Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) (with Gary Trousdale)

For the first episode of 2023, Chris and Alex are back into the world of Disney Feature Animation, following up earlier discussions of The Emperor’s New Groove (Mark Dindal, 2000) and Treasure Planet (Ron Clements & John Musker, 2002) with Episode 111, which looks at the studio’s 2001 feature film Atlantis the Lost Empire (Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise, 2001), a science-fiction adventure that draws inspiration from Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870). Joining them as their very special guest is the film’s co-director, Gary Trousdale, who was part of the celebrated Disney Renaissance and together with Kirk Wise also directed the Disney features Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). Gary was first hired by Walt Disney Feature Animation back in 1984 as an effects animator on The Black Cauldron (Ted Berman & Richard Rich, 1985). He then moved onto story for Oliver & Company (George Scribner, 1988) and worked as a Storyboard Artist for The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements & John Musker, 1989), before finally taking up directorial duties on Beauty and the Beast that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Gary later moved to DreamWorks and, more recently, is credited as creative consultant for the 2017 reimagining of Beauty and the Beast (Bill Condon, 2017). Listen as they discuss the Disney Renaissance as a period of industrial and creative renewal via the studio’s return to a Golden Age sensibility; the siting of Atlantis: The Lost Empire within Disney’s post-2000 era of narrative and stylistic heterogeneity; the 1914 setting of the Verne-inspired film, and how its images of war bear the influence of advancements in early twentieth-century technology; the formal connection between animated musical numbers and action sequences; and what the adventure narrative of Atlantis: The Lost Empire and its application of CGI has to say about Hollywood animation’s own technological frontier. **Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo**