Atlantis: Milo's Return

The Lost Empire of Atlantis has a new adventure for their audiences as Milo returns. Check out my review on this direct-to-DVD release from Walt Disney.

Kidzworld basically mentioned, “Kraken, coyotes, Norse legend, oh my! Disney's direct to DVD sequel to Atlantis: The Lost Empire could just as easily have been tagged Milo Returns and returns and returns, as the DVD is really three stories wrapped up in one pretty Atlantian package.”

In this sequel, investor Mr. Whitmore (John Mahoney) brings back his crew of amazingly crazy experts and goes to Atlantis to ask Milo Thatch (James Arnold Taylor) and Kida (Cree Summer) for their professional help in solving three mysteries. The entire cast from the first movie, consisting of Sweet (Phil Morris), Audrey (Jacqueline Obradors), Vinny (Don Novello) and even the disgusting Mole (Corey Burton), are back to help out and the once in a while oregano explosion. These interfering adventurers follow the line of clues from the arctic snows to the deep, watery blue and along the way help Princess Kida find the power of Atlantis’s magical castle. Here’s a fact: even before “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” came out, Disney was working on a TV series similar to “Gargoyles” titled “Team Atlantis” starring Sweet, Audrey, Mole and Vinny, but after every executive was finished with their playing and adjusting, the plug was pulled on the show. What’s left is “Atlantis: Milo’s Return,” released in 2003.

The first episode shows Whitmore thinking that a Kraken was an Atlantian monster and that it was their duty to deal with it. That seems really messed up. The characters believe him and they go to destroy this beast. What they find out is that it wasn’t Atlantian and was from some other kind of myth. This one takes place mostly in the ocean. You may find it strange that they tried some kind of mystical parts like how the Kraken has mind controlling powers and lets people live for a very long time without explaining it, but the same can be said for the magical healing crystal in the first movie. Maybe they were going to save it for the cartoon series that never happened, so give them a break.

Next up the crew has to find an Atlantian artifact in an American desert. What’s funny about this one is that it’s very much like an episode from the classic “Scooby-Doo” cartoon, which people would have loved if it was. Seeing how Disney tried to do something like that in this segment is actually funny.

Finally we have Whitmore who has an insane coworker, voiced by W. Morgan Sheppard, who thinks, for some weird reason, that he is the Norse lightning god Odin and he steals a spear from Whitmore’s palace while they are away. This one is the most connected to the “Atlantis” characters and does feel natural compared to the others, but you might be lost when you see the coworker break into the house declaring that he is Odin. Later on there is an explanation as a madman who believed he was Odin, which you can say is a lot more believable, but then he tries to mention Ragnarok. They fight and retrieve the spear and use it for good back at Atlantis.

You might be saying that this film is just in the similar style as “Tarzan & Jane,” and you’re right. Then again, weren’t a lot of these direct-to-DVD Disney sequels? A lot of them were just pilots to TV series that either never happened or did and was short-lived. If you want to check it out, do so, but if you don’t like it, I guess I’ll understand. Me personally, I thoroughly found myself enjoying this movie, which is a rarity amongst the Disney sequels.

Tomorrow is another review of a sequel that was a pilot to an animated series, which happens quite often here in “Disney Sequel Month.”