Hey folks, Harry here. Years ago, Sir Etch-A-Sketch provided us with the first images from ATLANTIS. I had read the script at that time... circa about 1998, and really liked the film. Meanwhile, the traditional animated film for Disney hasn't been as successful as it once was. The complete grotesque over-marketing of HERCULES signaled a hail of parental reins being placed on their children's filmgoing. As the returns have declined, ATLANTIS has received quite a few production cuts. Some key action scenes removed, some relationships toned down... And tonight they decided to test the film for the first time. And the results (this is the first review in, but I've spoken on the phone with 5 others that saw the film, that say they'll be writing up a report... including AICN superspy JOHN ROBIE) have been that this film, while being in an extremely rough state, is far superior to TITAN AE, but that it still has a few problems it needs to address before it's release next summer. To get an idea of the state of this print, take a look at your 2 DVD set TARZAN release and check out the alternative ending and opening sequences. That's the state this was in....Here's Senor Shack Up with the first review...
Hi Harry,
It is late and I have to work tomorrow, but I had better write this when I still am fresh. I just returned from a screening of Disney's Atlantis in Marina Del Rey California. We were joking before we went in about how complete the print would be, but I didn't expect the roughness of some of it. Obviously we aren't looking at this being out very soon. I would estimate only 40% was colored-finished. Some bits were static roughs- I mean rough like Spielberg draws, not a storyboard artist. Apart from that, the dialogue seemed complete and the continuity made it seem that we weren't missing any chunks of scenes. I don't want to give away the story too much, but it isn't too original in concept. In 1914, Milo, a clever, but typically awkward and bumbling archeologist voiced by Michael J. Fox is thrown into an expedition to Atlantis much like James Spader in Stargate (the expedition has been waiting for the central character's skill to complete the puzzle to make the journey possible). The crew of around 200 board a gigantic submarine that is similar in appearance to the nautilus, but with a horizontal dorsal fin in back like a whale and a glowing yellow sphere on the nose the houses the multifloored bridge. The CG is spectacular at the opening as we have lots of technology to look at in its early 1900's mechanized beauty. Lots of rivets, gears and steam that blend in pretty decently with the tradtitionally drawn characters. We have Rourke, played by James Garner (would have bet Gene Hackman before we got the review sheet) - the captain of the operation who had an evil looking blonde lieutenant, a teenage hispanic girl who is the mechanic, a messhouse style cook voiced by Jim Varney (should give you a date of when the dialogue was recorded), a character called The Mole who drives the tunnelling tank, a buff black doctor, a chain smoking communications lady with a voice like Selma Diamond from Night Court, and the most amusing character, as cliched as it sounds, a French demolitions expert. He was voiced by someone named Vinny, maybe the guy who does father Guido Sarducci?
The blurry fish monster you showed previously is actually even larger than the submarine and is one of the many obstacles the crew must overcome before reaching the city.
The crew discover Atlantis is still inhabited (surprise!) by a race of peaceful (of course) people whose world is slowly dying. Once at the city, the Rourke's plan becomes apparant to Milo who must join with Kida(?) the required Disney babe and half-assed love interest, to foil the evil doings. Milo's literacy of the writings of Atlantis are the key to unlocking the powers of the "Heart of Atlantis". Everything wraps up nicely in Disney fashion, although as a change of pace we are left with a fairly large (albiet mostly bloodless) body count including one death of a main character involving spinning blades that looked pretty violent if only in storyboard form. Of key importance to me is that there are no musical numbers. This is definitely a film for older kids, although I doubt we are looking at PG here.
What did I think? My big gripe was that the whole Atlantis part of the story went by way too quick. It felt like once we reached Atlantis, the whole story took place in a few hours. Maybe the pacing was too quick in these parts. There were so many characters we were introduced to, but never really get to know. I loved the technology- the subs, the cars the machinery was fantastic. The city itself was not in enough complete scenes to give an opinion, but it is good that they aren't rushing this one. I think the story was pretty decent although I thought it was kind of bad that a violent battle solved all of the problems of the peaceful city at the end. Most of the characters had some funny lines but there seemed to be some emotional connection to them desperately forced upon us at the end. To be honest, I am not a big fan of Disney animation, but that is mostly because I am not fond of musicals. I really enjoyed the picture though, even in its rough state.
I think that it will be successful for Disney of course but maybe with some more older kids that won't see a Tarzan or Little Mermaid type movie. I don't think we have to worry about any groups being offended by this picture either like we did with Mulan and Pocahontas. This isn't a message movie to any degree like Iron Giant, except maybe that us surface dwellers are always ruining every culture we stumble across. It also is a very safe movie. Don't expect any immense suprises or for this picture to break new ground, it is conservative straightforward Disney storytelling and animation for a slightly older audience.
"Shack Up".
