ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE
A Walt Disney Pictures release 

review by Joseph B. Mauceri

SYNOPSIS: Milos J. Thatch may work in the basement of the museum, but he has the heart of an adventure, taking after his grandfather. When he is turned down by the museum to find a journal that may hold the key to the location of Atlantis, his grandfather's final quest, eccentric millionaire Preston Whitmore provides him with the journal and means to do so. Leading a multinational cast of characters, under the leadership Commander Rourke, the crew undertakes a perilous journey to the bottom of the sea to find the lost city.

REVIEW: In the grand tradition of some of the studio's live action epic adventures, ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE is one of the edgier animated features the studio has release since its early days. The mix of animation styles created breathtaking, action packed sequences, but the real heros of this feature are the writers. First there is an international mix of characters that offers both drama and comic relief. They're truly realistic, allowing the audience to identify with them. Also, the Atlantians are nicely represented as a diverse multiracial people, that truly portrays the melting-pot concept.  Plato's allegory about the decline of Greek society is updated with a dash of science fact and science fiction borrowed from such classic works as "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth." In fact, when you think about the diversity of characters in those epic adventures you can easily see that some of the character profiles were borrowed from there as well. The only character missing in ATLANTIS is an animal character to represent Gertrude the duck in "Journey."

With an grand adventure to be told the filmmakers assembled a first rate cast to create the character voices. I hope I don't sound as if I'm downplaying Michael J. Fox's contribution, but his co-stars all shine as they impart a distinctive and memorable flare to their roles. Truly noteworthy are James Garner, Leonard Nimoy, Phil Morris and Don Novello. I think Garner's Rourke is the first antihero in a Disney animated feature. What also contributes to the nature of these characters are the slightly different styles used to create one from the other. Several have that tradition Disney look, while others are designed after looks created by Don Bluth in his animated features such as "Anastasia," or a modern look featured in MTV's "Aeon Flux."

In addition to the mix of styles in characters, the filmmakers have blended traditional 2D animation with 3D imagery to add contrast to the film. They've expanded on this idea in crafting the machines utilized in the story. The machines of the Atlantian culture are more environmental in their design, and the machines of the explore's is a more heavy-metal, industrial revolution look. This new and non-traditional Disney look is largely due to the filmmakers bring on board artist Mike Mignola, the creator of the "Hellboy" series, and who did the official comic adaptation of Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula."

I had the pleasure of viewing the film on a Saturday morning, in a theater filled with children of different ages. Once again Disney has created magic. The children were spellbound, including my cousin's three-year-old daughter, who was enjoying her first movie theater experience. I was amazed at how much she took away from the film. I had an idea that I would love it, but I had my doubts that she would. In fact, once the movie started there wasn't any fidgeting in the audience until the film was over, which is a clear sign that the film works. ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE is the next step in the animation studio's evolution, which began years earlier with "The Little Mermaid." The only flaw I could find with the film is the usual romantic ballad, which wasn't up to the traditional Disney standards. Still, ATLANTIS is the perfect adventure for a steamy summer's day. 

OFFICIAL WEB SITE:
http://www.disney.com/atlantis

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