Walt Disney PicturesDirected by Gary Trousdale, Kirk WiseProduced by Don HahnScreenplay by Tab MurphyRating: PG3.5 (out of four)
?Atlantis: The Lost Empire? is not your typical Disney cartoon.
Sure, it contains cute stuff and is appropriate for all but the youngest children. But the film will also impress fans of high level action. It?s an adrenaline rush of visual delights.
The story starts in 1914 with Milo (voiced by Michael J. Fox), an anthropologist obsessed with finding the legendary lost city of Atlantis. The problem is no one will fund his expedition.
This is solved when an eccentric billionaire (John Mahoney) gives Milo an ancient journal Milo?s grandfather found and grants him funding for a full-scale adventure.
Milo is to lend his expertise to a team of specialists, including Commander Rourke (James Garner), second-in command/seductress Helga (Claudia Christian), Dr. Sweet (Phil Morris), explosives expert Vinny (Don Novella), geologist and hole-digger Moliere (an energetic Corey Burton) and mechanic Audrey (Jacqueline Obradors).
This diverse team, along with a fast-talking switchboard operator (Florence Stanley), provide the comic relief as Milo boards the hi tech submarine ?Ulysses? and tries to fit in.
Instead of a musical sequence, the first dose of action arrives as the submarine nears the suspected location of Atlantis.
A wild sequence involving a robotic crustacean that guards the city takes place. This sequence, which seamlessly blends traditional 2-D animation with digital 3-D effects, is just as good as any live-action adventure film this year.
The scene fully utilizes the CinemaScope wide-screen, a format rarely used in animation.
But the width sure comes in handy when the team arrives in Atlantis. The city is a masterpiece of design, full of elaborate details. The architecture is fascinating, as is the city?s exotic location in the center of the earth.
There, the Atlantan civilization, led by its old king (Leonard Nimoy) and his daughter, Princess Kida (Cree Summer), is in danger of dying out. Perhaps Milo?s knowledge will be able to help save Atlantis.
The plot that follows contains twists that won?t surprise the Disney savvy, but will hopefully inspire thought from the youngsters watching.
What makes the plot and effects worthwhile is the carefully drawn Milo. The detailed animations capture the spirit of Fox?s excellent voice-overs.
Of course, animated movies are never just for the kids, and the striking visuals will impress everyone.
The ending recalls the old tale about the pot smokers who?d sneak into ?2001: A Space Odyssey? and lie on the floor in front of the screen, amazed at Stanley Kubrick?s visual genius.
In the year 2001, this practice could be revived through the wild visuals near the conclusion of ?Atlantis.? Far out.