Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a 2001 American animated movie made by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 40th movie in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the first science fiction movie for Disney. It follows a group of mercenaries on a quest to find the lost city of Atlantis. Released on June 15, 2001, it did not make much money as the company wanted. Disney stopped making both a spin-off television series and an underwater attraction at its Disneyland theme park.

Plot
In ancient times, a giant tidal wave threatens to submerge the island city of Atlantis. During a mass evacuation of the city, the queen of Atlantis is ingested by the "Heart of Atlantis", a giant crystal protecting the city, leaving behind her daughter Kida (Cree Summer) and her husband Kashekim (Leonard Nimoy).

Thousands of years later, in 1914, Milo J. Thatch (Michael J. Fox), a nerdy linguist and cartographer at the Smithsonian Institution, who is marginalized for his research on Atlantis, believes he has found the "Shepherd's Journal", an ancient book which supposedly contains directions to the lost city, but his proposal to search for it is turned down by the museum board. Milo later encounters the seductive Helga Sinclair (Claudia Christian), who introduces him to Preston Whitmore (John Mahoney), an eccentric millionaire who had previously funded a successful expedition to find the journal to repay a debt to Milo's grandfather, and recruits Milo to lead an expedition to Atlantis as soon as he deciphers it.

The expedition departs for Atlantis, led by Commander Rourke (James Garner), who also led the search for the journal, and a team of specialists including Vinny (Don Novello), an Italian demolition expert, Audrey (Jacqueline Obradors), a Latino mechanic, Mrs. Packard (Florence Stanley), a grouchy radio operator, Dr. Sweet (Phil Morris), a black medical officer, and Cookie (Jim Varney), a mess cook. The crew sets off on the Ulysses, a giant submarine, but are soon attacked by the Leviathan, a robotic lobster-like sea monster, guarding the entrance to Atlantis. The Ulysses is destroyed, but Milo, Rourke and part of the crew escape and make their way to a cavern, which the journal describes as the entrance to the city.

After travelling through a network of caves and a dormant volcano, the team reach Atlantis where they are greeted by Kida, who is actually over eight-thousand years old, but resembles a young woman, and discover that the Atlantean language is the basis for many existing languages. Kida enlists Milo's help in decoding the Atlantean language, which has been long forgotten by the natives. By swimming deep within the city's submerged ruins, and translating underwater murals, he discovers that the Heart of Atlantis provides the city with power and extends their lives through the crystals worn around their necks; he is surprised that this isn't mentioned in the journal, but upon examination realises a page is missing.

Returning to the surface with Kida, Milo discovers Rourke has the missing page. Rourke and the crew betray Milo, revealing they intend to bring the crystal to the surface world to sell off. Rourke fatally wounds the king while trying to extract information about the crystal's whereabouts, but finds its location for himself, hidden under the throne room. The crystal merges with Kida, and Rourke and the mercenaries lock her in a crate and prepare to leave, knowing that the Atlanteans will be killed when the crystal is gone. Milo calls his friends out for betraying their consciences and ultimately they join his side, and remain in Atlantis. As the king succumbs to his wounds, he tells Milo the crystal has developed consciousness, and when Atlantis is threatened, it will find a royal host. As he dies, he gives Milo his crystal and tells him to save Kida and Atlantis. With the encouragement of Sweet, Milo., the crew and the Atlanteans team up to stop Rourke.

During a massive battle inside the volcano, Helga and the mercenaries are defeated, and Rourke is killed when he is turned into a crystal statue, and cut to pieces by his airship's blades. As Milo and the others fly back to the city, the volcano erupts. As lava flows towards the city, Kida-in crystal form-rises into the air, creating a protective shield. The lava breaks away harmlessly, showing a restored Atlantis, and the crystal returns Kida to Milo. The rest of the crew return to the surface, vowing to keep Atlantis's location a secret, while Milo stays behind, falls in love with Kida and helps her rebuild the lost empire.

