What's The Deal?

Time and time again I've stated my views on what Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has been doing... I've complained endlessly about the fact that they are packaging the non-Diamond Edition animated classics with their direct-to-video sequels. I've ranted about the treatment that certain films get on the format and countless other things...

On my last rant on the 2-movie bundles (which focused on the inconsistencies of the cover artwork of each different release), I admitted that I'll probably buy them anyways since... Well... It's still the Disney classics in high definition, crappy sequel inclusion or not. It's possible that Blu-ray may be replaced by something in less than 5 years, so a better release down the road may be out of the question. So I finally said, "I'll cave in and get them" despite my attitude towards the way they are being packaged and presented.

In a few days, three Disney animated films come to Blu-ray for the first time. You probably know what they are... They also happen to be 2 Movie Collections: The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Lilo & Stitch. All three are packaged with their respective DTV sequels, inevitably.

What are the problems with these three releases?

1. The Emperor's New Groove and Lilo & Stitch have no bonus features. Yes, you heard that right... Absolutely none. Zero. Nada...

2. Atlantis: The Lost Empire has questionable picture quality. Blu-ray.com's Kenneth Brown gave it a 3.5 out of 5 in his review, a cut below the usual for a Disney animated feature. It's also a CAPS film produced from 1999 to 2001! And yet it's picture quality is just okay enough?! This should be 4.5 out of 5 good! Heck, even Treasure Planet, problems and all, still got a better score and looked very good. This is a bit inexcusable... Even for Home on the Range it wasn't right. Also, the Atlantis Blu-ray has a good portion of the bonus features that were from the stellar Collector's Edition DVD...

This all makes no sense to me, especially since the next batch of Disney Blu-rays coming after these three releases (The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) are going to have bonus features! Some of them even have brand new bonus features!

The Emperor's New Groove might not have been a huge hit at the box office for Disney, but it was a home video hit. Disney delivered the goods with the 2001 Collector's Edition DVD, showing that they wouldn't slack off on one of their then-recent films... Even if it flopped! Treasure Planet's original DVD, anyone?

Special Edition? Yeah right!

Lilo & Stitch was a big hit film for Disney and it spawned a massive franchise... The lack of bonus features is just shocking and puzzling! I mean, the last DVD release of Lilo & Stitch was a 2-disc set with tons of bonus features! They couldn't port anything, not one thing, over from that set?!

Yet they had no problem doing it for Atlantis. What... The... Hell...

It makes no sense, literally. It makes no sense. It's another woe in Disney Home Entertainment's recent history. Why skimp on these two films but everything else gets at least one bonus feature? I understand that these companies are cutting back, but porting features from DVDs shouldn't be too, too hard or expensive I assume. I mean, they can do it for Atlantis, Robin Hood, Sword and Pooh, they can sure as hell do it for Groove and Lilo. I'm also well aware that both releases' included DVDs contain bonuses (because they are reprints of earlier editions, rather than brand new ones), but still. Bonuses should be on the Blu-ray. Inexcusable...

Unless they have better editions for both films planned, I can kind of see why, though it still gives physical media fans the shaft. With digital media pretty much taking over the world of home entertainment, I don't see Disney re-releasing any of their films on Blu-ray in the next 5 years... That is, if Blu-ray is still a choice format by 2018 or whatever. Well I hope it is, because I'm a physical media kinda guy! If some digital format comes along that stores bonus features with a movie in a special little file, then I'd somewhat understand. Maybe Disney is predicting that, or knows something we don't know...

But in the mean time, leaving features off of these two films' respective Blu-ray editions is just... Wrong. Some features may be on the DVDs, but they should be on the Blu-ray disc. Questionable picture quality? Also wrong, these are the Disney animated classics! All of the films should get great picture quality, an excellent selection of bonus features and more! No low quality cash cow direct-to-video sequel that's only for kids should even be allowed to share a BD-50 disc with the classic, making hardly any room for more bonuses and also possibly compromising the picture quality on the original!

What they're doing now is the antithesis of what they used to do for their films. On Blu-ray no less! They're scaling back, big time. Anything that's not a Platinum these days? Crumby treatment at best. Packaging the films with their direct-to-video sequels was insulting enough, but this is a new low...

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment... What are you doing?

Update: Blu-ray.com's review of the Emperor's New Groove double pack is now in, and the picture quality on the original film is given the same score that Atlantis was given...

What's Next? Predicting Disney Blu-ray's Future Again...

