Atlantis: The Lost Empire

"Atlantis is waiting..."

2001 1h 35m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🥫

48%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 5,287🥫48%Rotten Tomatoes●52Metacritic★6.9IMDB · 145,597

AnimationFamilyAdventureScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A young linguist named Milo Thatch joins an intrepid group of explorers to find the mysterious lost continent of Atlantis.

“Atlantis is waiting...”

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Cast

Michael J. Fox
Milo (voice)
Cree Summer
Princess Kida (voice)
James Garner
Rourke (voice)
Claudia Christian
Helga (voice)
Corey Burton
Moliere (voice)
Phil Morris
Dr. Sweet (voice)
Jacqueline Obradors
Audrey (voice)
Don Novello
Vinny (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gary Trousdale
Writers: Gary Trousdale, Tab Murphy, Joss Whedon
Languages: English, French, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$120M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Atlantis Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Newton Howard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ellen Keneshea shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael J. Fox and Cree Summer and James Garner carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Atlantis is waiting...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gary Trousdale directs. James Newton Howard scores. Ellen Keneshea cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$120M budget — tentpole studio territory.
225 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, Spanish.
4Part of the "Atlantis Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Original score by James Newton Howard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Ellen Keneshea shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Michael J. Fox and Cree Summer and James Garner carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Atlantis is waiting...".
9IMDB entry: tt0230011 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "sea", "submarine", "mediterranean", "atlantis".
11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Original score: James Newton Howard
Editing: Ellen Keneshea
Production design: Ricardo F. Delgado
VFX supervisor: Marlon West
Sound: Tom Johnson
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $120,000,000
Box office: $186,053,725
Return: 155% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes: 48% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 52/100
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 145,597 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

2 wins & 14 nominations total

Part of

Atlantis Collection

Also by

Gary Trousdale

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2020-07-14
★ 8/10
Excellent. I had previously heard a fair bit of hype down the years regarding <em>'Atlantis: The Lost Empire'</em> and now, finally, I can understand why. It is very good. My favourite part of it is the animation which is exquisite, especially across acts one and two with the great amount of detail. The characters are cool, while the premise is pretty fascinating. Michael J. Fox is a superb cast as Milo, he is fantastic in the lead role. Honestly, none of the other voices stand out to me but that's not always a bad thing - especially in this film. There are no huge individual performances, away from Fox, but they all bounce off each other nicely. The plot is very interesting, brought to life brilliantly by James Newton Howard's terrific score. It's not near the top of my Disney animated favourites, just through process of elimination really, but it certainly isn't majorly far off. It's a fun experience, one I'd recommend you see for yourself if you haven't done so already.
CinemaSerf2023-09-02
★ 6/10
We start off watching the destruction of the legendary city before advancing several thousand years to meet "Milo" - a rather geeky young man whose grandfather had been obsessed with the mystery surrounding the lost continent. Gazillionaire "Preston Whitmore" recruits him on a perilous expedition to try and find the truth - so equipped with a submarine and a crew you just know have another agenda, off they go. The first forty minutes of this over-long adventure is much more reminiscent of something from Jules Verne, only spent on elongated character establishment scenarios, some borderline slapstick humour and by the time the film gets anywhere near it's sharp end, I could already feel a sense of ennui setting in. Michael J. Fox does inject some character as the young lad, and James Garner has his tongue firmly in his cheek as the completely untrustworthy "Rourke", but that can't really inject enough to create any sense of pace into this competently, but unremarkably, animated feature. The style of the artistry, though colourful, is clearly computer generated. The animations lack depth or texture and coupled with a really average storyline leaves this in a sort of Disney limbo. It is certainly not as bad as some that were produced ten years earlier, but it is still factory-style output that lacks for imagination and any of the traditional uniqueness that this studio used to deliver. It is watchable enough, but pretty forgettable.