Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Atlantis: The Lost Empire is the fortieth
animated feature in the
Disney animated features canon. 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.
Atlantis was produced at
Walt Disney Feature Animation, and was released on
June 15,
2001 by
Walt Disney Pictures and
Buena Vista Distribution. It is set in the year 1914, where an expedition crew goes off to find the lost city of
Atlantis.
The film begins with an explosion and a massive wave washing over the
island of
Atlantis. Giant sentries defend the city, but the queen is drawn into a glowing blue beam projected from the "heart of Atlantis," a huge
gem which powers the city's defenses. She leaves behind a young daughter, princess Kida, as the city disappears beneath the
waves.
Thousands of years later, Milo Thatch is an aspiring, kindhearted, and dreaming linguist and explorer, although his employer, the
Smithsonian Institution, has little use for him other than keeping the boilers running. He believes that his research has revealed the location of
The Shepherd's Journal, a
Viking manuscript that allegedly reveals the way to
Atlantis. His dreams are to prove to the world, that his grandfather, Thaddeus Thatch, really did discover a clue that could lead to the discovery of one of the greatest mysteries of all. Most of all, his dreams are to have something to believe in. After he can't get any support, a mysterious woman named Helga invites him to see her employer. Helga takes him to Preston B. Whitmore, an eccentric
millionaire who, owing a debt to Milo's grandfather, has funded a successful effort to find the journal and, now that it is in hand, recruits Milo to read the book and lead an expedition to Atlantis.
Milo sets out with a crew headed up by Rourke, a military man who led the expedition to recover the journal, Helga, and a crew of oddballs. Among the crew are Vinnie, the crew's demoman, Mole, the geology specialist, Dr. Joshua Sweet, the ship's medical officer, Audrey, the tomboyish mechanic, and Cookie, the ship's western redneck cook. They set out in a massive
submarine, the
Ulysses. As they approach Atlantis, the Ulysses is attacked and destroyed by the Leviathan, a huge robotic defender of Atlantis. Milo, Rourke, and a small complement of crew escape in small sub-pods and a cargo hauler and, reaching an underground
cavern described in the book, continue ahead on foot and vehicle. They are tracked all the while by some Atlanteans.
Reaching Atlantis, they are greeted by Kida, now a young woman, although "young" is relative to her appearance only, as she is now many thousands of years old. She brings the group to meet her aging father, who wants them to leave as soon as they are able, since their presence cannot mean any good. Atlantis has fallen into ruins since disappearing into the earth, and Kida enlists Milo's help deciphering the
runes throughout the city, the Atlantean written language having been unknown to the people for centuries. He helps her discover the nature of the heart of Atlantis, but can't tell how it works, since a page of the journal is missing.
Rourke turns out to have the missing page and manages to betray Milo. He and Helga having known about the Heart all the while, and he turns the tables by forcing Milo and Kida to help him find the Heart of Atlantis so that he can take it back to the surface and make a fortune from its sale. He first thought the King knew all about it, so he manages to to beat him. Once found, it merges with Kida, causing her to fall into a trance as her body becomes a glowing blue crystal. Rourke locks up Kida and attempts to float her out of Atlantis by balloon. Milo blames himself for what happened, and wonders if he is really just a nobody. Later, the King explained Milo all about the Heart of Atlantis. Before his death, he gave his crystal to Milo and tells him to save Atlantis and Kida. But with courage and support from his friends, Milo rallies the crew and the Atlanteans to stop Rourke, and manages to restart several Atlantian vehicles to create an aerial fighting force to challenge the villains.
In the ensuing battle, Rourke is destroyed, Helga is killed, and Kida is liberated, but a volcanic eruption ensues. The city's total destruction is imminent until Milo and Kida are able to restore the city's systems to full power which include restarting the sentinels who again rise to protect Atlantis. The Atlanteans thank the visitors who helped save Atlantis and give them a huge treasure. The surviving crew, now insanely wealthy, return to Whitmore's mansion to get their stories straight and cover up the existence of Atlantis, while Milo stays to help Kida rebuild the Atlantean
empire and made a memorial of the King and let join within the Heart of Atlantis.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire did not do well at the box office, making approximately $85 million dollars in its North American theatrical run, well below its production cost of $120 million and nowhere near the animation high-water mark of $312 million set by
The Lion King. It can be seen as part of a series of early-2000s Disney disappointments (a stretch that includes
The Emperor's New Groove,
Treasure Planet, and
Home on the Range), and of a series of animated action-adventure movies that failed to connect with audiences, such as
Titan A.E.,
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and
Treasure Planet.
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 based on the comics of
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 90s 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, a
deus ex machina climax, and a general lifelessness that accompanies the by-the-book trudging from one set piece to the next following the destruction of the
Ulysses.
