Atlantis: The Lost Empire / YMMV

Adorkable:
- Milo personifies this to such a degree that he provides the page image for that trope. Intelligent, sweet, clumsy, scrawny, still brave... Top it off with the voice of Michael J. Fox, and you have got fangirl carnage on your hands. Kida makes mention of this... in her own, unique way.
  Kida: You are a scholar, are you not? Judging by your diminished physique and large forehead, you are suited for nothing else.
- Kida herself actually has a good few moments, such as when she tries on Milo's glasses and her eyes get magnified or the Who's on First? routine where she can't understand that Sweet is the actual doctor's name, suggesting that she and Milo aren't that different in the dorkiness department.
Alternative Character Interpretation:
- During the Leviathan's attack on Ulysses, it briefly grabs the ship in its mandible claws and holds it up to its "eyes", close enough for Milo to watch them dilate. Considering that it doesn't attack or snap the Ulysses in half during this scene, it almost appears to be intently studying the ship. Is it analyzing the enemy for weaknesses, perhaps trying to determine whether it's a threat? Taunting the people on board with how easily it can destroy them? Lining up a kill shot for its Wave-Motion Gun? Or is it so ancient that it genuinely has no idea what the hell it has in its claws, especially since the only other mechanical constructions it's ever seen are other Atlantean vessels like itself?
- During the same sequence, the Leviathan takes an awfully long time to destroy the Ulysses, although it clearly could have obliterated the ship and everyone on board with a single tail slap. Is this a case of Plot Armor keeping the Leviathan from killing all the main characters in five seconds, or is the Leviathan sadistically toying with its defenseless prey? Or, as suggested above, is it confused about the Ulysses and trying to figure out what it is?
- As the Leviathan is circling Ulysses, it gives out two loud calls that the crew can't understand. Is this a Roar Before Beating, or was the Leviathan trying to communicate with the vessel?
- Was Rourke Evil All Along or did he do a Face–Heel Turn when he realized the mission wasn't a simple "find the lost city and take valuables"? He knew about the crystal beforehand by reading or looking at the images in the book, but he didn't understand the ancient language so he couldn't know what the crystal was exactly, nor did he (or really anyone for that matter) expect Atlantis to still be inhabited. Excavating valuable artifacts from long-dead civilizations isn't evil even if you're Only in It for the Money like he seems to be, but deciding to take it from still-living people who depend on is unquestionably evil. Considering he only starts acting outright villainous after the crystal is revealed and he is given the chance to learn more about it, it calls into question if he was Evil All Along, or if learning the truth made him realize the value of it and acted on that. Dr. Sweet's statement when Rourke punches King Kashekim implies that after arriving in Atlantis, the crew (save Milo) met up and agreed upon taking the valuables, since he outright says Rourke assaulting the king was not part of the plan.
- How much of Helga's Last Breath Bullet to kill Rourke due to a desire to do the right thing now that she no longer had any chance to profit from doing the wrong one (she did seem to be very slightly less comfortable than Rourke with their various despicable actions, though not enough to stop being The Dragon) and how much was Taking You with Me spite from him betraying and fatally injuring her the second it seemed useful.
Aluminum Christmas Trees: Gas had not been deployed as a weapon yet, but the concept of a gas mask dates back to the 19th century. A gas mask was patented in America in 1849 by Lewis Haslett, for filtering dust, and Garrett A. Morgan invented a gas mask in 1912 that proved useful for gas/smoke-filled environments. Military use of gas masks did not occur until at least 1915, but Rourke runs a private army with unconventional equipment, to say the least.
Animation Age Ghetto: A major factor in the movie's failure. It was intended to be the beginning of a new movement for Disney that involved making animated films for older audiences. However, those same audiences, especially the teenage boys to whom Atlantis was marketed, were predisposed to ignore Disney animation — not surprising considering that Disney has spent the entire previous decade making movies that were aimed first and foremost at very young children. The New '10s, however, brought the fall of the ghetto and Cult Classic status to the film, so it's proven itself as just ahead of its time.
Audience-Alienating Era: Given its lukewarm critical reception and box office take, it was seen as an early warning sign that Disney was falling into one, and many critics pointed to it as in hindsight being the surest sign that the Disney Renaissance had effectively ended by this point. Many fans entirely disagree, and thus place it at the end of the renaissance instead, along with Lilo & Stitch and Treasure Planet for their bold and daring experimentation.
Audience-Alienating Premise: While there are a number of reasons Atlantis underperformed at the box office, the one most commonly attributed to its failure is that it was simply "too different" from what viewers expected from Disney. And in all fairness, it was unlike anything Disney had produced since The Black Cauldron, which also attempted a more "mature" approach and subsequently bombed. The years following have been kinder to the film, however, and now it enjoys a definitive Cult Classic status among Disney's fans.
