Atlantis: The Lost Empire-Atlantis: The Sunken City (2001)

Directed by: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise | 92 minutes | action, animation, adventure, fantasy, science fiction | Original voice cast: Michael J. Fox, Corey Burton, Claudia Christian, James Garner, John Mahoney, Phil Morris, Leaonard Nimoy, Don Novello, Jacqueline Obradors, Florence Stanley, David Ogden Stiers, Natalie Strom, Cree Summer, Jim Varney, Jim Cummings , Patrick Pinney, Steven Barr

‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’ is the fortieth Disney Classic and came to Dutch cinemas at the end of 2001. It’s not a traditional Disney Classic, because it’s not a fairy tale, like ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Cinderella’ or ‘Sleeping Beauty’. You will also not hear the standard songs in this film that you naturally hum along after a while. ‘Atlantis’ is in the first place an adventure film, which would not do badly if it was made into a film with real actors. It’s not for nothing that the crew wore t-shirts with the text “ATLANTIS – Fewer songs, more explosions” while working on this film.

The Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 BC) was the first to write about the mythical city of Atlantis. According to Plato, the empire disappeared about 9500 BC in a worldwide catastrophe, a kind of deluge, which wiped out all trace of the land. The Atlantic Ocean owes its name to this area. Today there is still much speculation about where Atlantis might have been located. The inhabitants of Atlantis lived in a golden age. They were skilled sailors who owned a large naval fleet of as many as 1,200 ships. They also knew a lot about astronomy, architecture, astrology, mathematics, etcetera.

An excellent starting point for a Disney adventure film, the makers of ‘Atlantis’ must have thought. And that turns out to be true. ‘Atlantis’ is an exciting adventure that takes you one and a half hours into a completely different world. Visually, there is a lot to enjoy. Especially the way Atlantis itself is designed is breathtaking. The characters are a bit angular, so the animation goes a bit in the anime direction. Marc Okrand, known as creator of the Klingon and Vulcan languages ​​from the ‘Star Trek’ series, has developed the Atlantis language, which gives the film an even more authentic atmosphere. The characters are very funny, the highlight being of course Milo, the hero of the story (voiced by Michael J. Fox) and Princess Kida (voiced by Cree Summer). Their blossoming romance gets just enough screen time not to let the film get bogged down in a romantic girl movie.

The film is more suitable for teenagers than younger children; for fans of ‘Indiana Jones’ like movies it is a must. Although ‘Atlantis’ didn’t turn out to be the movie it could have been (more humor and fewer plot holes), it’s definitely worth checking out.