Atlantis: The Lost Empire
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| Atlantis: The Lost Empire | |
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| Directed by | Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise |
| Produced by | Don Hahn |
| Written by | Tab Murphy |
| Starring | Michael J. Fox Cree Summer James Garner Corey Burton Don Novello Phil Morris Claudia Christian Jacqueline Obradors Leonard Nimoy John Mahoney Florence Stanley Jim Varney David Ogden Stiers |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 15, 2001 |
| Running time | 95 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $120 million |
| Followed by | Atlantis: Milo's Return (2003) |
| IMDb profile | |
Atlantis: The Lost Empire is an American animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 15, 2001. An animated sci-fi mixed action movie, it was written by Tab Murphy, directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and produced by Don Hahn. The 40th film in the Disney animated features canon, it is set in the year 1914, where an expedition crew goes off to find the lost city of Atlantis.
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[edit] Synopsis
When Milo Thatch gains possession of a sacred book, he believes it will guide him to the mythical city of Atlantis. Enlisting a band of ragtag archaeologists and excavators, they find the city, but little does the team realize that there are people among them willing to throw the kingdom into chaos for their own profit.
[edit] Plot
A gigantic explosion causes a massive tsunami to wash over Atlantis. The city's robotic sentinels erect an energy shield to protect the capital, but most citizens perish. The Atlantean Queen is drawn into a glowing blue beam and disappears, leaving her young daughter, Kida, behind. Atlantis sinks below the waves.
In 1914, Milo Thatch, an aspiring cartographer/linguist/explorer, works as a boiler operator in the basement of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.. Milo believes that his research has revealed the location of an ancient manuscript that allegedly reveals the location of Atlantis. Milo is greeted by Helga Sinclair, who invites Milo to see her employer. Her employer is Preston B. Whitmore, an eccentric millionaire who attended Georgetown University with Milo's grandfather, Thaddeus Thatch, in 1866. Preston wants Milo to translate the manuscript and lead an expedition to Atlantis. Milo agrees.
Milo sets out aboard the Ulysses, a submarine headed up by Commander Lyle Rourke, the military man, and Helga. Among the crew are Vincenzo 'Vinny' Santorini, the crew's Italian demolitions expert, Gaetan 'Mole' Moliere, a crazed French geologist, Dr. Joshua Sweet, the ship's medical officer, Audrey Ramirez, a teenaged tomboy mechanic, Jebidiah 'Cookie' Farnsworth, the ship's Western redneck cook, and Wilhelmina Packard, an elderly communications expert. As the team tries to find to a crevice that leads to an underground cavern leading to Atlantis, the Ulysses is attacked and destroyed by Leviathan. Milo, Rourke, and the remaining crew members escape using small sub-pods and three escape subs. They flee into the underground cavern they had been searching for. Along the way, all but one of the aqua evacs (carrying Sweet, Audrey, Cookie, Packard, Rourke, Helga, and several dozen crew) and one sub pod (carrying Mole and Vinny) are destroyed. The crew then proceeds to explore the cavern, unaware they are being tracked by a group of Atlanteans.
After their camp is destroyed by mysterious glowing insects, the team attempts to cross a bridge, but ends up at the bottom of a dormant volcano when the bridge collapses under the weight of the team's vehicles. Using his drilling machine (officially known as the Digger), Mole drills a tunnel out of the volcano. After doing so, the crew are met by Kida, now a young woman, albeit thousands of years old. Kida leads the group to her aging father, King Kashekim Nedakh, who tells them to leave. Rourke requests the King allow his team to stay the night in order to rest, and resupply, and the King grants it. Meanwhile, Kida enlists Milo's help in deciphering the runes throughout the city, which the Atlantean people can no longer read. She and Milo discover the nature of the Heart of Atlantis, but can not figure out how it works or where it is, because one of the pages is missing.
After some time, Milo and Kida are surrounded by Rourke along with his mercenaries; only to discover that Rourke reveals that he has the missing page, and that he and Helga intend to sell the Heart of Atlantis. Rourke then offers Milo to join him, so he can locate the crystal. Milo then challenges Rourke, stating that he isn't a mercenary; Rourke replies he'd rather be called an "adventure capitalist".
