Atlantis: The Lost Empire Discussion

[blackcauldron85]

As Rourke told Milo he was weak or something like his grandfather with ideas or as much as an idealist as his grandfather near the climax of Rourke's Demise and maybe Rourke made the offer to his grandfather but he said no I want to leave this to my grandson so Rourke asked for the translation of the page just for scientific reasons, rather than reveal his greedy desires for why he wanted a translation of the page, and instead of forcing his hand he decided to wait for Milo to grow up because he knew it was worth waiting for

I believe Milo's Grandfather probably while on the expedition in Iceland, read some of it to the crew and then Rourke stole that page.

Those answers make sense. I did think about Milo's grandfather, in terms of him being someone else who could read Atlantian, but I didn't put 2 and 2 together in terms of how Rourke would know. Thanks!!!

[Super Aurora]

I found Rouke to be an amazing antagonist. He's not a villain the stood out evil by design and appearance, uses his brain quite well, and has this overall mature tone and appearance that make me take him more seriously than say Malificant or Jafar.

I'd put him up there with coachman, and Frollo.

[Chernabog_Rocks]

When Atlantis came out, my class went to see Atlantis (I think on IMAX or something like that. I'm fuzzy on the details). But the one part that really stood out, aside from seeing it on a huge screen, was the fact our teacher was Mr. Whitmore. Imagine the rounds of laughter during his scenes

[ajmrowland]

I honestly dont why some people dont like this movie. sure, the side characters are one-note, but I found it enjoyable.

[UmbrellaFish]

I've always liked Atlantis. When it first came out I didn't want to see it because it didn't fit my perception of what a Disney film was, but somebody brought the movie to school and I was transfixed.

[Rudy Matt]

Well, you can't blame them for not having quality input, the likes of Claudia Christianson (Babylon 5) or Joss Whedon (Buffy).

Joss Whedon should stay away from animated fantasy adventure films. How he landed a writing gig on Atlantis after contributing the awful TITAN AE is beyond me.

[Rudy Matt]

^ But how would he have known what the page said? That's the whole point of having Milo on the expedition- he can read Atlantian; most other people can't.

Perhaps Milo's grandfather? As Rourke told Milo he was weak or something like his grandfather with ideas or as much as an idealist as his grandfather near the climax of Rourke's Demise and maybe Rourke made the offer to his grandfather but he said no I want to leave this to my grandson so Rourke asked for the translation of the page just for scientific reasons, rather than reveal his greedy desires for why he wanted a translation of the page, and instead of forcing his hand he decided to wait for Milo to grow up because he knew it was worth waiting for... Also remember when Helga Sinclair quietly asks Rourke about the fact they though there wasn't suppose to be anyone actually down here and to that Rourke replies well we will just have to improvise...everything stays on schedule as planned.....

Sadly, modern Disney screenplays are not tight as a drum as constant rewrites and revisions and interference from outside divisions causes more than a bit of chaos. I always thought Milo's grandfather had a sinister look on his face in his last shot before the sub descends.

Atlantis really makes no sense from any number of levels, which is a damned shame because much of it is a whole lot of fun.

[blackcauldron85]

I always thought Milo's grandfather had a sinister look on his face in his last shot before the sub descends.

You mean Whitmore, his grandfather's friend; Milo's grandfather was dead...

[Rudy Matt]

Correct. I haven't seen it in a long time, as it is a frustrating experience. Lots of fun. Screenplay is a mess. But it is a lot of fun to watch. And Howard's score is wonderful. I realy need to purchase it someday.

[disneyboy20022]

Correct. I haven't seen it in a long time, as it is a frustrating experience. Lots of fun. Screenplay is a mess. But it is a lot of fun to watch. And Howard's score is wonderful. I realy need to purchase it someday.

When you do purchase someday..I suggest you buy this 2-disc set version its OOP on Amazon but it's in stock on wal-mart.com and can be a site to store thing. Also Disney Movie Club also Has it for sale if you are a member of DMC and you could save more. It's bonus features are more in the Tarzan Collector's Edition 2-disc and TENG 2-disc which are very very well done.