This year, Disney released a ton of their animated classics on Blu-ray alongside several live-action films from the Touchstone titles to films released under their name. Earlier this year, I had made predictions for what animated films would come out on the format next year.

Well it looks like we are already getting a massive helping on March 12th: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (I know, not a Walt Disney Feature Animation film...) is finally hitting the format for its 25th anniversary. Will it be the original, uncut 1988 version? Who knows. That film has been mangled and altered in some way ever since its first home video release, so I'm not getting any high hopes. Four animated titles are being released this day, two of which being films that were supposed to come out earlier this year (Atlantis: The Lost Empire* and Brother Bear). Mulan will be a 15th anniversary release, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame will finally stun in high definition.

Of course, Disney will be releasing the films as double-packs with their degrading direct-to-video sequels, but again, Blu-ray.com and Amazon list separate releases that'll just contain the first film. I sincerely hope this happens...

Now with four canon animated features announced for a March release, this tells me that 2013 will be as big as, if not even bigger than this year's line-up.

First off, what happened to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh? Booklets in Disney Blu-ray releases that appeared earlier this year said that the film would hit the format in Spring 2013. Apparently it's still going to come, but when? April? May? We haven't heard anything since, so I'm hoping that Disney didn't drop the title from the schedule.

Earlier, I had predicted that August 2013 would be the big month for Disney. This past August, Disney released The Aristocats, The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under and Pocahontas on Blu-ray. Released the same day were DTV sequel Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure and The Tigger Movie. Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World was packaged with the original, so seven titles were released that day. Throw in Disneynature's Chimpanzee, and that's eight. I thought the same would happen next August, but apparently Disney will release a ton of titles any month now.

So what am I predicting now? Well, everything is mostly up in the air at this point. Disney really is cranking out titles left and right, probably because of the uncertain future of physical media in an age of digital media and online streaming.

The UK Tarzan Blu-ray.

I have a feeling that Disney will definitely release Hercules and Tarzan sometime next year, since the latter is currently available in other countries. They only have those two out of the 1990s features to release with the exception of Aladdin, which should still be a Diamond Edition release. The Diamond Edition line still seems like it'll continue here in the states, despite the fact that Peter Pan was released in Europe as a stand-alone release, ditto One Hundred and One Dalmatians, though we don't know what that'll be released as when it shows up here. 2013's Diamond Editions are of course Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid (which will follow its 3D theatrical re-release), so that's all set.

What else? If Disney chooses another month this year to release a ton of titles, then we'll probably see the remaining post-90s Disney films on Blu-ray: The Emperor's New Groove and Lilo & Stitch. In addition to that, we may see the remaining 80s films: The Black Cauldron and Oliver & Company.

Oliver & Company is a strong candidate since the latest DVD was released in 2009, the time when Disney was really getting into Blu-ray and giving those who had the format the goods. Oliver & Company was released alongside DVD-only releases like Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Pete's Dragon. The latter was released on Blu-ray this year, alongside The Great Mouse Detective, which got a DVD-only release in 2010.

It seems like those 2009-2010 DVD-only releases will hit Blu next year. Bedknobs should definitely be out, and Oliver & Company will probably appear too. The Black Cauldron is still up in the air, as Disney continues to ignore that film. However, it could show up next year. If not, 2014 should be the latest.

Two other strong candidates are The Sword in the Stone and Robin Hood, since both films will turn 50 and 40 respectively. Both films will probably be released the same day, being films with a medieval setting and weak (all subjective, don't get upset!) storytelling, films that appealed more to younger audiences than anything. I won't be surprised if that happens, plus both films have their fans. Their last DVD releases came before Disney really jumped onto the Blu-ray train.

That leaves the package features, from Saludos Amigos to The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Like I said before, these will probably be released with other films on the set. Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros is obvious, since they are both goodwill films made for South America during World War II, and the last DVD was a two-movie set. Make Mine Music would probably be packaged with Melody Time, since both are similar in structure (vignettes set to songs). Fun & Fancy Free and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad are both composed of two stories, so they probably will be released together. The question is, will it happen next year?

Disney only has a few titles left to crank out on Blu-ray, so it's possible that we'll have the whole animated library (sans the Diamond Edition titles) on the format next year. Will it happen? There's a big possibility that it will. Or maybe Disney will hold a few titles off until 2014, but we'll find out soon enough!

As for the remaining Diamond Editions, I believe this is what will happen:

After Mermaid streets in October 2013, it'll be followed by One Hundred and One Dalmatians in spring 2014. Why? Disney can't make us wait too long, since the film has been available on Blu-ray in Europe since October.