Rourke decides that he has had enough of Milo's resistance and instead proceeds to doing things his way; he forces Milo into being his translator and then confronts King Nedakh. When King Nedakh refuses to disclose the location of the Heart, Rourke fatally punches him. Rourke then forces Milo to find the Heart for him. Once found, the Heart reaches into Kida's mind. As Milo and Rourke argue, the Heart of Atlantis speaks through the possessed Kida, saying, "Soleshma-du note, Milo Thatchdu. Guan kene sus-ene", meaning "All will be well, Milo Thatch. Be not afraid." in Atlantean. Kida then strides toward the crystal, which levitates her up to it and merges with her, as Sinclair and Milo (Rourke is never surprised, as Vinnie had said) watch in surprise and are all equally shocked. Rourke locks Kida in a steel crate and prepares to leave for the caves.
When Rourke leaves Milo behind, Vinnie, Audrey, Mole, Cookie, and Packard, bothered by Rourke treating Milo and the Atlanteans harshly, decide to stay behind as well. King Nedakh, tells Milo about the Heart of Atlantis, explaining why the crystal has a mind of its own and the reason Atlantis sank beneath the ocean. The King then gives his crystal to Milo and tells him that his burden would have becomes Kida's when the time was right, but instead will fall to Milo. He tells Milo to save Atlantis and Kida, and dies.
Milo and the Atlanteans engage Rourke and his mercenaries inside the dormant volcano. A lengthy air battle ensues, and it's the attacking Atlanteans with their flying "stone fish" against the defending mercenaries with their "Whitmore Wings". After the battle has been fought, Rourke and Helga are killed along with Rourke's mercenaries who either fled or died during the battle. However, the blast from Rourke's airship triggers a volcanic eruption that threatens to destroy the city. Milo returns to Atlantis with the Heart/Kida in tow. The Heart/Kida activates the city's sentinels, who erect an energy shield to stop the flow of lava. The Atlanteans reward the surviving crew and return them to the surface. The crew, now insanely wealthy, return to Whitmore's mansion in Washington and rehearse their cover story to hide the existence of Atlantis. Milo remains behind in Atlantis with Kida.
[edit] Box office
Atlantis: The Lost Empire did moderately well at the US box office, making approximately $85 million dollars in its theatrical run, although this is well below its production cost of $120 million and nowhere near the animation high-water mark of $312 million set by 1994's The Lion King. Although it grossed about $186 million worldwide that covered up the budget for good (thus preventing it from being a box-office bomb), it is still considered to be less successful than other recent Disney movies.
[edit] Praise and criticism
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The film has a dramatic opening sequence depicting the fall of Atlantis, a first act that establishes the story, bold dialogue, and an interesting visual look in part from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. It also won some praise for daring to break away from the comfort of Disney's animated musicals that dominated the 1990s by trying a serious, action-adventure story.
That said, critics generally disliked the film. Critics noted the one-dimensional characterizations in the too-large cast of supporting characters, the remoteness of Milo, a lack of audience involvement, and a general lifelessness that accompanies the by-the-book trudging from one set piece to the next following the destruction of the Ulysses.
Some of the movie's internal logic has been found lacking as well. The Atlanteans, with multi-millennia life-spans, forget how to read their own written language, yet they are able to speak Latin and other modern languages like French and English when meeting Milo and his team, due to connections to the linguistic roots (though nowhere does it say that they can write them).
Also, many feel as though the film was far too complicated and complex for a film trying to direct its audience at children.
Film critic Roger Ebert gives Atlantis a three-and-half stars, indicating a moderately positive view of the film.[1]
[edit] Controversies
It has also been criticized by some viewers of the film bearing a resemblance to a famous 1990s Japanese anime television show, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. The similarities include character designs, story flow, the background settings, and more.[2] The director Kirk Wise has stated he never even heard of such a show when Atlantis was in production. The similarities might be simply due to both being inspired by the Jules Verne novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.[3] Yet, the blond haired, round glasses with a ribbon bow tie as well as a heroine with a crystal pendant never appeared in the said series. Also, the director Wise himself admitted that he, along with Trousdale are fans of anime.[4]
[edit] Overview, production notes and sequel
Atlantis is notable as one of the few animated films shot in the anamorphic widescreen process. To prevent having to purchase and implement larger animation desks, longer animation paper, and so forth, the production team resorted to working within a smaller frame on the same paper and equipment used for the standard aspect ratio Disney films.
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). 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 black character, 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.
Not seen in the original film, but shown as an extra in the DVD release, 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 Roark 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 deathmatch, CTF, and air battles. It also included a 10 minute documentary on how the movie was made.
Jim Varney (who played Cookie) died during production, and several lines had to be filled in by a soundalike.
