ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE

Starring the vocal talents of: Michael J. Fox, James Garner and John Mahoney
Directors: Kirk Wise & Gary Trousdale
Running Time: 96 mins

Available to buy on DVD 4th March

Milo Thatch (Fox) thinks he has finally solved one of the great mysteries of man, how to find the lost city of Atlantis. The problem is that no one will take him seriously. That is until wealthy businessman Preston B. Whitmore (Mahoney) steps in to fund the entire expedition, to fulfil a promise he made to Thatch's Grandfather. So Milo sets off with a rag-tag band of mercenaries, led by Commander Rourke (Garner), to find the lost city and prove to everyone that his theories are correct.

Ever since Jeffery Katzenburg was sacked as the head of Disney's animation department, everything has started to go wrong. Not since Tarzan, the last picture Katzenburg had anything to do with, have Disney had a 2D animated hit. Both this and the Emperor's New Groove have performed very poorly at the US box office. Only the CG movies from John Lasseter's Pixar, producers of the Toy Story movies, have returned the big money for Disney.

Atlantis itself is not a bad movie, in fact it is very entertaining for a cartoon. Changing the usual Disney formula of cute talking animal characters and getting rid of the songs, this is more of an action movie than a traditional animated film. This is where they go wrong by totally alienating their core audience, the under seven's. The movie is just too advanced in both plot lines and action for young children to enjoy. The movie even uses subtitles when the Atlantian's are talking in their native tongue, which any young child would never be able to read. The violence is also excessive for a Disney cartoon, they over use guns and too many characters die.

This is not the movie to take your young child to see at half term, as they will lose interest very quickly. For everyone else, this is a wonderfully animated movie that maybe abit over the top but is still good entertainment. However, I don't think it will save 2D animated movies from hitting the back burner after the success of Shrek.

Disc 1: In addition to audio commentary, producer Don Hahn and directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise take viewers behind the film during key scenes, showing how film was created.
Disc 2: Multiple platform 3-D menu navigation options, Disneys Pedia, 'Atlantis: fact or fiction' interactive game, Viking prologue deleted scene, 'The Journey Begins' - the making of Atlantis, 'Creating Mythology' - the history of the lost empire of Atlantis, Atlantis animation production ,Whitmore Industries industrial film history, How to speak Atlantean, Abandoned sequences, Story and editorial, Art direction, Character designs, Music and sound & Publicity


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