Cast 
 Michael J. Fox as Milo James Thatch, a linguist and cartographer
 Cree Summer as Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh, the Princess of Atlantis
 James Garner as Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke
 Corey Burton as Gaëtan "Mole" Molière, a French geologist 
 Claudia Christian as Lieutenant Helga Katrina Sinclair
 John Mahoney as Preston B. Whitmore
 Phil Morris as Doctor Joshua Strongbear Sweet
 Leonard Nimoy as Kashekim Nedakh, the King of Atlantis and Kida's father
 Don Novello as Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini, an Italian demolitions expert
 Jacqueline Obradors as Audrey Rocio Ramirez, a teenage female Puerto Rican mechanic
 Florence Stanley as Wilhelmina Bertha Packard
 David Ogden Stiers as Fenton Q. Harcourt, a board member of the Smithsonian Institution
 Jim Varney as Jebidiah Allerdyce "Cookie" Farnsworth, a Western-style chuckwagon chef. Varney died in February 2000, before the movie was released. 
 Jennifer Darling as Kashekim Nedakh, the Queen of Atlantis and Kida's mother
 Jim Cummings as Helmsman, Smithsonian Board Member #1, Atlantean Ketak Warrior and Atlantean Photographer
 Patrick Pinney as Smithsonian Board Member #2 and Viking Captain
 Mickie McGowan as Ensign
 Jack Angel as Truck Driver
 Phil Proctor as Atlanteans and Explorers
 Bob Bergen as Squad Leader
 Paul Eiding as Sergeant
 Bill Striglos as Various Explorers

Awards 

leading to a re-evaluation, with many critics hailing it as a mistreated classic.

In particular, much praise has been given to the character of Kida, who was the first Disney Princess of color. Summer has regarded the character of Kida as her favourite role and even considers the character among the official Disney Princess line-up.

In 2015, Katharine Trendacosta at io9 reviewed the film and called it a "Beautiful Gem of a Movie That Deserved Better Than It Got" and said that the film deserves more love than it ended up getting. Ricky Brigante of InsideTheMagic considers the film the "most underrated, under-watched, and under-appreciated" Disney canon film, praising it for its themes and characters. Lindsay Teal considers "Atlantis" to be "a lost Disney classic". Describing the film as highly entertaining, she praises the writing and characterisation – in particular, Sweet, Helga and Kida.

Video games 
There are several video games based on the film. Atlantis The Lost Empire: Search for the Journal (commonly known as Atlantis: Search for the Journal) was developed by Zombie Studios and published by Buena Vista Games, a subsidiary of Disney Interactive. It was released on May 1, 2001, for the Microsoft Windows platform and was a first-person shooter game, the first of two games based on the film developed by Zombie Studios and released for UPC labels from Kellogg's products for promotion. Atlantis The Lost Empire: Trial by Fire (commonly known as Atlantis: Trial by Fire) was the second game developed by Zombie Studios and published by Disney Interactive, and was released May 18, 2001, for the Microsoft Windows platform.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is an action game developed by Eurocom for the PlayStation console which was released June 14, 2001. The player controls Milo, Audrey, Molière, Kida and Vinny as they traverse Atlantis, unlocking its secrets. Some features in the game unlock others (such as a movie) by finding items hidden throughout the game. THQ released Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire for the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color. On Game Boy Color, it is a platform game in which the player controls Milo and three other characters from the film across 14 levels on a quest to discover Atlantis. On Game Boy Advance, it is a platform adventure-based game that hinges on searching and collecting crystals over 10 different levels including an epic battle against Rourke, the evil mercenary captain. The game was met with average to mixed reviews upon release. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 74% and 73 out of 100 for the PlayStation version; 65% for the Game Boy Color version; and 56% and 51 out of 100 for the Game Boy Advance version.

References

2001 movies
2001 animated movies
American animated movies
American family movies
Disney animated movies
Movies composed by James Newton Howard
Movies with underwater settings