[edit] Voice cast
- Milo James Thatch: Michael J. Fox
- Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh: Cree Summer
- Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke: James Garner
- Gaetan "Mole" Moliére: Corey Burton
- Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini: Don Novello
- Doctor Joshua Strongbear Sweet: Phil Morris
- Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair: Claudia Christian
- Audrey Rocio Ramirez: Jacqueline Obradors
- King Kashekim Nedakh: Leonard Nimoy
- Preston B. Whitmore: John Mahoney
- Wilhelmina Bertha Packard: Florence Stanley
- Jedidiah Allardyce "Cookie" Farnsworth: Jim Varney
- Fenton Q. Harcourt: David Ogden Stiers
[edit] Crew
| Crew Position | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Gary Trousdale Kirk Wise |
| Produced by | Don Hahn |
| Original Story by | Gary Trousdale Kirk Wise Joss Whedon Bryce Zabel Jackie Zabel Tab Murphy |
| Screenplay by | Tab Murphy |
| Original Score by | James Newton Howard |
| Associate Producer | Kendra Haaland |
| Art Director | David Goetz |
| Production Design | Mike Mignola, Matt Codd, Ricardo Delgado, Jim E. Martin |
| Film Editor | Ellen Keneshea |
| Artistic Supervisors | John Sanford (Story supervisor) Ed Ghertner (Layout supervisor) Lisa Keene (Background supervisor) Marshall Toomey (Clean-up supervisor) Benjamin Stegemann (Animation supervisor) Marlon West (Effects supervisor) Kiran Bhakta Joshi (Computer Graphics supervisor) |
| Artistic Coordinator | Chris Jenkins |
| Supervising Animators | John Pomeroy (Milo) Michael Surrey (Rourke) Randy Haycock (Princess Kida) Russ Edmonds (Vinny) Ron Husband (Dr Sweet) Yoshimichi Tamura (Helga) Anne Marie Bardwell (Audrey) David Pruiksma (Mrs Packard/Mr Harcourt) Shawn Keller (Preston Whitmore/Cookie) Anthony DeRosa (Moliere) Michael Cedeno (Atlantian King) |
| Production Manager | Igor Khait |
[edit] Annie Awards
| Result | Award | Winner/Nominee Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|
| NOMINATED | Individual Achievement in Directing | Gary Trousdale (Director) Kirk Wise (Director) |
| NOMINATED | Individual Achievement in Storyboarding | Chris Ure (Story Artist) |
| NOMINATED | Individual Achievement in Production Design | David Goetz (Art Director) |
| NOMINATED | Individual Achievement in Effects Animation | Marlon West (Effects Supervisor) |
| NOMINATED | Individual Achievement in Voice Acting - Female | Florence Stanley ("Mrs Packard") |
| NOMINATED | Individual Achievement in Voice Acting - Male | Leonard Nimoy ("King Nedakh") |
[edit] Soundtrack
[edit] Real-life references
Vinnie's last name, "Santorini," is also the current name of an ancient chain of volcanic islands in the Mediterranean that erupted with many times the force of Mount Vesuvius (and predated it by many centuries), devastated the Minoan civilization, and may have been an origin of the Atlantean legend. This might also explain Vinnie's profound obsession with explosives, although in the film Vinny's obsession came when there was an explosion in his family's flower shop.
Also, the weaponry is of the correct time period (1914, as it says in the beginning of the film) such as: the Lee Enfield, the Lewis Gun, the Broomhandle Mauser, and a variant of the Luger. There are various models of Browning .30 Cal Machine Guns mounted to planes and other vehicles as well.
[edit] Background
To prepare for the production, the filmmakers visited museums and toured old army installations. They also traveled 800 feet underground in New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns to observe the subterranean trails that would serve as the model for the approach to Atlantis in the film. When it came to creating the look of the city of Atlantis, the filmmakers wanted to avoid the common conception of "Greek columns under the sea somewhere," says art director Dave Goetz. Instead, they modeled their Atlantis on the architecture of ancient civilizations in China, South America, and the Middle East.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ebert, Roger. Atlantis: The Lost Empire. June 15, 2001.
- ^ comparison could be found here, in Japanese. The chart is a translation of this English version though.
- ^ Nadia vs. Atlantis, Revisited! - Anime News Network
- ^ [1]
[edit] External links
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire at the Internet Movie Database
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire at Rotten Tomatoes
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire at Metacritic
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire at Box Office Mojo
