Disney Wanting to make live action Atlantis Movie!

[gaastra]

Disney is planning a live action nadia secret of the blue water mov--oops i mean atlantis live action movie!

https://whatsondisneyplus.com/atlantis- ... velopment/

[EricJ]

Good, maybe it'll have a PLOT this time, and won't spend the entire first half of the movie with despicable nutcases tripping Milo in the school hallway...
(Reportedly, Trousdale & Wise were originally hired to do "Journey to the Center of the Earth", but thought it was "too slow" and wanted a faux-Verne with more monsters, but there wasn't time or budget, so we basically got that mechanical...lobster...thingy...whatever it was. And wacky-character filler. LOTS, and lots of filler.)

At this point, it's "Because we can", and it's all human characters, but it sure does sound lately like the old "Revive our obscure/forgotten flops" marketing strategy that started creeping into the 00's direct-video sequels, by the time they were trying to sequelize Fox & the Hound and The Aristocats. And even those never got around to Robin Hood.
Betting pool open for when they try to revive that stage/LA Hunchback musical.

[Randall]

Atlantis has LOTS of potential--- yes, with a stronger script this time.

[ShyViolet]

Agreed. It could certainly be amazing (as long as the don’t rely too much on CGI )

But no matter how good it ends up being, in my opinion it will be somewhat difficult to watch because of the obvious lack of Michael J. Fox. I realize that other Disney live-action adaptations have always been re-cast, but Fox did such a wonderful and memorable job as Milo Thatch that I really think that if it wasn’t for the obvious reason, Disney would use him anyway (he STILL looks about twenty years younger than he really is.).

[James]

I want to post this but can't find any source other than that one website and they're not listing their source. I think I'll hold off for a bit.

[droosan]

Disney is planning a live action nadia secret of the blue water mov--oops i mean atlantis live action movie!

I realize that's the trope .. but -- aside from a few 'surface-detail' character resemblances (Milo/Jean, Nadia/Kida, Electra/Helga), and the Victorian-era setting, and (I suppose) the presence of a steampunk-ish submarine -- Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water actually share very little in common.

Certainly much less-so than, say, The Lion King's resemblance to Kimba The White Lion/Jungle Taitei .. and even that isn't an 'exact' copy, as some say.

(several massive Nadia spoilers follow .. which I've 'hidden', just in case)

Atlantis -- within the Nadia lore -- turns out to have been founded in antiquity by ancient astronauts; aliens from another planet, who came to Earth in UFO-like 'Arks'. They ruled ancient Earth as 'gods', for a time .. but their technological civilization toppled, and their capital continent sunk into the sea. They were forgotten by humanity at large, and considered a myth (many other legends -- such as the Tower of Babel, the destruction of Sodom & Gamorah, etc -- later turn out to have their roots in Atlantis' technology & cruel rule of humanity).

Nadia is the 'crown princess' of Atlantis; the daughter of the last surviving high-priest, who -- along with other descendants of Atlantean royalty -- had continued to live deep underground in Atlantis' ruins. However, Nadia is entirely unaware of this fact .. having been on her own as an orphan on the surface world, all her life. Jean first encounters her in Paris, where she performs in a circus with her pet lion. She is in possession of a jewel that can warn her of approaching danger .. which it does, when a trio of jewel thieves attempt to steal the gem (those thieves, btw -- Grandis, Hanson & Sanson -- figure prominently throughout Nadia, but have no corrolary/analog characters, within Atlantis).

As they flee from the pervasive efforts of the Grandis gang to steal Nadia's 'Blue Water' jewel, Jean and Nadia end-up at sea .. and eventually find themselves aboard the futuristic submarine Nautilus, helmed by the mysterious Captain Nemo. He is conducting a 'shadow war' against the maniacal Gargoyle -- a descendant of Atlantis' royalty who is determined to revive Atlantean technology, and to reclaim his kingdom's rule over humanity before their Victorian-era technology can progress much further.