Following that will be Aladdin. It's been suggested that this film will get a 3D theatrical re-release somewhere down the road, given its popularity. It's very plausible because it's one that's always a hit, it's the second highest grossing Disney animated film (unadjusted) and it's a Renaissance film. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King were converted, so I believe they won't leave this one out. Whenever I have talked to someone about Disney's 3D re-releases, I always got "They should do that with Aladdin!" as a response. People love Aladdin, despite the rather iffy claims about the last DVD release and how it fared.

So if they do convert Aladdin, it'll follow the Lion King/Little Mermaid pattern: It'll hit theaters for a limited time in September 2014, then the Diamond Edition will street in October.

Then after that, we'll get The Jungle Book in spring 2015. If Disney plans to re-release Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio on Blu-ray as Diamond Editions, those should be out in fall 2015 and spring 2016 respectively. However, The Jungle Book may show up in 2014. Maybe. But I can't see that happening, since Dalmatians is out overseas. I don't think Disney will make us wait till 2015 for Dalmatians.

Having covered all of the canon animated features, what else? A Goofy Movie is long overdue for a suitable home media release, so a Blu-ray release may show up next year since Disney is content with releasing non-canon animated films alongside the main animated films. It will probably be packaged with its sequel (An Extremely Goofy Movie) as well. Other Winnie the Pooh spin-off films should show up soon as well, from Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin to Piglet's Big Movie. How about other films based on Disney animated shows? DuckTales The Movie - Treasure of the Lost Lamp was released as a Disney Movie Club exclusive for some strange reason, it never got a proper in-store DVD release. The other films based on their own animated shows will probably not see a release anytime soon either, as they are mostly forgotten, though something like Recess: School's Out could be released.

What about The Reluctant Dragon, So Dear To My Heart and Mary Poppins? Well, Mary Poppins will most likely street in 2014 for the film's 50th anniversary. There's no way Disney will avoid this. The Reluctant Dragon's last release (I'm talking about the film of course, not the short subject) was part of the Walt Disney Treasures set Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studio in 2002. So Dear To My Heart is currently a Disney Movie Club exclusive. Why that film was never given a regular DVD release is beyond me, since it was issued on VHS a few times in the 1990s.

The last two films containing animation that I haven't covered are Victory Through Air Power and Song of the South. We know the latter isn't getting a release anytime soon (Disney, just release it, will ya?), the former is a product of its time. It's certainly not something for family viewing, and not mainstream in any way. The only way we can own this film is by getting the Walt Disney Treasures set On The Front Lines. Will Disney launch a new collectors' series of Blu-ray releases containing this kind of stuff? Probably not, since the format may very well be on its way out by 2015 or so.

As for Song of the South, there is a way Disney can release it. Last year, Warner Bros. put out the first volume of the Tom & Jerry Golden Collection. All of the shorts on the set are unaltered with the politically incorrect humor, complete with a warning at the beginning of each disc that can't be skipped. I said this before in a Blu-ray update video on YouTube: Disney should do this with Song of the South, release it as an adults-only collector's release and put a warning on it. That way, it can finally be seen! But since this is Disney, a corporation so hell-bent on keeping such a squeaky-clean image, my hopes are nothing more than a pipe dream.

Now that I've covered animation, what about live action?

This year, Disney put out some live action titles. Some of which were Touchstone titles like The Color of Money, Adventures in Babysitting, Dick Tracy and the Father of the Bride films. Titles released after the 1980s like Newsies, Hocus Pocus, the Santa Clause films, Heavyweights and The Princess Diaries films also came out. The Muppets films that they own are also coming out as well, which kicked off with the release of The Muppet Christmas Carol last month. Now the quality and content of these releases are debatable, but let's face it, Disney is really starting to release everything.

However, only one pre-1980 live action Disney film is on Blu-ray, Babes in Toyland. Other classics such as The Absent-Minded Professor (and it's sequel, Son of Flubber) are slated for next year, so this means that we may see more of the live action classics on Blu-ray soon. When will we get classics like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Pollyanna and The Love Bug? Since Disney's live action library is massive, we'll probably see tons of them coming out in the next two years or so.

That makes me wonder though, what about the not-so-beloved live action titles? Disney has had several live action clunkers that didn't really appeal to anyone other than children, so will those ever get a release? Or will those simply show up on Netflix? Will we also see long buried live action titles like Trenchcoat and Midnight Madness? Perhaps, Disney has no reason to give them to another distributor (i.e. Anchor Bay), so they should get a suitable (if quiet release) sometime soon.