Some of the movie's internal
logic has been found lacking as well. How can the Atlanteans, with multi-millennia life-spans, forget their own written language, yet speak
Latin or modern languages like
French and
English when meeting Milo and his team, all of which developed after the Atlantean catastrophe?
Those who are familiar with
Plato's Atlantis and the original Greek legend were disappointed to see that most of it was not included in the movie. These traditional elements include
Neptune worship,
Atlas,
titans,
nymphs,
Orichalcum, canals, medicine, wealth, and war versus the Athenians. Also, all of the things that people popularly associate with Atlantis today -
mermaids,
Neptune, etc. were also not present.
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 to have a black character,
Dr. Sweet, in the roster of main characters. It should be noted Disney didn't want to have to place a black character in a movie "for the sake of it". Atlantis was a good opportunity since it had such a deeply diverse cast.
In
May 20,
2003, Disney released a
direct-to-video sequel called
Atlantis: Milo's Return.
Some
anime fans have accused the film as being derived from/plagarizing the
Gainax series
Nadia (also known as
The Secret of Blue Water). Chief to this theory is a notable similarity, in both graphics and design, to many of the lead characters in each: a bespectacled nerdy scholar, an exotic girl with a pendant that is a direct link to Atlantis' power, a fantastic submarine with a tough-as-nails woman as the first officer, etc. Certain scenes also resemble each other. Some websites have compared the two works
side by side.
Others dismiss the similarities as intrinsic to the nature of the material: how are you going to do a
Jules Verne-like story about finding Atlantis that
doesn't involve use of a submarine? Moreover, some of the most important elements of
Nadia—like the comic villains Grandis and her henchmen, who join the heroes in the end to fight the true villains, the alien neo-Atlanteans—are nowhere to be seen in
Atlantis. Also, the film's producers have asserted that while they were aware of anime, they weren't specifically familiar with
Nadia, and claim to have taken their cues from Disney live-action adventure movies like
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and
Island at the Top of the World. None of these points, however, explain the similarity of character designs between
Atlantis and
Nadia.
This is not the first time Disney was accused of copying the works of Japanese animators, as a
similar controversy had arisen due to the similarities between
The Lion King and
Kimba the White Lion. In that instance, Disney officials also professed ignorance of the original work in question (
Kimba), despite evidence that those involved in the project knew of the show (see
Kimba article for more details). Based on this past history of apparent dishonesty, Disney's statements that they didn't know about
Nadia are open to reasonable doubt.
Others argue the real theft is that much of
Nadia can be traced back to the
Hayao Miyazaki film
Castle in the Sky, which features a mysterious girl whose pendant is a direct link to the power source of a lost empire. Co-director Trousdale
has admitted that the scene where the water recedes from the sunken city of Atlantis was inspired by a similar scene in the Miyazaki film
Castle of Cagliostro.
The film also shares many story elements with 1978's
Warlords of Atlantis. They both put forth the notion that Atlantis exists in an air-filled cavern beneath the ocean, they're both set around the turn of the century, they both feature the heroes being betrayed by mercenary-minded crew members, they both feature the entrance to Atlantis being guarded by a sea monster.
Oddly enough the plot also bears a striking resemblance structure wise to the 1994 Sci-fi film Stargate. Both films start with a bespectacled nerd being shunned for his beliefs in the origin of a lost civilization. In both films, the researcher is recruited by a wealthy benefactor with a personal connection to the lost civilization in question. Both go on a harrowing journey to discover the lost race, which in both films have forgotten their culture and heritage. Both are accompanied by a group of adventurers led by a rock-chinned soldier type. Both meet and fall in love with a native of the lost culture. Both take actions to save the lost civilization from destruction, which include deciphering the mystery behind the society's forgotten heritage from a relief carved/painted on a wall. And both choose to stay behind with their newfound love when the rest return home.
It is interesting to note that two characters from this filmare likely named, in homage, after two (in)famous
Star Trek: The Original Series characters: Captain
James Tiberius Kirk (
William Shatner), famed captain of the
Starship Enterprise, and
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (
Roger C. Carmel), a smuggler and con artist encountered in two different
Star Trek episodes. Even more interesting is the corollary that Dr.
Marc Okrand developed both the Vulcan diaglogue in
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and the Klingon language used through the franchise. The borrowing of names likely also extends to Claudia Christian's character. In Babylon 5 Christian played an officer serving under a Commander Sinclair in the first season.
Characters and voice cast
*
Michael J. Fox - Milo James Thatch, a
32-year-old cartographer and
linguist, and 12th (current) King of Atlantis
*
Cree Summer -
Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh, the
8,500-year-old princess of Atlantis and future (and current) Queen Matriarch Savior of Atlantis.
