50 Fun Facts About Atlantis: the Lost Empire

In what year was Atlantis: The Lost Empire released?

It opened against Shrek, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and The Fast and the Furious.

Which directing duo, fresh off The Hunchback of Notre Dame, made the film?

They had also directed Beauty and the Beast.

Who voices linguist Milo Thatch?

Fox let his son pick between this and Titan A.E.; the boy chose Atlantis.

Who voices Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke?

Asked if he wanted the role, he said he'd do it in a heartbeat.

Who voices Princess Kida?

Her animator found her so intimidating in person that it shaped how Kida meets Milo.

Which Star Trek actor voices King Kashekim Nedakh?

His animator said the crew would sit and watch him record in astonishment.

Who was first cast as Preston B. Whitmore but died before finishing the film?

John Mahoney took over, and the millionaire's personality was reworked around his zest.

The film is dedicated to which voice actor, who died in February 2000?

He voiced the chuckwagon cook Cookie; Steven Barr recorded supplemental lines.

In which year is the film set?

The team studied museums and old army installations to get the early-20th-century tech right.

What is the name of the ancient manuscript that guides the expedition?

Writer Tab Murphy invented it because the characters needed a map to follow.

What is the name of the expedition's submarine?

Greg Aronowitz built a scale model of it as a reference for the 3D version.

What destroys the submarine at the cave entrance?

It was one of several sequences that leaned heavily on CGI.

Roughly how old is Princess Kida despite looking like a young woman?

The Atlanteans' crystals grant longevity and health.

What skill does Milo have that the Atlanteans themselves have lost?

Kida asks him to help recover their forgotten history and technology.

What is the massive crystal that powers the city called?

Its chiming sound was made by rubbing a finger along a champagne flute.

Why did the King say Atlantis was devastated thousands of years earlier?

The crystal merged with Kida's mother to shield the city as it sank.

Who did the crystal merge with during the sinking, thousands of years earlier?

She never returned; the King hid the crystal to stop the same fate befalling Kida.

Where does Milo work as a linguist and cartographer at the start of the film?

Board member Fenton Q. Harcourt dismisses his belief in Atlantis.

Dr. Joshua Sweet is of African-American and which other heritage?

Phil Morris's rapid delivery was a challenge for his animator to keep in sync.

Which expedition member is the youngest, a Puerto Rican mechanic?

Jacqueline Obradors said the role made her feel like a little kid again.

What is the profession of Gaetan 'Mole' Molière?

A story artist turned him from a professor into a burrowing creature with extending eyeballs.

Which 19th-century author's adventure novels inspired the film?

The team wanted to explore Atlantis fully rather than the brief visit in his novel.

Which comic book artist's style shaped the film's look?

He was surprised to be called, and later noticed the characters had his big square hands.

The linguist hired to invent Atlantean had previously created which language?

He used an Indo-European word stock and changed words that sounded too much like real ones.

Who devised the Atlantean language?

Milo's animator reportedly sketched him as a model for how a linguist looks.

Written Atlantean alternates direction each line to imitate the flow of what?

The style is called boustrophedon, and the letter A doubles as a map of the city.

Which writer was first attached to the film but left, saying he had 'not a shred' in it?

Tab Murphy completed the screenplay in three to four months.

Milo was originally written as a descendant of which historical figure?

The directors switched him to an explorer's grandson so he could find his own talent for it.

The scrapped original prologue followed which group to their doom?

It survives as a DVD extra; the replacement shows the destruction of Atlantis itself.

What did the crew's T-shirts promise about the film?

Unlike previous Disney features, it was planned as an action-adventure with no songs.

Whose clairvoyant readings inspired the mother-crystal idea?

The filmmakers found his ideas while researching Atlantis mythology online.

Which New Mexico cave system did the filmmakers tour as a model for the approach?

Its subterranean trails became the route to the city.

Whose writings informed the city's circular layout?

His line about the island vanishing in a single day and night guided the production.

The idea for the film was hatched over lunch at what kind of restaurant in Burbank?

Hahn, Trousdale, Wise and Murphy wanted to keep the Hunchback crew together.

The directors cited which film as inspiration for shooting in widescreen?

Executives balked at buying widescreen desks, so artists simply drew in a smaller frame.

Which shot did the directors call the most difficult in Disney animation history?

It starts on a 16-inch sheet and pulls back to the equivalent of 18,000 inches of paper.

How many digital-effects shots did the finished film include?

It used more CGI than any previous traditionally animated Disney feature.

Who composed the score?

The directors hired him after hearing his music on Dinosaur.

Which orchestral sound did the composer choose to represent Atlantis?

Chimes, bells and gongs set the lost city apart from the surface world's themes.

What everyday object produced the chiming of the Heart of Atlantis?

Gary Rydstrom of Skywalker Sound rubbed his finger along its edge.

The Atlantean flying-fish vehicles' sound came from a sped-up recording of what?

The sound designer was recording by a highway when it drove past.

Where did the film hold its world premiere on June 3, 2001?

A Destination: Atlantis exhibit there featured props and fish lent by the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Which film kept Atlantis off the top spot on its opening weekend?

Atlantis took $20.3 million against the raider's $48.2 million.

What was the planned spin-off TV series, cancelled after the box-office miss?

It was pitched as a steampunk X-Files with a Gargoyles crossover.

What was the 2003 direct-to-video sequel called?

It stitched together three episodes made for the aborted series.

Which anime was the film accused of resembling too closely?

Gainax considered suing but said the decision belonged to NHK and Toho.

Critics likened Milo to Daniel Jackson, the protagonist of which 1994 film?

That franchise later launched its own spin-off called Stargate Atlantis.

Who performed the soundtrack song 'Where the Dream Takes You'?

It was written by James Newton Howard and Diane Warren.

Which of Vinny's voice actor's habits did his animators note?

Don Novello would read a written line once and never again.

Which other animated film was Milo's voice actor offered at the same time?

He let his son choose, and the boy picked Atlantis.