Awesome Music: James Newton Howard provides as usual. The music during the submarine launch is especially epic. Special mention needs to go to "The Crystal Chamber". It's quite possibly one of the most gorgeous tracks Howard ever composed. Close runner-ups would be "The Secret Swim" and "Just Do It".
- Not quite "music" in the conventional sense, but the Foley work on this film is spectacular—particularly the cracking rock sounds as the crystal-dome-covered Atlantis is covered in cooling lava.
Base-Breaking Character: Rourke. While quite a few fans regard him as a frighteningly believable antagonist who demonstrates the immorality of the worst side of capitalist values and is charismatic enough to make the third act twist work, others call him an underdeveloped villain with a bland motivation clearly shoehorned in to give the movie a conflict.
Catharsis Factor: Considering how rude Helga is before the group's Face–Heel Turn and afterwards being a Smug Snake who jokes about doubling the price once she hears that stealing the Heart of Atlantis will result in the Atlanteans dying, it's rather satisfying when Rourke betrays her and throws her off the zeppelin. And seeing as Rourke does this for no good reason beyond a flimsy excuse and claiming it's "nothing personal", it's also just as cathartic when a dying Helga gets a revenge shot in, throwing those words back at Rourke as she does.
Complete Monster:
- Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke is a tomb-robbing mercenary—or, as he insists, "adventure capitalist"—solely in the Atlantis operation for profit. The leader of the expedition sent to find Atlantis, Rourke maintains a gruff, militaristic indifference to the lives of those lost to the Leviathan and upon seeing the Heart of Atlantis, plans to confiscate it and sell it for triple the money he'd receive. Knowing full well this will kill every Atlantean, when he's confronted on this Rourke threatens to shoot Princess Kida and shortly thereafter murders her father, never dropping his friendly facade. Rourke was concerned for little else but himself and the potential profit he could reap from Atlantis, to the point where he tosses Helga off a blimp to her death in an attempt to aid his escape, and was greedy enough, in the end, to make his entire party turn against him.
- First draft script (link):
  - Rourke, lacking any of the superficial charm of his film counterpart, is a much darker character here and is an ally of the Kaiser. The thuggish commander of the expedition crew, Rourke shows a callous demeanour to the horrific deaths of his crewmembers, even threatening Milo when he suggests they turn back. Wanting to acquire the Heart Crystal of Atlantis to allow Germany to usher in a "New World Order", Rourke happily acknowledges that doing this would doom Atlantis and its inhabitants to decay and die in the dark. Having Preston Whitmore rendezvous at the entrance to Atlantis, Rourke sets up the man and his crew to die via a German U-boat attack. During the climax, Rourke betrays his ally Helga by shooting her and kicking her off his Zeppelin and attempts to sadistically murder Milo, musing about dragging the death out to an agonising end. Having a much grander scope of ambition compared to his film counterpart's lust for greed, Rourke is a deranged sadist willing to kill both friend and foe to achieve his goals.
  - Red Beard is a pillaging Viking out to discover Atlantis. Raiding a village, Red Beard forces a monk to give up the map to Atlantis for the price of his flock being spared; once the monk concedes, Red Beard razes the village to ashes and kills all within out of amused sadism—but spares the sheep. When one of his men gets uneasy due to concerns there's something within the ocean, Red Beard tosses the man off his boat to drown in the frigid waters, threatening the rest of his crew with the same fate should they question him.
Crazy Is Cool: Gaetan Moliere. The man is completely obsessed with dirt... and it makes him incredibly useful. He's able to identify Milo as a linguist by Sherlock Scanning and tasting dirt from under Milo's fingernails.
Critical Dissonance: Has a critic score of 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a surprisingly low audience score of only around 51%. However, given its Cult Classic status and its constant inclusion in lists of the most underrated Disney movies and animated movies in general, it’s obvious the audience liked it more.
Cult Classic: As with Treasure Planet and The Black Cauldron, this film is becoming one. In fact, it's one of the rare few movies (along with the aforementioned two) that fans actually want to see join Disney's increasingly long list of live-action remakes, just so it can get a second shot at the box office.