TV shows? Hopefully we'll be getting some of the classic Disney animated TV shows on Blu-ray sometime soon, but Disney didn't really fulfill fans' wishes during the DVD era. They started with releasing The Adventures of the Gummi Bears and then got as far as getting halfway through Darkwing Duck, releasing 52 out of the series' 91 episodes on DVD. So we did get a good amount of the Disney Afternoon material like Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers and Talespin, but not everything. Will they give us all of this plus what they haven't on Blu-ray? Probably not.

Other 80s and 90s-era TV shows like Dinosaurs and Boy Meets World may or may not get a release as well, and I don't see them releasing anything afterwards as complete sets anytime soon. Again, they'll probably just save that for Netflix.

From the looks of it, the future of Disney Blu-ray seems pretty predictable. Disney will release things all at once and as quickly as they can, as online streaming continues to dominate. A few of the classics are already available on Netflix, but they are some of the not-so-successful (sales-wise) titles like The Aristocats and The Great Mouse Detective. Disney making that deal with Netflix pretty much adds to the predictability of their home media division's future. This makes me worry a bit.

A few years ago, when DVD had no competition from any home media format (Blu-ray took some time to really take off), Disney released almost all of their library whether it was in the form of Treasures sets or stand-alone releases. Almost all of the live-action titles were eventually released, including obscurities left and right. Unfortunately, a lot of them were issued with poor picture quality and some weren't even presented in their correct aspect ratio! They were just released, but with no bells or whistles. I feel the same may happen for their Blu-ray releases as well, but this time, poor image quality just won't cut it.

Again, a good number of their recent Blu-rays either have poor picture quality (The Color of Money is a fine example), picture quality that could've been much better (The Fox and the Hound) or don't have enough bonus features (The Rescuers two-movie collection). While Blu-ray may not last much longer (I hope it lasts long enough!), Disney should still take their time with these releases and give fans and casual viewers the goods.

Only time will tell...

Update (1/2/13): Atlantis: The Lost Empire was quietly removed from Disney's current release calendar. Originally slated for a March 12th release alongside The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan and Brother Bear, it is now unscheduled. So now it can come out any time this year. I think we'll get it during the summer alongside Hercules and Tarzan.

Update (1/25/13): The Jungle Book is confirmed as the Spring 2014 Diamond Edition title. The Little Mermaid's 3D re-release was cancelled a few days ago, but the Blu-ray is still coming this autumn.

Buried Treasures

After the end of the Disney Renaissance, the then-troubled animation studio released two animated features that are similar in many ways: Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet...

Both films were a break away from the Disney formula that had dominated the films the studio released in the 1990s during the much-heralded "Renaissance". However, both of them didn't turn out to be as successful as the studio had hoped. Audiences were tired of the formula, yet one would think these kinds of films would introduce audiences to a different side of Disney, a different direction. The perception is that both of these films bombed at the box office. Critical reception on the other hand was different. Atlantis: The Lost Empire received mixed reviews, whereas Treasure Planet got more positive reception while still not getting unanimous praise. Ask your friends if they have seen them, chances are they’ll just say no or... They’ve never heard of them or don't remember...

There are plenty of Disney animated films that you could call overlooked or underrated. Some say the films released in the 1970s and early 1980s need more attention. Others point to post-Lion King films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, given hogwash generalizations like "Disney hasn't made a great film since The Lion King..." Atlantis and Treasure Planet, however, are two films that show us the ambitious core of Disney, the story team and animators who wanted to make something that only the animation medium could do...

~

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a film that’s riddled with story problems and it ultimately shows that the executives had their way with this, as they had had their way with the animated films prior to this. An excellent cast of characters keeps everything afloat, despite the muddled story. The lead is instantly likable, the passionate Milo J. Thatch, who is voiced perfectly by an exuberant Michael J. Fox. A worker in the Smithsonian’s boiler room, he dreams of finding the lost civilization of Atlantis, but everyone he knows writes it off as a myth. His boss, Fenton Q. Harcourt, tries to convince him not to throw away his job chasing silly dreams.

All of a sudden, he’s whisked into a team of explorers from around the world thanks to the eccentric millionaire, Preston B. Whitmore. Whitmore was close friends with Milo’s father Thaddeus, who was also searching for Atlantis. Whitmore gives Thatch the Shepherd’s Journal, the book which could help him. He gets to meet the explorers on the voyage to Atlantis, all of which is told very briskly without ever plodding. It gets off to an incredibly quick start, even the animation and the editing more than show that.

