Atlantis: Milo's Returnis a 2003 American animated anthologyscience fantasyaction-adventure film,made of unused TV episodes, directed byVictor Cook,Toby Shelton, andTad Stones.It is thesequeltoAtlantis: The Lost Empire(2001). The film received adirect-to-videorelease on May 20, 2003.
| Atlantis: Milo's Return | |
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 Home video release poster | |
| Directed by |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | |
| Produced by | Tad Stones |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | John Royer |
| Music by | Don Harper |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures[2] |
Release date |
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Running time | 70 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States[2] |
| Language | English |
Originally, Disney was developing a sequel titledShards of Chaos,but it was abandoned onceThe Lost Empirewas less successful than anticipated. The released sequel consists of three segments, which are "Kraken", "Spirit of the West" and "Spear of Destiny". They were originally meant to be episodes of a series that was never completed calledTeam Atlantis.Some additionalanimationwas done to link the stories more closely.
Cree Summer(Kida),Corey Burton(Mole),Don Novello(Vinny),Phil Morris(Dr. Sweet),Jacqueline Obradors(Audrey),John Mahoney(Mr. Whitmore), andFlorence Stanley(Mrs. Packard) all reprise their roles from the first film, withJames Arnold TaylorreplacingMichael J. Foxas Milo andSteve BarrreplacingJim Varney,who died before the first film finished production, as Cookie. This is Stanley's final film; she died months after production ended.
Plot
editAfter the decline in Atlantean culture following the sinking, Kida, now queen and married to Milo Thatch (after deciding to stay in Atlantis), are using the heart ofAtlantisto restore the city's former glory. Milo's comrades and Mr. Whitmore arrive in Atlantis; while their arrival is unexpected, the Atlanteans welcome their old friends back into the city. Unfortunately, they have come to inform them of a mysterious creature causing trouble on the surface. Kida suspects that the creature might be Atlantean, stirring mixed feelings about her father's decision to keep the Crystal hidden.
They arrive inTrondheim,Norwayand discover that the mysterious problem is actually the creature known as theKraken,which had been attacking shipping freighters and taking their cargo to a cliffside village. At first they presume it to be an ancient Atlantean war machine gone rogue (like theLeviathanfrom theprevious film), but they discover that the townmagistrate,Edgar Volgud, seems to be controlling the Kraken. They soon learn, though, that the Kraken itself is the master, having made a deal with Volgud to preserve the life of the town and Volgud's lifespan in exchange for their souls. When they blow up the Kraken, Volgud's immortality ceases and he disintegrates, while the spirit of the village is restored.
All the while, Kida is learning about the outside world and is adapting well. However, she still feels guilty, as there could still be other Atlantean war machines in the world causing problems, like the Leviathan. Their next mystery is in theSouthwestern United States,involving coyote spirits opposing them. They later find a hidden city inArizonathat contains Atlantean architecture, which Kida realizes is an abandoned Atlantean colony. Unfortunately, a very sly shop owner, Ashtin Carnaby, intends to pillage the place for its valuables, but the spirits then turn him into one of them. A mysterious man named Chakashi, who is a Native American wind spirit, trusts them with the knowledge of their sanctuary and informs Kida that she can choose Atlantis' destiny.
Returning home, the adventurers discover that one of Whitmore's old competitors, Erik Hellstrom, who (after thestock market crashsank his company) went insane believing he wasOdin,the Norse king of the gods. He broke in at night and stole one of Whitmore's possessions, an ancient spear called theGungnir,an artifact of Atlantean origin. When they track him down in the frigidNordicMountains, he presumes Milo to be the God of Mischief,Loki,and Kida to be his long lost daughter,Brünnhilde.Then, "Odin" uses the spear to cast Milo, Mole, Vinny and Audrey out of "Asgard" before kidnapping Kida and dressing her in Norse clothing. He explains that his intentions are to end the world inRagnarok,the prophesied apocalypse told in Norse mythology. He creates a lava beast and an ice beast to destroy the world, but well-placed explosives used by Vinny distract the monsters long enough for Kida to retrieve the spear and vanquish the beasts. During these escapades, Kida comes into a greater understanding of just how powerful the Atlantean Crystal is, and that she must choose between hiding it and sharing it with the rest of mankind.
Having retrieved the spear, Kida realizes her father was wrong to hide the Crystal from mankind. She combines the Spear with the Heart Crystal and lifts Atlantis above the water. Fishermen are shocked at seeing the entire city rise before them. With Atlantis above the water for the first time in over 8,800 years, Mr. Whitmore narrates that from then on, the world was a better place.
Cast
editA number of the original cast returned to voice their characters, however Michael J. Fox did not resume his role and was replaced by James Taylor as the voice of Milo. Additionally Steven Barr took over the role of Cookie in this film after Jim Varney died during production on the first film.
- James Tayloras Milo
- Cree Summeras Kida
- John Mahoneyas Whitmore
- Jacqueline Obradorsas Audrey
- Don Novelloas Vinny
- Corey Burtonas Mole
- Phil Morrisas Dr. Sweet
- Florence Stanleyas Mrs. Packard
- Frank Welkeras Obby / Mantell
- Steven Barras Cookie
- Clancy Brownas Volgud
- Jean Gilpinas Inger
- Kai Larsen as Seaman
- Bill Fagerbakkeas Sven
- Tom Wilsonas Carnaby
- Floyd Westermanas Chakashi
- Jeff Bennettas Sam McKeane
- Morgan Sheppardas Erik Hellstrom
Reception
editEmpire magazinerated it 2 out of 5, and called it "Another soulless sequel from Disney." They describe the artwork as basic and economical, theScooby-Doostyle stories as vapid, and the dialogue as terribly preachy and insufferably monotonous.[3]
Team Atlantistelevision series
editUnmade episodes
editThe series would have featured episodes with different legends incorporated, such asPuck,theLoch Ness Monsterand theTerracotta Warriors.[4]
According to James Arnold Taylor, he said that the show would have been either 18 or 24 episodes long.[5]
The Last
editOne of the episodes ofTeam Atlantisthat was never animated featured an appearance byDemonafromGargoyles.It introducedthe hunterknown as Fiona Canmore, known friend to Dr. Sweet. The episode would have Demona using the Praying Gargoyle statue to bring Gargoyle statues in Paris alive to kill the local humans.
Scripts and voice recording of the episode can be seen atThe Gatheringconventions.Marina Sirtisreprises her role as Demona, and Fiona Canmore is voiced bySheena Easton.Greg Weisman,who wrote the episode, planned to use the story for theGargoylescomic bookseries.[6]He said if he is unable to use the Atlantis characters, then he will use analogs for the story.[7]
Weisman has mentioned that while the episode itself is canon in theGargoylesuniverse, the entire seriesTeam Atlantisis not. In fact, theTeam Atlantisinterpretations of the Loch Ness Monster and Puck differ from those seen inGargoyles(notably, the Loch Ness Monster inGargoylesactually is a survivingplesiosaurbelonging to a colony, like the common depiction).
References
edit- ^Ball, Ryan (May 20, 2003)."Disney Returns to Atlantis".Animation Magazine.RetrievedAugust 29,2024.
- ^abcd"Atlantis: Milo's Return (2003)".Allmovie.RetrievedFebruary 13,2024.
- ^"Atlantis: Milo's Return".Empire.January 2000.
- ^"Search Ask Greg: Gargoyles: Station Eight".
- ^Search JAT Drive: Lost Episode: Biggest Characters - March 2018.YouTube.
- ^"Search Ask Greg: Gargoyles: Station Eight".
- ^"Search Ask Greg: Gargoyles: Station Eight".