Draco in Leather Pants: Due to the sheer sexiness (and coolness) of Helga, and the fact that she technically pulls a Heel–Face Turn that amounts more to Taking You with Me when Rourke betrays her, fans like to imagine her as less of a villain than Rourke. She does say "this changes everything" when she finds out that there are people in Atlantis, but continues with the mission even after the rest of the team defects.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Ask any random person what they remember most about this movie. Nine times out of ten they'll answer the Leviathan even though it doesn't actually speak and only appears for about five minutes in total.^note
- Vinny is arguably the most popular character. Especially in the French fanbase, thanks to a brilliant dub that arguably makes his Deadpan Snark even funnier than in the original English. He's also beloved among Italian fans, as in that dub he's given a Southern accent to make him stick out from the other Italian-speaking characters and to be accurate to his canon bio about being born in Palermo, Sicily.
- Mrs. Packard, due to her bottomless pit of snark.
- King Kashekim, for being voiced by Leonard Nimoy.
- Audrey is perhaps a close second for many, for her feisty and snarky attitude, her knack with machinery despite her very young age, and her being one of the first team members to warm up to Milo. The fact that she's a prominent female character who doesn't end up as someone's love interest helps a good deal, too.
- Helga's got a strong fanbase, too, on account of her cool, no-nonsense demeanor and her sultriness, as well as her Dying Moment of Awesome where she shoots down Rourke's airship with a Last Breath Bullet.
Fair for Its Day: The film is not without modern criticisms about Kida's character being oversexualized and stereotypically native, as well as the plot carrying White Savior shades with Milo's role saving Atlantis. However, despite it being made during the Turn of the Millennium, it is also one of the most diverse Disney films to date, featuring a cast of many races and nationalities with their own charisma, which is no doubt one of its draws and reasons for its cult status. It's also worth noting that Kida is still the most powerful person in the story, and the third act's rescue plot is also so that she can save them. While a passive vessel for the Heart of Atlantis, depicting a woman of color saving the day in a Disney film in 2001 was most certainly not often seen. And of course, Kida is the first princess character in a Disney movie to become a queen at the end, even if she isn't considered an official Disney Princess.
Fan-Preferred Couple: Although Milo and Kida are the movie's Official Couple, many fans prefer to ship Milo with Helga or Audrey; in no small part due to their respective chemistries with him.
Fan-Preferred Cut Content:
- A lot of fans would have liked most of the storyboarded action adventure sequences before finding Atlantis to be included in the finished film. Word of God is that they were cut because it was "taking too long" to get to Atlantis itself, but many of the pacing issues would likely have been solved by including them.
- The cancelled sequel would have involved Helga surviving the volcanic eruption and coming back as a Rudolf Von Stroheim-esque dieselpunk cyborg to be the film's villain, which many fans would have been happy to see.
Friendly Fandoms: With Hellboy, due to the similar art style and character designs, courtesy of Mike Mignola.
Genius Bonus: Several examples:
- Ichthyologists and paleontologists in the audience had to laugh at Whitmore's aquarium, which contained coelacanths (a 65-million-year-old species that was thought long extinct until its rediscovery in 1938.) Probably meant to show, in the most obscure possible way, that Whitmire's been exploring the world long enough to find all sorts of hidden things.
- Cookie shows off a tattooed map on his belly showing "all 38 states." There were 38 states from 1876 to 1889; meaning he would have got the tattoo sometime between the ages of 33 and 47. He seems to think there are still only 38 states, but then, he's not all there.
- While abandoning the main characters in Atlantis, Rourke mutters, "P. T. Barnum was right." Barnum's most famous (and probably apocryphal) saying, There's a sucker born every minute. Even people who don't know much about him understand that he was a complete grifter.
- Cookie is confused when he finds a can labelled "cilantro" in his supplies at the start of the mission. Cilantro — Spanish for coriander — was called "coriander leaves" until the 1920s (it was introduced to British colonies in North America in 1670), and still is referred to as such in some countries.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
- It had a big following in Canada, probably due to how similar it is to Stargate SG-1.
- Mexico as well, likely because of the artistic similarities to Hellboy (which is very popular in Mexico due to being directed by Mexican Guillermo del Toro).
He's Just Hiding: Some fans of the movie pretend to think that Helga survived the final battle. In fact, the cancelled true sequel would've confirmed that Helga actually did survive; and would have ended up being rebuilt into a heavily-armed dieselpunk cyborg and becoming the new Big Bad of the movie.
Hollywood Homely: Milo is often talked about as though he's scrawny and unattractive, with Kida even making fun of his physique. Except that halfway through the film, he goes through an impromptu Adrenaline Makeover where he spends the rest of the story in a tank top, and when he disrobes for a swim with Kida, he has lots of muscle definition. The impression is more 'slender athletic build' rather than Geek Physiques.
It's Short, So It Sucks!: Thanks to its surprisingly rich lore due to its supplementary materials, fans have noted that the film could have used a lot more running time to better establish the setting, explore the universe's lore, and give the characters more screen time. Official word is that Executive Meddling is at fault for this one, as the journey to Atlantis was set to take up a larger portion of the story in the original drafts.