The different explorers accompanying Milo on the journey are all very unique and most of them are hilarious, such as the fast-talking Dr. Joshua Sweet and the absent-minded former wagon train chef, Jebidiah A. Farnsworth, whose nicknamed “Cookie”. There’s also the feisty Puerto Rican mechanic, Audrey Ramirez, who is one of the few that vocally doesn’t take a liking to Milo at first. One of the funniest characters in the group is explosives the Italian expert Vincenzo “Vinny” Santorini, but then there’s the French geologist, Gaeten “Mole” Moliere. He comes off as this very weird character who is obsessed with dirt and fears being clean. However, the writers restrict the character to toilet jokes and they don’t do much with him, thus he pops in and out like an annoying comic relief character. Commander Lyle T. Rourke leads the expedition alongside his second-in-command Helga Sinclair, who is the first of the crew which Milo meets early on in the film.

Their journey to find Atlantis pits them against several perils, the first of which is an encounter with a seemingly mechanic lobster-like monster called the Leviathan. Atlantis: The Lost Empire immediately begins to take off after we are quickly introduced to the characters, as the film doesn’t want to make audiences wait. Well-edited, exciting as all hell and loud, it’s proof that Disney animation can definitely pull off explosive spectacle and rival action-packed summer blockbusters. That’s the only big action set-piece we get until the film’s climactic battle, and once the team gets to the city, the story begins to fall apart.

With these great characters and a strong first act, you’d think the story would only get better. Once they get to Atlantis, we are introduced to the Atlanteans and Princess Kida. Unfortunately, the Atlanteans aren’t very interesting characters and there isn’t much chemistry between Milo and Kida, though the writers try with their might since this film isn’t attempting to be a love story. Then why have a relationship like this in the first place? All it does is waste time, and it never pays off at the end. In fact, the film doesn’t really tells us enough about the Atlantean’s culture and why their misuse of technology sealed their fate, only the first two minutes imply this. Also, why do the Atlanteans not know how to use the power crystals? They’ve been there for how long, and yet someone from above figures it out for all of them?

Some of the writing is very contrived in the second act of the film, which ultimately feels like a setup for the second and final action set-piece, the film’s climactic aerial battle inside a volcano. Rourke and Helga turn out to be mercenaries who are just after riches, and sadly enough, Rourke is not a very convincing antagonist. James Garner’s voice work is excellent, but the character is your typical greedy head honcho who is going for the gold no matter what. It was already unsuccessfully done in Pocahontas, so here it doesn’t work. The villain has undefined motivations, he’s just a greedy man. That’s all.

Give most of the flamboyant and rather generic villains from the 1990s films credit, they at least had some form of motivation. Rourke on the other hand, not so much. He’s a stock antagonist, just looking for riches. The final battle is certainly exciting and intense, but with all of the meatless bones of the second act that came before it, the action scene is ultimately half-hearted. We root for the crew, but the Atlanteans, they just seem like extra help but without any defined personalities. Fortunately, the action scene doesn’t pull any punches. The body count is high, there’s explosions everywhere and Rourke dies a pretty painful death, though we don't see what happens to Helga, we are only told that. Nice move, Disney. They're okay with clearly showing a crystallized man getting chopped up, but they can't show debris falling on someone? Come on...

Atlantis: The Lost Empire really can’t find a direction to go. Early on, its a character-driven film with an action-packed plot. Later on, it’s all about a culture that we don’t really get to know much of, along with a forced romance story. The third act is just pulse-pounding action and a conclusion that feels like an afterthought. The screenplay on the other hand is a bit better, holding everything together like glue as much as it can given the great characters. Early on in production, the film was going to be different. While the writers didn't have a third act before this story was retooled, executives balked at the lengthy project. The second act was loaded with monster battles, but the entire trip to Atlantis is condensed to a few montage scenes of the convoy and the campfire scene. Perhaps if the crew had more time to solve the problems, Atlantis could've had a much stronger story. Disney films had to be completed by a specific release date. If you missed that date, you were in trouble. (See Kingdom of the Sun)

What makes Atlantis: The Lost Empire stick out from most of the Disney films is not that it is an action film as opposed to being a fairy tale or love story, but it also looks much different. The animators and artists were heavily influenced by the artwork of Mike Mignola, and thus the film has a very comic book-like look to with its heavily stylized explosions, art direction and character designs. It certainly didn’t look like a Disney animated film at the time. At the same time, it doesn’t feel like a Disney, not because of the look or the feel. It’s because the film truly lacks heart, or some form of pull. There is some to be found in the film’s first act, particularly with Milo hoping to fulfill his dream. It’s all overshadowed by the second and third acts. When a film can’t decide on what it’s going to be, then you have a big problem.

