Atlantis

**Atlantis** is a mythical city under the sea, sunken by a cataclysmic event. It is the setting of the 2001 Disney animated film *Atlantis: The Lost Empire.*

## History

### Mythology

Atlantis is written by Plato as having been a large land-mass in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa. Atlantis was supposedly populated by the descendants of the Titan Atlas who held up the sky, hence Atlantis' name. Atlantis was an advanced society ages before the Trojan War and had advanced knowledge along with a mysterious metal known as orichalcum.

By unknown means, Atlantis angered the god of the seas Poseidon. For their sins, Poseidon created an earthquake which collapsed Atlantis into the ocean and killed all of its inhabitants.

### Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Atlantis was once a prosperous and lively empire, with a large city in the middle. Eventually, much of it was destroyed by a giant cataclysm. The center was protected by the Heart of Atlantis, forming a protective barrier around it. No one heard from the city ever again, and it fell into myths and legend. However, it still survived, though it grew weaker with every passing year. King Kashekim hid the heart underneath the city, to save his daughter, Kida, from the same fate that her mother did - being absorbed by it.

As time passed, all knowledge of the heart had disappeared, and the Atlanteans had forgotten their own culture. A shepherd called Aziz accidentally wandered into the city and transcribed all that he could. The journal in which he wrote ended up in Iceland, and, in 1911, Preston B. Whitmore and Thaddeus Thatch guided an expedition that found it.

In 1914, an expedition commissioned by Whitmore went searching for the lost city and found it. Some of the expedition members wanted to steal the Heart for financial gain, but Milo Thatch led a resistance against them. With the heart restored, Atlantis thrived, and the Atlanteans rebuilt the city and rediscovered its culture.

### Marvel Comics

Atlantis was a small continent created from the place where the Greek titan Atlas held the sky. Atlantis' citizens were split into multiple rival factions but were successful explorers to navigated Antarctica and the, "Savage Lands" of living dinosaurs. Atlantis sank around 18,000 BC in the midst of an Atlantean civil-war where one side released magma to kill off their enemies causing seismic activities. Around the same time, the alien Celestials sent a nuclear cataclysm to sink Atlantis in retaliation to some of its non-human residents, "The Deviants" having attacked them.

## Appearances and Allusions

### 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

In this attraction, the Neptune submarines travel into the ruins of Atlantis, populated by a group of humanoid sea creatures that rebuilt it. They help the submarines resurface using glowing crystals, after they had lost most of their powers.

### Camp Discovery

In 1932, Preston B. Whitmore sent the League of Adventurers on another expedition to Atlantis to discover what happened to the Milo expedition. It was the first time Whitmore went public with what happened in 1914.

### Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!

Atantean ruins are part of the Tivan collection in the Collector's fortress with a note from the Collector on having found them in Earth's ocean. This is however likely an allusion to the Marvel Comics character *Namor the Submariner*, Marvel's king of Atlantis.

### Miss Adventure Falls

Mary Oceaneer’s diving bell at the attraction’s entrance has a phrase of Atlantean printed on it. When translated, it says “I come in peace”.

### Skipper Canteen

A book in the *Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen* labelled *Wonderful Music of Atlantis* is part of a collection of music books from around the globe written by J.A. Ellis.

### Submarine Voyage

A series of ruins are encountered in the defunct rides Submarine Voyage and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage. Captain Nemo remarked that the ruins could be Atlantis while passing through and seeing a sea-serpent and mermaids. In the Magic Kingdom version of the attraction he remarked that the fantastical creatures were likely hallucinations.

### World Showcase

The Kidcot station at the United Kingdom Pavilion at Epcot features this book with Atlantean on its spine. The station is home to the Royal Adventurer's Society.

## References

1. ↑ https://jungleskipper.com/sea/attractions/skipper-canteen#&gid=1&pid=right-bookshelf-5th-shelf-c51
2. ↑ https://disney-universes.tumblr.com/post/172849511406/the-kidcot-station-at-the-united-kingdom-pavilion
3. ↑ https://www.mousesteps.com/2015/09/23/jock-lindsey-s-hangar-bar-opens-at-disney-springs-food-drink-review-detailed-tour/
4. ↑ https://indianajones.fandom.com/wiki/Sophia%27s\_necklace