*
James Garner -
Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke, a
54-year-old army commander and expedition leader.
*
Corey Burton - Gaetan "Mole" Moliére, a
39-year-old geologist*
Don Novello - Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini, a
38-year-old demolitions expert
*
Phil Morris - Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet, a
42-year-old medical officer*
Claudia Christian -
Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair, Rourke's
30-year-old second-in-command
*
Jacqueline Obradors - Audrey Rocio Ramirez, an
18-year-old mechanic*
Leonard Nimoy -
King Kashekim Nedakh, Kida's
20,000-year-old father and 11th King of Atlantis
*
John Mahoney -
Preston B. Whitmore, a
70-year-old friend of Milo's grandfather
*
Florence Stanley - Wilhelmina Bertha Packard, a
61-year-old communications expert
*
Jim Varney - Jebidiah Allardyce "Cookie" Farnswoth, a
72-year-old cook*
David Ogden Stiers - Fenton Q. Harcourt, Milo's
58-year-old boss
*
Bosnian:
Atlantida: Izgubljeno carstvo*
Bulgarian:
Атлантида: изгубената империя*
Cantonese Chinese:
迷失帝國 – 阿特蘭'斯 ("Lost Empire: Atlantis")
*
Catalan:
Atlantis, l'imperi perdut*
Croatian:
Atlantida: Izgubljeno carstvo*
Czech:
Atlantida tajemná říše*
Danish:
Atlantis - Det forsvundne rige*
Dutch:
Atlantis: De verzonken stad*
Estonian:
Atlantis: Kadunud Kuningriik*
Finnish:
Atlantis - Kadonnut kaupunki*
French:
Atlantide, l'empire perdu*
German:
Atlantis - Das Geheimnis der verlorenen Stadt*
Greek:
H Xαμένη Aτλαντίδα*
Hungarian:
Atlantisz: Az elveszett birodalom*
Icelandic:
Atlantis: Týnda borgin*
Italian:
Atlantis: l'Impero Perduto*
Japanese:
アトランティス／失われた帝国 (
Atorantisu/Ushiwareta Teikoku)
*
Korean (
South Korea):
아틀란티스*
Mandarin Chinese:
失落的帝國*
Norwegian:
Atlantis, en forsvunnet verden*
Polish:
Atlantyda - Zaginiony ląd*
Portuguese:
Atlântida - O continente perdido (
Portugal);
Atlantis - O reino perdido (
Brazil)
*
Romanian:
Atlantis - Imperiul dispărut*
Russian:
Атлантида - потерянная империя*
Serbian:
Atlantida: Izgubljeno carstvo*
Slovakian (
Slovakia):
Atlantída: Stratená ríša*
Slovenian (
Slovenia):
Atlantida Izgubljeno cesarstvo*
Spanish:
Atlantis: El imperio perdido*
Swedish:
Atlantis, en försvunnen värld*
Thai:
แอตแลนติส: ผจญภัยอารยนครสุ"ขอบโลก*
Turkish:
Atlantis: Kayıp ìmparatorluk*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!)
|
The Heart of Atlantis, merged with Princess Kida. |
*Kida: "MAH-tihm!" (Mother!)
*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: "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.)
*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: "GWEES DOH-sep-tem SOH-bin kwahm AH-lih-teh-kem." (We do not need their help.)
*Kida: "Uhd TAHB-toap..." (But father...)
*King: "Puh-SEEL-leh-toat. TAH-ges DOH-tesh-tem neb YOO-teh-poan-kem." (That is enough. We will discuss this later.)
*Kida: "MOH-khit GWEH-noag-loh-nick!" (I will kill you for that!)
*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.)
*Kida: "SOH-lesh MAH-toh-noat MY-loh THATCH-toap. Kwahm TEH-red-seh-nen." (All will be well, Milo Thatch. Be not afraid.)
*
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.
*One of the character names, Santorini, is also the name of an ancient volcano in the Mediterranean that erupted with many times the force of Mt. Vesuvius (and predated it by many centuries), devastated an early civilization, and may have been an origin of the Atlantean legend.
*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.
*One of the Gargoyles from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) is in Whitmore's library.
* This was the first Disney animated feature to receive a PG rating since
The Black Cauldron (
1985), 16 years earlier. (Although
The Nightmare Before Christmas (
1993),
James and the Giant Peach (
1996), and
Dinosaur (
2000) 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.)
* The Ulysses looks almosts the same as the Nautiulus from the
1954 verson of
20,000 Leagues under the Sea.
*
Atlantis in fiction*
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water*
* The
Big Cartoon DataBase entry for
Atlantis: The Lost Empire*
A visual comparison of Nadia and Atlantis: The Lost Empire*
Atlantis Timeline