[Disney's Divinity]

I watched this last night. I have to say that this is one of those movies that grows on me more and more every time I watch it. I don't think I saw it in theaters. If I did, it was the last Disney film I did see in theaters until TP&TF. I've always liked the crew of characters in this. Even Milo and Kida have grown on me (their voice actors used to get on my nerves, but they don't as much anymore). My only real disappointment with the film is it should've been longer to give the characters more screentime and to help the story breathe in places. I'm mostly okay with the opening, except for the conversation between Helga and Milo should've been longer. The film is gorgeous. The only thing that's ever really bothered me about the design are the fingers.

Btw, when I re-watched this, I couldn't understand why Kida's mother died at the beginning? They explained that at certain times the energy source needs to use somebody to protect Atlantis, but when it used Kida she didn't die?

[DisneyFan09]

Well, Disney's Divinity; I liked Atlantis a lot from the get-go and never understood why it was so bashed by critics. I thought the film was engaging, interesting and well made, with good music and characters. Afterwards I've started to see it's flaws, but I still like Atlantis for what it is. However, the issue with the film is that Helga is a pivotal character and certainly possesses multidimensionality, but it's vaguely enhanced and explored. Mole is annoying and frankly the side characters are more interesting than Milo. Otherwise I like Atlantis.

[RyGuy]

Btw, when I re-watched this, I couldn't understand why Kida's mother died at the beginning? They explained that at certain times the energy source needs to use somebody to protect Atlantis, but when it used Kida she didn't die?

It's been awhile since I watched it, but I think it had to do with the length of time of bonding to the crystal, like the longer you are bound to it, the greater the risk that you cannot be later unbound. So in Kida's case she had a chance whereas for her mom, it had been too long.

I think it's somewhat explained by the king to Milo, after Kida gets bound to it, but I think it's something that could have been more clearly explained.

[Disney's Divinity]

^ I guess that makes sense. Creating the little pocket of air they live in likely took a much longer amount of time.

Mole is annoying and frankly the side characters are more interesting than Milo.

I actually never found Mole annoying, although I know a lot of people I’ve discussed the film/character with have had the same opinion as you over the years. I find most of his moments pretty funny, the ending where he burrows into a vase in particular makes me die laughing every time I sit through the movie.

But I agree about the rest of the cast being more interesting than Milo. That isn’t a knock on Milo at all for me, considering I find him to be adorable and one of Disney’s better protagonists. My favorite of the crew has always been Mrs. Packard. It wasn’t until recently than I re-watched Jim Henson’s Dinosaurs for the first time with adult eyes, and that’s when I connected the voice here with the grandmother on that show. The familiarity with that character (who was my favorite along with the baby on Dinosaurs) may be partly why Packard is my favorite here. I love the moment where she has to be forced to put down the phone on her friend’s melodramatic lovelife when the submarine is on the verge of being destroyed. I think I like Cookie for a similar reason, because I grew up watching Ernest films and so Jim Varney’s voice is recognizable. My favorite after Packard is Vinny, but Audrey and Sweet are great,too.

And I agree about Helga, too. I’ve always found her more interesting than Rourke (although Rourke is a strong villain with a fantastic design, imo), but she definitely seems more in the background than the other characters, all of whom at least get their little moments to shine.

I couldn’t help thinking last night how much I wish this had succeeded at the time. I can’t guess why it failed. If I had to guess, I’d blame the marketing which put too much focus on the too in-depth mythology and sci-fi aspect (considering Disney has always been more fantastical than sci-fi). Which is odd considering Treasure Planet was marketed in the entirely opposite direction, putting focus on the worst part of the film—those ugly, stupid aliens, and of course the farting one most of all… I definitely think Atlantis is objectively the better film between the two, although I do like Jim Hawkins more than anything in Atlantis.

I’ve never watched the DTV sequel, Milo’s Return, and I almost want to just to hear the reprises of several of the voice actors. That’s my main disappointment in Atlantis and TP’s failures—I would’ve loved to have seen more of the characters here and Jim Hawkins, which we would’ve got considering the franchises Disney had been prepared to launch for them.

