories are ridiculed by his colleagues he is persistent in his dreams of one day discovering the lost isle. His dreams are realized when he is given a spot in an expedition, financed by a friend of his grandfather, to go in search of Atlantis following Milo's guide: The Shepard's Journal. But the Guardians of Atlantis await the explorers putting them in danger at every turn. And the deadly truth about Atlantis's demise puts Milo, the royal family, and all of Atlantis in mortal jeopardy. — O.G.
• Milo James Thatch is a bright young man, who is in the employ of the Smithsonian Institution (as their resident maintenance man). Milo has been inspired by his Grandfather, who often spoke of finding the Lost Continent of Atlantis. Milo attempts to convince several of the top people at the Smithsonian to fund an expedition, but almost all of them think him crazy. Coming home one evening, Milo meets Helga Sinclair, who escorts him to the home of eccentric millionaire Preston B Whitmore. Preston claims to have known Milo's Grandfather, and presents him with a journal, that contains information about reaching Atlantis. Preston claims that he has a crew ready to go, but wants Milo to head the expedition. The young man eagerly accepts. The expedition takes them to the waters off the coat of Iceland, where a giant submersible takes them to the ocean floor. Milo cautions the crew that something know as The Leviathan may be guarding the entrance to Atlantis. It turns out that the Leviathan is a giant mechanical sea creature, that ends up destroying the sub. Luckily, Milo and some of the crew escape, finding themselves in an underground cavern. After braving several pitfalls and strange creatures, they finally make it to Atlantis, preserved in a sunken atmosphere. However, before they can approach, they are accosted by several natives, led by the King's daughter, Kida. Milo is soon able to communicate with the natives, and they soon reveal they know many different languages, including English. Kida leads the group into Atlantis, where she takes them to her father. Kida's father is not at all pleased to meet these strangers, and requests that they leave. However, a member of the expedition party named Rourke requests to stay one day, and is granted this request. After they are dismissed from the chambers, Milo explains that he feels the King is hiding something, and Rourke says he wants to know what. Milo is requested by the others to gain this information, and soon after meets with Kida. While Milo wants to know more about Atlantis, Kida is curious about the outside world. Milo shows Kida the journal, and also finds that the Atlanteans' crystals around their necks also function as a key that can animate stone objects with flight. Kida explains that their civilization has lost the ability to read their own language, but Milo is able to decode the text on sunken ruins under the city. According to the information, there is a crystal that connects to the necklaces worn by the Atlanteans, and is considered their 'heart.' Milo and Kida are soon accosted by Rourke, who it is revealed has come to Atlantis to find the crystal for monetary purposes. The others and Helga are soon found to be in on the scheme as well, and go to the King. The King denies any knowledge of the crystal's whereabouts, but Rourke soon finds a secret underground entrance under the throne room, where the enormous crystal is kept. As the group watches, Kida suddenly takes on a blue-glow in her eyes, and ascends towards the crystal. As they watch, the crystal fuses with her, making her a glowing blue figure. Rourke and the rest of the team bring the 'Crystal/Kida' above-ground, sealing her in a metal box. Though at first the others help Rourke, as Milo reasons with them, soon only Helga accompanies Rourke and the other soldiers out of Atlantis. As they leave, the crystal necklaces on the Atlanteans dim together.

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