A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

The Evaluation System Reviews by Title Reviews by Date

Reviews from Video Reviews of the Classics Personal Background

Title: Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Theatrical Release: 2001

Details:

Voice talent: Corey Burton (Moliere, a.k.a. "Mole"; longtime Disney voice)

Claudia Christian (Helga)

Michael J. Fox (Milo Thatch)

James Garner (Rourke)

John Mahoney (Preston Whitmore)

Phil Morris (Dr. Sweet)

Leonard Nimoy (Atlantean King)

Don Novello (Vinny)

Jacqueline Obradors (Audrey)

Florence Stanley (Mrs. Packard)

David Ogden Stiers (Mr. Harcourt)

Cree Summer (Princess Kida; also the voice of the green M&M in the 1998 commercials)

Jim Varney (Cookie; also Slinky Dog in the Toy Story animations)

Directors: Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise

Score: 0

The Review: At last, a Disney animated feature (cartoon) that is not a musical (not being a big fan of musicals, I'd been waiting impatiently for this change of pace for some time). Nonetheless, I kept waiting for, and found I missed, the typical Disney genre songs and lyrics. Be careful of what you wish for.

Situated (for no clear reason, other than perhaps mimicking the engineering of Jules Verne) in 1914, this is the quest for lost Atlantis by a marginalized museum staffer with more ambition than brains. Milo fills the Disney script role of "hero," including being klutzy and occasionally so dim as to undershine a black hole. His ideas of what constitutes evidence would impress the Flem-Ath's and Colin Wilson, but few others. Through family connections and talent -- he does demonstrate a skill with languages, particularly the mysterious puzzle runes from the (fictional) Shepherd's Book -- he manages to become a member of an expedition to the bottom of the sea. But (are you surprised?) the expedition is not exactly what it appears to be (duh?!). Some of this is tedious, much of it pastiche and credulous. There are a few curious ideas floating around -- the masks of the past Atlantean kings are particularly well done, both as a concept and as artwork (and, by the way, look a lot like the illustrations on the cover of one of the earlier volumes in a recent Jack Chalker series, "The Wonderland Gambit") -- but most of it is worth a pass.

Probably more than a few puns floating around in character names, which you have to pay close attention to, since they fly by quite rapidly -- e.g.: the explosives expert is Vincenzo Santorini (after the Mediterranean island whose eruption in 1500BC might be the model for Plato's Atlantis). Voice casting is decent, with Garner in the role of villain and bully (something he has gravitated to in later years); Novello is excellent, and Stanley (as the grizzled and wise-cracking communications officer a.k.a. telephone operator) is wonderful. The latter two have a lot of throwaway lines that are almost worth the price of admission. Buried in the dialog is a nutritional revelation: the (new) four basic food groups are: beans, bacon, whisky, and lard. (This is close to sacrilege for one who believes the three basic food groups are (instead) warm salty grease, cold sweet grease, and beer. Close, but it shows how much civilization has progressed since 1914.)

The geology of the Atlantean environs is fantastic, and this is not intended to be a compliment. Following somewhat in the footsteps of Verne (shades of both Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea), or the worst of Robin Cook (Sphere), Atlantis is found UNDER the bottom of the sea in some anomalous cavity, lit by magic, with breathable air and a civilization both of which have somehow persisted in total isolation from the surface biosphere. In the biological engineering realm, however, the computer model of the Leviathan is quite impressive.

The DVD contains a few additional features of "note," including a silly pseudo-documentary on how to speak Atlantean, and a pseudo-encyclopedia of odd factoids about archaeology, ancient languages, and Plato. "Pseudo" is the operative prefix for much of this material, and it is noteworthy only for the space it wastes.

(30-Mar-02)

Back to the chronological list of reviews