Btw, I'm grateful I have the Collector's Edition 2-Disc for this (and for TENG). I'm glad this film got pretty great treatment at least once.

[DisneyFan09]

It's not as Milo is a bad character. He's likable and endearing, but he still gets overshadowed by the other characters, who are frankly more endearing than he is. Some people have ranted about the characterizations, but I thought they were a strong part of the movie.

It's challenging to be objective, but Treasure Planet was labeled at the better movie at the time. It received better reviews and has more ratings, despite that it was even more of a bomb than Atlantis. It's a pity that both underperformed, actually, because both are good movies on their own merits. The characterizations in Treasure Planet are weaker, but frankly Treasure Planet felt more classically Disney in tone than Atlantis.

[thedisneyspirit]

The film is too short for what it is. It should've been long, and given proper focus to the world building, to all the characters, etc etc, or if you kept the same time as it is now, it would need to cut a lot of stuff. It just feels like a movie that tries to throw everything at you, regardless of if the element works or not. Treasure Planet is similar to this film but also different in that they knew the strength of the film was the focus on Jim and Silver, in Atlantis I sorta feel they don't know what should be the emotional focus of the film, even though it tries to present different angles: Milo and his grandfather, Kida and her parents, the crew...

I reckon it would've been better as an animated series, perhaps. (Not the one made for the sequel, tho...).

[Sotiris]

At Disney Animation, production crews typically were divided and assigned to other projects after a film wrapped. Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale wanted to keep the Hunchback crew together for another film and Producer Don Hahn encouraged them to choose another project quickly. “Don approached us and said ‘Okay, we’ve done a couple of movies,” Gary shared. “Iif we want to do another movie that we want to do and not have one assigned to us by the studio bosses, we should sit down and decide what we want to do.” They began talking about the Jules Verne films that Walt Disney made in the 1950’s and ‘60’s like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways.

“From our standpoint, we felt like we had done as a studio, as a group of artists, for ten years we’d been making movies that mostly took place in Fantasyland, to use a Disneyland metaphor,” Kirk Wise shared about how the project was sold to Disney. “So we said what if we take a left turn and make a movie that takes place in Adventureland?” The pitch worked and Atlantis got the greenlight. “It was a Jedi mind trick,” Gary joked.

For The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Kirk and Gary got to visit Paris. Other teams at Disney Animation were visiting China for Mulan and Greece for Hercules. So where do you go when you’re making a film about a lost civilization? “The internet was a lot more wild and wooly back then,” Gary Trousdale explained. The team looked at everything they could get their hands on, from books about Atlantis and cryptozoology to a visit to Carlsbad Caverns to get a better understanding of what an underground cavern looks like. They also looked at the history of written records of the lost civilization and historians who are ever in search of it. “Good old Edward Casey because as much as we wanted to give an aura of authenticity in our envisioning of the city itself, we also knew that some of the nuttier theories would be a lot more fun for an animated movie,” Kirk Wise shared.

[...] "In Atlantis when the sub is going over a graveyard of ships… there is a dragonhead viking ship, there is a Titanic, and the S.S. Minnow is in there as well.”

Source: https://www.laughingplace.com/w/article ... ter-hours/

[DisneyFan97]

I think this movie is a 7 of 10 !!!


It's actually pretty good !!

[Sotiris]

There was going to be a theatrical Atlantis sequel! The twist sounds so good! I would have loved that!

‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’ Co-Director Kirk Wise Reveals Details of Proposed Sequel
https://collider.com/atlantis-the-lost- ... -revealed/

Everything We Know About the Scrapped ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’ Sequel
https://collider.com/atlantis-the-lost- ... t-details/

How ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’ Almost Changed Disney Forever
https://collider.com/disney-atlantis-th ... explained/

[Clindor]

If there is something every Scooby-Doo episode ever taught us is that, when a villain wears a mask, this character has to be someone we’ve been introduced to early! So funny.
How would she have survived though? With the volcano and everything.
I wonder if Atlantis was also supposed to surface in this one too like it did in the TV pilot.