Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Disney’s “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” released in 2001, is an animated adventure flick with a lot of enjoyment and a surprise of a climax. It’s a test for the studio. Not having any song-and-dance numbers and adorable sidekicks, Disney seems to be focusing on the visual and story style of anime – the action-packed animated Japanese movies that are on shelves in every video store, which has a huge fan base of people renting them.

The movie takes place in 1914, a favorite year for stories like this one, because technology was very advanced while people could still believe that a submerged continent or lost world or two might have been overlooked. Roger Ebert mentioned in his review, “Just as the "Jurassic Park" movies owe something (a lot, actually) to Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World," so does "Atlantis" spring from the old Edgar Rice Burroughs novels about a world in the center of the earth. (There is also discussion on the Web about how it springs even more directly from a 1989 Japanese anime named "Nadia: the Secret of Blue Water.")” Every story like this need a rich, solitary billionaire to finance an expedition to the far corners of the Earth, and “Atlantis” has Preston Whitmore, voiced by John Mahoney, who lives in a Citizen Kane-like house behind huge iron gates in a strange fortress and brings together a team to go underneath the rivers.

Whitmore hires the linguist Milo Thatch, voiced by Michael J. Fox, to join this mission. Since Whitmore was friends with Milo’s grandfather, and gives an ancient notebook where Milo’s grandfather possibly wrote the secrets of Atlantis. Milo has also spent much of his time trying to persuade the Smithsonian of the possibility of Atlantis. Funny thing about this is that Milo works in the museum as a janitor.

This team, which uses the submarine Captain Nemo would have desired, is led by the gruff military man Rourke (James Garner) and includes a heterogeneous team of adventurers, including Vinny the dynamite man (Don Novello), who has a delightful liking to blowing everything up nicely, Moliere the Mole (Corey Burton), the digging expert, Rourke’s first mate Helga (Claudia Christian), a tricky temptress, Cookie the cook (the late Jim Varney) and Mrs. Packard (Florence Stanley), who chain-smokes while handling communications.

You will notice with this crew that there is no dancing chinaware, even though the movie was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, who made one of my favorite classics, “Beauty and the Beast.” Ebert said, “Perhaps that's because of the influence of a comic book artist named Mike Mignola, previously unknown to me but described by my colleague Elvis Mitchell as the creator of an underground comic character named Hellboy; his drawing style may have something to do with the movie's clean, bright visual look, which doesn't yearn for the 3-D roundness of "Toy Story" or "Shrek" but embraces the classic energy of the comic book style. You especially see that in the movie's spectacular closing sequence--but I'm getting ahead of the story.”

Atlantis is guarded by scary robotic sea leviathans, which will destroy the entire expedition before Rourke, Milo and the gang is able to explode the place and reach the ocean floor in their sub, where Milo falls in love with Princess Kida, voiced by Cree Summer. Atlantis is ruled by her father the King, voiced by Leonard Nimoy, who wants to get rid of the outsiders, but Kida also is in love with Milo in a subplot that is just like in “The Little Mermaid.” Atlantis seems like it really needs fresh blood, but not for their population (since their people are over 1,000 years old and are still strong) but for new ideas, since the land is falling apart into lethargy and misery. Princess Kida is somewhat of a reformist, trying to get her father off of the throne and organize some public work projects.

Now I would like to talk about the last action sequence. If you remember the ballroom dance in “Beauty and the Beast,” you will remember the exciting way directors Trousdale and Wise enlightened their characters with not only giving them gravity but from the usual rules of animation, so that they lurched excitingly through the air. Ebert advises, “Multiply that several times, and you get the excitement of a final battle that brings to animated life the kind of explosive energy we sense imprisoned in the printed KA-BOOM!s, KERRR-ASSHHHH!es and THUNK!s of those full-page drawings in action comic books, where superheroes battle for control of the universe.”

The story of “Atlantis” is inspiring in an old pulverize science fiction kind of way, but the climactic scene goes beyond the rest, and stands by itself as one of the best animated action scenes. Ebert asks, “Will the movie signal a new direction from Disney animation? I doubt it.” The teamwork of animated musical comedies is too beautiful; not only for the entertainment factor but also for the way they spin out of songs and stage shows. What “Atlantis” does show is an enthusiasm to test with anime tradition – maybe to appeal to teenagers who are action fans who might try their best to avoid an animated film. It’s like “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” let go of animation by looking the way it dreamed to look.

I don’t understand why people didn’t like this movie. I enjoyed it a lot, and I agree with all the points that Doug Walker made in his review of the film. Check it out, and forget about it having the usual Disney quips, because not all Disney films need to have that. Maybe that’s the reason why it was hated, but this one shouldn’t be overlooked. Do give it a watch and give it a chance. Stay tuned for more “Disney Month” tomorrow.