Independent Films, Film Profiles

Atlantis: Milo's Return

Atlantis: Milo's Return, released in 2003 is the direct-to-video sequel to the film Atlantis: The Lost Empire.Originally, Disney was developing a sequel entitled Shards of Chaos; it was abandoned once the movie was less than successful. The released "sequel" consists of three animated shorts, originally meant to be three episodes of a series that was never completed called Team Atlantis. Allegedly, ten minutes of additional animation was done to link the stories more closely.Cree Summer (Kida), Corey Burton (Mole), Don Novello (Vinny), Phil Morris (Dr. Sweet), Jacqueline Obradors (Audrey), John Mahoney (Whitmore), and Florence Stanley (Wilhelmina) all reprise their roles from the first film, with James Arnold Taylor replacing Michael J. Fox as Milo and Steve Barr replacing the deceased Jim Varney as Cookie.After the decline in Atlantean culture following the sinking, Kida (Kidagakash), now Queen, and married to Milo Thatch, is using the heart of Atlantis to restore her city's former glory. Suddenly, Milo's comrades and Mr. Whitmore arrive to inform them of mysterious forces causing trouble on the surface. At first they presume it to be an ancient Atlantean defense mechanism gone rogue (like the Leviathan from the previous film). But when they arrive at Newfoundland, they discover it is actually a creature known as the Krakken, who is linked to a mysterious man who seems to be controlling it. When they blow up the Krakken, the man disintegrates.All the while, Kida is learning about the outside world and is adapting well. Their next mystery is in Southwest, involving coyote spirits opposing them. They later find a hidden city in Arizona contains a statue that greatly resembles Atlantean architecture. Unfortunately, a very sly shop owner, Ashton Carnaby, intends to pillage the place for its valuables. But the spirits then turn him into one of them. A Native-American man, who was a median between the spirits, informs Kida that she can choose Atlantis' destiny.The third mystery that needed to be solved was from Whitmore's cabinet, as a old competitor Erik Hellstrom stole a possession of his (believing himself to be the Norse god, Odin), an artifact called The Spear of Destiny, presumably an Atlantean artifact of origin. When they track him down in the frigid Nordic Mountains, he presumes Kida to be his long lost daughter and kidnaps her. His intentions are to end the world in Ragnarok. He creates a lava and ice beasts to destroy the world. But well placed explosives used by Vinnie destroyed the monsters. During the escapades Kida comes into a greater understanding of just how powerful the Atlantean Crystal is, and she must choose between hiding it and sharing it with the rest of mankind.Having retrieved the spear, Kida realizes her father was wrong to hide the Crystal from mankind. She combines the Spear with the Heart Crystal and lifts Atlantis to the surface. Two fishermen are shocked when they suddenly see an entire continent rise before them. In the end we see Atlantis above the water for the first time in about 9000 years.