Greetings, animaniacs! ROBOGEEK here with an armload of Atlantean goodies...
Tomorrow (I think/hope) I see ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE. And after A.I., it comes in (albeit a distant) second as the film I've been looking forward to most this summer - which may come as a shock given how harsh a critic I've been of Disney's recent animated fare. (If only TARZAN and DINOSAUR had lived up to the promise of their brilliant opening sequences!)
So what gives me hope?
1.) Elvis Mitchell's New York Times review, which hails it as "a monumental treat" and "expertly constructed" - and devotes three paragraphs to...
2.) MIKE MIGNOLA DESIGNS!!! (Down to the fingernails!)
3.) It's rated PG. (For "action violence.")
4.) No singing. (Except for a scary Mya song over the end credits.)
5.) No cute animal sidekicks. (Or Rosie O'Donnell.)
6.) Evocative glimpses of spellbinding footage we've seen so far. (See TV spots below.)
And what gives me fear?
1.) The closing line of David Germain's Associated Press review: "...as with last year's disappointing sci-fi epic TITAN A.E., the wildest animation in the world will not elevate a merely passable plot."
2.) New commercials cut to Styx's "Come Sail Away."
3.) The nagging sense that this may just be a lame rip-off of two anime masterpieces dear to my heart - Hideaki Anno & Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER (Vol. 1 comes out in the U.S. on DVD June 19th) and Hayao Miyazaki's LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY (U.S. release mysteriously being withheld by Disney - even though their new English dub has been ready for over two years).
Anyway, to tide you over until the film's nationwide release next Friday (it opened in New York and L.A. today), we've digitized two of the film's thirty-second television spots for your perusal...
"Our lives are remembered by the gifts we leave our children."
"Save Atlantis. Save... my daughter."
(FYI, they're both 9MB 320x240 QuickTime files. And you can still find the original one-minute teaser here.)
Oh, and If you're interested, check out the sneak peek special airing this Sunday at 8pm (7pm CST) on ABC.
- Robogeek
P.S.: And in case you missed the link, click here for a fun ATLANTIS clip! (LINK CORRECTED; it's a 3MB 320x240 QuickTime file.)
