Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Atlantis: The Lost Empire
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Directed by	Gary Trousdale Kirk Wise
Screenplay by	Tab Murphy
Story by	Kirk Wise Gary Trousdale Joss Whedon Bryce Zabel Jackie Zabel Tab Murphy
Produced by	Don Hahn
Starring	Michael J. Fox James Garner Cree Summer Don Novello Phil Morris Claudia Christian Jacqueline Obradors Florence Stanley David Ogden Stiers John Mahoney Jim Varney Corey Burton Leonard Nimoy
Edited by	Ellen Keneshea
Music by	James Newton Howard
Production company	Walt Disney Feature Animation
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release dates	June 3, 2001 (2001-06-03) (El Capitan Theatre) June 15, 2001 (2001-06-15) (United States)[1]
Running time	95 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$90–120 million[3][4][5]
Box office	$186.1 million[5]

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a 2001 American animated science fiction adventure movie made by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 41st movie in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the first science fiction movie for Disney. It follows a group of mercenaries on a quest to find the lost city of Atlantis. Released on June 15, 2001, it did not make much money as the company wanted. Disney stopped making both a spin-off television series and an underwater attraction at its Disneyland theme park.

This movie has a sequel called Atlantis: Milo's Return.

In 1914 Washington, D.C., archaeo-linguist Milo Thatch obsesses over finding the legendary lost city of Atlantis, which is believed to have sunk thousands of years ago. His employers ridicule his theories, but he gains an unexpected alley in eccentric millionaire Preston B. Whitmore, a friend of Milo's late adventurer grandfather who also sought the city. Determined to honor his old friend's quest, Whitmore recruits Milo for an expedition to Atlantis, having recently uncovered the Shepherd's Journal, an ancient Atlantean manuscript that contains directions to the lost city's location.

Aboard the submarine Ulysses, Milo meets his teammates: Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke, Lieutenant Helga Sinclair, demolitions expert Vincenzo Santorini, geologist Gaëtan "Mole" Molière, medical officer Joshua Sweet, mechanic Audrey Ramirez, radio operator Wilhelmina Packard, mess cook Jebidiah "Cookie" Farnsworth, and a platoon of mercenaries. A massive mechanical leviathan attacks the submarine after it reaches in a cave entrance leading toward the lost city, killing most of the crew. Milo and the survivors escape in the smaller craft, navigating through the cave to emerge among the ancient ruins.

Milo translates the journal, guiding the team through caves beneath a dormant volcano until they reach the worn remains of Atlantis. There, they are greeted by Princess Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh, who, despite being about 8,500 years old, has the appearance of a young woman. She leads them to her father, King Kashekim, who orders them to leave. Learning that Milo can read their language—a skill lost to the Atlanteans over millennia—Kida asks for his help in uncovering their forgotten history and highly-advanced technology, which the city has declined and resources have dwindled without. Milo learns that Atlantis is powered by the Heart of Atlantis, a massive crystal that grands longevity and health to its citizens through the smaller crystals they carry.

Rourke betrays Milo and the Atlanteans, revealing his true intention to steal the Heart for profit, despite knowing that the Atlanteans will perish without it. He mortally wounds the King to seize control and uncovers the crystal's hidden location beneath the city. Sensing the danger, the crystal merges with Kida, whom Rourke then captures. He departs with the crystallized Kida and his mercenaries, except for Vincenzo, Molière, Sweet, Audrey, Packard, and Cookie, who refuse to take part in the Atlanteans' destruction. Before dying, the King reveals that he attempted to weaponize the crystal's vast power, resulting in Atlantis being devastated by a megatsunami. The crystal merged with a royal family member, Kida's mother, to protect the city by creating a dome over the city's inner district and shielding it from total destruction as Atlantis sank beneath the waves, but Kida's mother never returned. In order to prevent the crystal from ever merging with Kida, the King hid it, inadvertently accelerating Atlantis' decline. He warns Milo that Kida will be lost forever if she's not soon separated from the crystal and pleads with him to save her.

Alongside his allies, Milo rallies the Atlanteans to reactivate their long-dormant flying machines. Together, they eliminate Rourke and his mercenaries in the volcano. Milo and the others fly the crystallized Kida back to Atlantis as the volcano erupts. Kida ascends into the air and awakens the Stone Guardians, who erect a barrier that shields the city from the lava flow. With Atlantis saved, the crystal separates from Kida and remains suspended in the sky.

Having fallen in love with Kida, Milo chooses to stay behind in Atlantis with her. Before returning to the surface, Vincenzo, Molière, Sweet, Audrey, Packard, and Cookie each receive a small crystal and a share of treasure. The six reunite with Preston and agree to keep their adventure a secret to protect Atlantis. Preston opens a package from Milo, containing his own crystal and a note thanking him. The newly crowned Queen Kida and Milo carve a stone effigy of her father to join those of the past rulers floating beside the Heart of Atlantis, as the city stands restored to its former glory.

• Michael J. Fox as Milo James Thatch, a linguist and cartographer at the Smithsonian Institute who is subsequently recruited to decipher The Shepherd's Journal as part of an expedition to Atlantis.
• James Garner as Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke, the leader of a band of mercenaries for the Atlantean expedition.
• Cree Summer as Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh, the Princess of Atlantis and Milo's love interest, and the unnamed Queen of Atlantis, Kida's mother and Kashekim's wife who was "chosen" by the Crystal during the sinking of the city.
  • Natalie Strom as young Kida
• John Mahoney as Preston B. Whitmore, an eccentric millionaire who funds the expedition to Atlantis. Lloyd Bridges was originally considered to provide his voiceover role as Whitmore, but he died before completing the movie. Mahoney's zest and vigor led to Whitmore's personality being reworked for the movie.^[6]
• Claudia Christian as Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair, Rourke's German-born second-in-command.
• Don Novello as Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini, an Italian demolitions expert.
• Phil Morris as Dr. Joshua Strongbear Sweet, a medic of African-American and Arapaho descent.
• Jacqueline Obradors as Audrey Rocio Ramirez, Puerto Rican mechanic and the youngest member of the expedition.
• Corey Burton as Gaëtan "Mole" Molière, a French geologist who acts like a mole.
• Jim Varney / Steven Barr as Jebidiah Allerdyce "Cookie" Farnsworth, a Western-style chuckwagon chef. Varney died in February 2000, before the production ended, and the movie was dedicated to his memory. Barr recorded supplemental dialogue for Cookie.
• Florence Stanley as Wilhelmina Bertha Packard, a elderly, sarcastic, and chain-smoking radio operator who is also the expedition's photographer.
• Leonard Nimoy as Kashekim Nedakh, the King of Atlantis and Kida's father.
• David Ogden Stiers as Mr. Fenton Q. Harcourt, a board member of the Smithsonian Institution who dismisses Milo's belief in the existence of Atlantis.

Additional voices are provided by Jim Cummings, Patrick Pinney, Mickie McGowan, Jack Angel, Bob Bergen, Rodger Bumpass, Jennifer Darling, Paul Eiding, Luck Hari, Sherry Lynn, Phil Proctor, and Bill Striglos.

• Atlantis: The Lost Empire at Letterboxd