Animators Test New Waters With 'Atlantis'

Since "The Little Mermaid" made its splash in 1989, the most recent generation of Disney animated musicals has evolved into an annual tradition: As a result, films like "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King" have emerged as modern-day classics, and gems like "Fantasia 2000" have been reborn to entertain new audiences.

And while such artists as producer Don Hahn, director Gary Trousdale and animator John Pomeroy have enjoyed success as major contributors to those films, they also realize that they eventually have to break with tradition if they want to grow as artists.

It's only appropriate then that the three dive into new waters with the new deep-sea adventure, "Atlantis: The Lost Empire." Following the expedition of young adventurer Milo Thatch (voiced by Michael J. Fox) who sets out with a group of explorers find the lost continent of Atlantis, we soon find out that what Disney has left behind in this film is the idea of making it another one of its traditional musicals.

"Experimentation is sort of the lifeblood of the organization," Pomeroy told me in a recent interview, accompanied by Hahn and Trousdale. "Experimentation is what brought about the first colored film in 'Flowers and Trees' and 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' as the first full-length animated feature film.

"All of these wonderful things were brought about by reaching, challenging and experimenting as artists. So, we're just trying to carry on that same legacy in our own way."

The challenge for "Atlantis" was to make the film strictly an animated adventure. But as a 25-year veteran of Disney productions, the last thing Hahn wanted to do was settle for eye candy to tell the story. Not only did he want to dwell upon the sense of history of the lost empire, but also the challenges of Milo having to live up to his family's legacy of great explorers.

"One thing that we wanted to do from the very earliest pitch was to, yes, make a big adventure movie with explosions and a thrill rides, but also have something that has humanity in it," Hahn said. "That circled around the character of Milo, and that became his way of dealing with his legacy. He feels that not only his grandfather, but all of his ancestors have invested all this time and education and money and genetics into him, but he wonders if he is just a dead end.

"What's scary about that is, we've probably all had that conversation about that with ourselves. So the audience can relate to what Milo feels like, so you're already at his side and you want to say to him, 'Yes you can, Milo, yes you can fulfill your legacy.' We wanted to make sure the movie had that kind of heart to it."

"We wanted to show his history because it makes him more real," added Trousdale. "We wanted to show what makes him tick and what it was that made him want to be an explorer. It's because of his grandfather. He doesn't feel that he measures up, yet he wants to be as good as his grandfather. So this kind of layering that we try to put into it helps make the character more compelling."

Joining Fox in the voice cast are such notables as James Garner and Leonard Nimoy. And while all three have well-established themselves with other television and film projects, you soon discover by becoming engrossed in their characters on-screen that these are not just the guys from "Spin City," "The Rockford Files" and "Star Trek" merely reading lines. They all have powerful voices, and their abilities resonate loud and clear in "Atlantis."

"They're great actors ? some people ask whether we go after people who are celebrities, and we say, 'no, we go after them because they are great actors,'" said Hahn. "We got Michael J. Fox because he is smart and funny, but is also very warm and accessible. Those are traits we love and our audience loves."

Future Challenges

While "Atlantis" faces a new challenge with the traditional Disney audience, the animation business as a whole will be up for change soon, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has created an Oscar category for best animated feature film.

With the gold up for grabs, it's bound to affect the animation industry to some degree. Studios will likely step up production on animated films to vie for the statuette in the new category, although Hahn thinks it will have little effect on the animators themselves.

"It's almost funny -- we've grown used to working in dusty warehouses and the back alleys of Hollywood," says Hahn. "Now nobody's going to turn down an Oscar should it come their way -- it's a wonderful accolade for the board of governors to decide to give feature animation this recognition is fantastic, but I hope it doesn't change things. I don't think it will.

"What I love about animation is that all the people I know in it drive around in Volkswagens and wear funny shirts. I like quirkiness about it, the accessibility and the self-effacing quality of all these many people I work with. Animation is such a funny medium. We don't deal with those egos and the star who won't come out of their trailer. And because of that it is really refreshing -- it's a fun way to make a movie."