Jerkass Woobie: King Kashekim is aloof not just to the protagonists but to his own daughter, and he's the arrogant ruler who became responsible for Atlantis's fall in the first place. But he's fully aware that his own hubris doomed his people, and he also had to lose his beloved wife, whom he still misses thousands of years later. He also dies fearing that Kida will be lost the same way as the queen.
LGBT Fanbase: The film has a lot of queer female fans due to the sheer attractiveness of Helga, Audrey, and Kida. Milo has a similar following among male fans, with particular attention being drawn to his adorkable nature, trim Geek Physique and the extended scene where he goes swimming with Kida in nothing but his boxers.
Love to Hate: Helga is quite an enjoyable villain for her Deadpan Snarker Femme Fatale persona, as well as being a Dark Action Girl in the climax. Many fans lament the cancelled sequel where Helga would have been revealed to have not only survived the volcanic eruption and prior fall from Rourke's blimp, but also to have been rebuilt as a dieselpunk cyborg and succeeding Rourke as the new main villain.
Memetic Mutation:
- The part where Rourke lights a match in the dark and asks "Alright, who's not dead? Sound off." has become very popular for Gif users.
- Additionally the part where Milo asks about Mole's backstory and Dr Sweet responds with "Trust me on this: You don't want to know. Audrey, don't tell him. You shouldn't have told me, but you did, and now I'm telling you, you don't wanna know." has become a popular meme, usually in response to someone asking about some aspect of internet culture that the asker probably won't like the answer to.
- After Frozen (2013) came out and featured Elsa being crowned as a queen, memes stating that Elsa was the first Disney Princess to become a queen, only to have annoyed looks from Kida followed.
Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales: Vinny Santorini is as much of a beloved Ensemble Dark Horse among Italian fans as he is generally among other viewers worldwide. The Superlative Dubbing by Pasquale Anselmo, who gave Vinny a southern accent to make him stick out more in the Italian dub and be accurate to him being from Palermo, definitely upped the character's charm.
Moral Event Horizon: Rourke crosses it and keeps on going when he punches the elderly King of Atlantis so hard it causes internal bleeding, eventually leading to his death. Dr. Sweet drops out without hesitation when he sees this happen and while the other main crew members don't, Audrey and Vinny at least are shown to be disconcerted and repulsed; and it sets the wheels in motion for them to turn on him later as well.
Sweet: Rourke, this was not part of the plan!
Rourke: Plan's changed, Doc. I suggest you put a bandage on that bleeding heart of yours. It doesn't suit a mercenary.
Most Wonderful Sound: The Level Complete theme from the PS1 game adaptation; a short but atmospheric choir-backed fanfare that's reminiscent of the Item Acquisition theme from the Metroid Prime Trilogy.
Narm: Rourke’s hellish scream when he fully transforms into a crystal monster is terrifying, but to some it sounds rather... high-pitched in a way that makes it harder to take seriously.^note
Older Than They Think:
- Kida is the first princess in a Disney movie to be crowned Queen, a whole decade before Elsa from Frozen.
- The film also featured a seemingly friendly character being revealed as the villain long before it started showing up in Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen (2013), Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and many other Disney productions.
- Atlantis's crystalline technology, a common talking point of critics that claim the film plagiarizes Nadia, originates from decades earlier in the writings of self-proclaimed mystic Edgar Cayce.
One-Scene Wonder: Why yes, the Leviathan technically appears for only one brief segment of this movie. Let's put it this way — have you forgotten about the colossal magic Atlantean robot lobster that shoots lasers and inflicts an absolutely staggering death toll on the Main Characters, in a Disney movie?
She Really Can Act: Given that Cree Summer is best known for voicing 90% of Sassy Black Woman characters in cartoons, it's quite surprising to hear her give such a wildly against-type performance as Kida. Cree even lists the princess as her favorite role.
So Okay, It's Average: General consensus among external critics seems to be that it has a lot of good points (surprisingly rich lore, finely-made animation graphics, diverse and varied side characters), but a lot of bad ones too (overly short runtime, condensed story plots) with each kind of balancing the other out. For cult fans, the latter doesn't really care.
Spiritual Adaptation: The movie is probably the closest thing we'll ever get to an American remake of the 1990 anime series Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. In fact, the similarities between both works are so strong that, according to the Nadia production team, there were calls for suing for plagiarism at one point. They only declined to do so because the Troubled Production of the anime had left its rights in the hands of another production company, as well as because they didn't believe they would win against the mighty Disney in court.