Nemo -- we eventually learn -- is the last high-priest of Atlantis, and Nadia's father (who hid her away from Gargoyle, shortly after her birth). He is determined to thwart Gargoyle's attempt to take over the world, and to allow humanity to progress on its own. The crew of his Nautilus is made up of former Atlanteans and 'outcasts' from the surface world, chief among them the empathic Electra .. who (as noted) bears 'surface-level' similarity to Atlantis' Helga, but has plenty of depth beyond that; she eventually becomes Captain Nemo's lover.

The Blue Water jewel which Nadia carries turns out to be the key to unlocking one of the powerful original Atlantean Arks, which Gargoyle uses to reveal Atlantis to the world .. and which nearly destroys Paris, during Nemo's final desperate gamble (including a climactic laser battle in outer space!) to defeat him.

.. doesn't sound much like Disney's Atlantis, does it..?

[gaastra]

From another site--

[droosan]

And again, as I'd said .. 'surface-level' detail similarities, only:

Jean: 14 year-old french kid .. He's an inventor; especially interested in airplanes/powered flight .. but also engineering, in general. He falls in love with Nadia at first sight (in the very first episode).

Milo: college-aged american .. He primarily seems interested in Atlantis' history & language; but doesn't seem especially mechanically-inclined. He doesn't meet Kida until just before the third act.

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Nadia: 14-year-old orphan .. She's completely unaware of her Atlantean heritage (and largely rejects it, when it begins to come to light). She's militantly pacifist, and a strict vegetarian. She's distrustful of almost everyone throughout the TV series, except her lion-cub King.

Kida: possibly thousands of years old (she appears as a child in the prologue, which is set during the sinking of Atlantis) .. She seems to have forgotten -- or perhaps never learned? -- the Atlantean language, but otherwise embraces all things Atlantis. She distrusts Milo at first, but quickly comes to accept him .. and joyfully joins the fight when Rourke's plot comes to light. She isn't shown to have any pets.

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The Nautilus' doctor: He's such a minor character, that I'm unaware whether he ever had a given name .. he appears only briefly, in a few episodes. Although he has dark skin, he appears to be East Indian. He has a lovely teen-age daughter named Icorina, who works as his nurse (and who is the object of most of the Nautilus crew members' affections).

Dr. Strongbear: A main character, with a prominent and affable personality. He's definitely of African-American descent. It isn't known whether he has any kids.

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Electra: Captain Nemo's stoic second-in-command, whom he'd practically raised, as she joined his crew at a very young age. She cares for Jean & Nadia while aboard the Nautilus .. but is keen to protect them from the series' larger secrets.

Helga: Stoic and blonde .. and that's about her only similarity to Electra. She doesn't seem to think much of Milo. She's eventually revealed to be one of the bad guys.

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The Nautilus' navigator: As a member of the bridge crew, he appears in more episodes of the TV series than the doctor .. but is likewise never called by a given name, that I'm aware of. He has dialogue now & then, but rarely figures in the plot.

Vinni Santorini: An explosives expert with a prominent role in the plot, and rather memorable dialogue. Basically, these two share a moustache .. and that's about it.

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The Blue Water crystal: Worn as a pendant by Nadia .. flashes to warn her of imminent danger. Eventually, it's revealed to be a key component in reviving Atlantis' dormant technology. It's sought by multiple sets of villains, which pretty much drives the plot forward throughout the show (right up to being the 'sub-title' of the TV series).

Kida's crystal: Worn as a pendant by Kida .. it seems to have some mystical connection to Atlantis' city defense mechanisms. It belonged to Kida's mother, and to her .. but otherwise, doesn't seem to be sought-out by Rourke or his crew.

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last 3 sets of images: yes, at one point in each .. both crystals glow and hover in mid-air in front of Nadia and Kida. And their eyes are shown to glow.