That said, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is not a big mishap. To its credit, it is very risky. It is a lot more violent than most Disney animated films (it earned a PG), there’s some edgy humor in it that works for the most part, and the film does boast some pretty epic visuals. The characters are wonderful for the most part, but the very flimsy story takes everything into a nose-dive.

Ron Clements and John Musker's Treasure Planet, much like Altantis, is Disney attempting to do something more action-oriented. It has a sci-fi flavored story, lots of action, it aims for the PG rating and it has some incredible visuals. By contrast, it has a much more consistent and defined story, and a believable emotional core. Young Jim Hawkins, despite being a mopey delinquent, is a rather torn character who has daddy issues. Jim Hawkins bonds with John Silver, the rather sketchy cook of the ship that is going to find the much sought-after planet, the RLS Legacy (named after the author of Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson).

At the same time, John Silver is built up as the film’s antagonist, but he has his own battle as he really takes a liking to Jim. Jim is interested in getting to Treasure Planet because he ultimately wants to help his mother, finally trying to make things right by actually putting his life at risk. Joining him is Dr. Delbert Doppler, one of the film’s best characters and one that carefully weaves comic relief into the action epic with fun one liners. Captain Amelia serves as the sly, in control commander of the ship but she’s a rather distant character.

The rest of the cast just isn’t all that much to write home about. Some of John Silver’s baddies (with the exception of the creepy and menacing Scroop) are visually interesting, but there’s not much else to them. B.E.N. is introduced in the later half of the film, a rather loopy robot who is missing his memory piece. This sounds like a potentially interesting character, but everything’s wasted on forced comic relief, as if Doppler wasn’t enough to provide some. Again, the executives are making sure the film panders to children. Another comic relief character, the gelatinous Morph, is also shoe-horned into the story though his playfully mischievous personality does make for some interesting mix ups halfway through the film. Everyone else is just decoration, it’s really the two leads that shine here.

Treasure Planet’s dialogue is either well-written or annoying, with a lot of comic relief that backfires. Most of the time it's just downright awkward. Some of the more “adult” jokes are particularly funny, though there are moments where a simple dialogue scene is just pulled off in such a strange way. It’s a bit of a mess. Unlike Atlantis, there is heart to most of the story and screenplay. The “I’m Still Here” scene is close to being a tearjerker, as it does a fine job establishing why Jim is so angst-ridden.

With its fairly engaging story, Treasure Planet mostly succeeds in the visual department. The look of this film screams “creative”. Taking the story of Treasure Island and setting it in outer space may seem imaginative on paper, but in the film, it’s amazing. The designs of the different planets, the look of the creatures and how everything is done in a steampunk way is just fascinating. Visually, this is one of Disney’s best animated films. It takes an old world look and keeps true to the era Treasure Island was written while making it appear futuristic. It’s an appropriate mix, and one that is loaded with visual imagination at every pore. While some the use of computer animation doesn’t mesh well in some sequence (the floating space whales, for example), the film is still a feast for the eyes.

In the end, Treasure Planet is ultimately superior to Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Both films go against the 1990s Disney grain by trying on the action belt and ditching the musical/big epic story/romance routine. Treasure Planet tries on a much more emotional, character-driven story despite the fact that some of the characters may not be the strongest. Atlantis: The Lost Empire has great ideas early on, but it doesn’t know where to go once it reaches the title city, throwing us around with a bunch of ideas that never reaches a satisfying conclusion. Atlantis on the other hand doesn’t look like a Disney film all that much, whereas Treasure Planet sticks more to the classic Disney character route while taking liberties with it.

Both films proved that the folks at Walt Disney Feature Animation were willing to take risks, even if it meant trouble for the suits. Both films try their might to be fresh and new, with one partially succeeding while the other one is shackled with enormous setbacks. Box office grosses aside (why box office grosses spell bad reputations for a good film is beyond me), these two films shouldn't be forgotten. Sure they have problems and aren't anything near masterpiece-status, but they deserve more.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire - C+
Treasure Planet - B-