Yasuhiro Takeda: ...some years later, Disney would produce a cartoon that fans in both America and Japan would claim was practically a carbon copy of Nadia. Several people asked us if we planned to sue, but the only response we could give was, "Please take this up with NHK and Toho."
Hiroyuki Yamaga: We actually tried to get NHK to pick a fight with Disney, but even the National Television Network of Japan didn't dare to mess with Disney and their lawyers. What we said to them was, this really had nothing to do with us but if it did we would definitely take them to court. Of course, it is all a lie. We actually did say that but we wouldn’t actually take them to court. We would be so terrified about what they would do to them in return that we wouldn't dare.
- Co-director Trousdale and Producer Don Hahn notably denied this, attributing the similarities to both works drawing on Jules Verne and other pre-existing writings about Atlantis.
- It doesn't help that Nadia was already cribbing a lot of motifs from Laputa, leaving their complaints ringing a tad hypocritical.
- It also shares many of the same beats as Stargate with a group visiting an unknown world (with less-than-noble motives unknown to the innocent main protagonist), a fictional language made for the other world's people that can be learned by the protagonist in only a few scenes, the protagonist having apparent knowledge of the people's culture but being derided by his intellectual community, but then being supported by an elderly benefactor, and falling in love with one of the female locals and electing to stay behind when the others return home.
Theiss Titillation Theory: Kida's Atlantean clothing bares much skin. Okay, so that's an Atlantean thing. Helga, on the other hand, wears some things with straps. Often, there is only one firm on a shoulder at a time...
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The search for Atlantis had the potential to be an entire adventure movie of its own. Here, however, it was all jammed into about a half hour of the film, which resulted in so many people feeling that it was rushed and that the Ulysses submarine was wasted.
Trailer Joke Decay: Milo going swimming with Kida and his shorts inflating was played in most trailers and TV spots.
Vanilla Protagonist: Milo's by no means a Flat Character, but in a film with so many quirky and diverse supporting characters, he's not particularly interesting. By comparison, he's just a nice-if-determined nerd with a talent for linguistics who gets to go on an adventure because he's the only one who can read a particular book.
Vindicated by History: The film was neither a huge financial nor critical hit, and perhaps received one of the most lukewarm receptions of any Disney film at the time. Many questioned Disney on its choice to pursue an action-oriented animated film, one that was designed for an older audience in mind, and resorted to the extensive use of CGI when traditional animation had begun to lose favor at Disney. However, these days it is becoming a significant cult classic with more and more viewers taking a closer look at the film's merits. Those who enjoy it tend to appreciate its comic book-style animation and its many adventurous elements, while many in its supporting cast have grown to be fan favorites, especially Audrey, Kida, and Vinny.
Visual Effects of Awesome: The film has very good animation on the whole, but the animation on the Leviathan is amazing. Similarly, any scene with Kida and the Crystal is bound to have this.
The Woobie: Kida as a child witnessed both the destruction of her city, and essentially the death of her mother, and has spent centuries seeing her civilisation decline. Relations between her and her father have also been strained, and he dies before they can repair their bond. She really needed that hug from Milo at the end.
Woolseyism:
- In the Brazilian dub, Cookie is from Minas Gerais, a Brazilian state that is historically associated with the countryside and whose traditional cuisine is generally rich in fatty dishes. It fit the character well, at least until Cookie reveals his tattoo, and the dub still calls it a map of Minas Gerais.
- In the original English version, Vinny speaks with an Italian accent. In the Italian dub, since everyone — for obvious reasons — speaks Italian there, Vinny in particular receives a Southern accent that fits right in with him being from Palermo, Sicily.
- Also in the Italian dub, Rourke's "P.T. Barnum was right" line was replaced with a simpler "The world of full of fools" since the reference^note"There's a sucker born every minute." and the man himself would have been lost on Italian audiences.
- In the German dub, Milo accuses Rourke of wanting to sell the heart of Atlantis to "some kind of tyrant" instead of (as he said in the original audio track) a very specific tyrant, "The Kaiser". He's very likely referring to Wilhelm II of Germany, making a reference to the brewing tensions in Europe that would lead to World War I.
- In the Polish dub, Vinny is renamed Volodya, speaks with a heavy Russian accent (to the point he can get unintelligible) and references a long list of stereotypical Russian traits - including Vodka Drunkenski. This also means many of his dialogues are completely altered to make them work in such a context. It is unclear if this was intended as a Mythology Gag to the ultimately never implemented Rasputin-like mystic character from the first draft of the script, or just its own thing done solely for the sake of localisation.

YMMV / Atlantis: The Lost Empire

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