In Nadia, the Blue Water is revealing to her (yes; the crystal speaks, with audible dialogue) the existence of Blue Noah, one of the 'Arks' of Atlantis .. which is disguised as an island, floating 'mysteriously' in the ocean.

In Atlantis, Kida's crystal wordlessly glows as Atlantis' citadel guardians are activated .. protecting the city from destruction as they apparently had done, thousands of years prior.

[droosan]

doh! double posted.

But anyway. Atlantis and Nadia do have a few characters/designs that share minor details that look somewhat alike. That's not in dispute.

Both also borrow liberal amounts of inspiration from the works of Jules Verne (Nadia mostly from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea & The Mysterious Island, Atlantis from Journey to the Center of the Earth) .. so, there's that.

But the characters themselves -- and especially the stories -- are markedly different.

[EricJ]

But anyway. Atlantis and Nadia do have a few characters/designs that share minor details that look somewhat alike. That's not in dispute.

Actually, it was the fans, by '01, finally becoming a majority in supporting the "Unauthorized Kimba" theory about Lion King,

(No, no, you're wrong, everyone knows it was Hamlet and the studio said so, and you're just spreading fanboy rumors, because you're not cultural enough to know your Shakespeare and appreciate Disney's bold, unique take on it!)

but, since nobody outside of the Anime/Animation community in the late 90's had stopped drinking Katzenberg's Kool-Aid, there was a general sense of injustice about Lion King's rampant lionizing, and a resentful free-floating paranoia among the fans to point out in every corner what OTHER bits of classic anime 90's-00's Disney had obviously "stolen", instead. If they couldn't take that one to court, they'd darn well find another.

For a while, there was even claims that the crumbling/flooding turtle temple in "Aladdin & the King of Thieves" was borrowing from Castle in the Sky and Beautiful Dreamer, but you could tell frustrations were seriously reaching by then.
(Like the idea that Disney had bought Kiki's Delivery Service and Princess Mononoke to "bury" them, because they were "jealous"...Anyone remember that one, either?)

[Farerb]

I'm not excited by this remake (or any of them for that matter) but I do agree that a remake can be better than the original. I saw Atlantis a long time ago and I don't really rewatch it but I do remember that the side characters were uninteresting, it took them a long time to get there and once they got there they spend like 10 minutes on Atlantis and its culture and then go and fight the bad guys.
So the remake could make the characters more interesting and focus more on Atlantis and its culture.

[droosan]

Yeah .. I was in love with the 'steampunk-y' submarine Ulysses from the moment I first saw it in Atlantis' teaser trailers. It was featured prominently in all the movie's early promos .. even on some of the posters (the ones that weren't just a giant ᴧ, anyway).

And then came the movie .. with a marvelous build-up, as the Ulysses was loaded and gradually 'revealed' in a fantastic launch sequence, accompanied by some of the finest adventure scoring James Newton Howard had ever done.

.. and then -- six minutes later -- the submarine was attacked by a Leviathan, and utterly destroyed.

[Ben]

I loved all the setup in Atlantis, and still play that JNH cue for the Ulysses' launch, but after the sub had it, the film meandered until they got to Atlantis itself. It’s true that a lot or most of those Verne-esque adventure films of the 60s dragged out in the middle, especially compared to the full-speed ahead films of today, but I’m not sure the filmmakers were going for a film that felt it belonged more in the 60s than a 2000s movie that paid homage to that genre. After they finally got to Atlantis, it then became a different kind of gung-ho action movie where the otherwise pretty down to earth logic (for the kind of film it was!) got completely thrown out the window!


Eric...regarding my "quote" a couple of posts up: could you give me a link to that actual post, because I don't believe I wrote that, at least in that format. If I did, then I can only think that it was meant sarcastically and looks weird out of context, but I’d like to see where and how it originally was posted.

[Dacey]

Eric made that quote up. He’s done the exact same thing when “quoting” me.

[Ben]

Thought so, hence my "quote"...in quotes. It was so obvious right off. What a maroon.