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Digital
Media FX News Archives
Thursday
- June 14, 2001
- Atlantis Opens Tomorrow -
Challenges Await
- Atlantis to Air
Digitally on 13 Screens
- New dFX Newsletter Tomorrow
- Shrek Interview Sneak Peek
- News Link of the Day
- Fox is Getting Animated
Atlantis
Opens Tomorrow - Challenges Await
(by digitalmediafx.com) Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire
opens nationally tomorrow in approximately 3,000 theaters. Disney's
animated adventure will face some tough challenges, however, from
Tomb Raider (which opens in 3,308 theaters) and PDI/DreamWorks
animated Shrek (which will still be playing in over 3,500
theaters).
Atlantis
has received highly mixed reviews from the press. For example,
the New York Times called the movie "a monumental treat"
while USA Today says the movie "remains lost as it vaporizes
from memory." Most critics are either calling Atlantis one
of Disney's best movies or one of their worst. Few, however, are
rating it average.
Here are quotes
from other critics:
Eric D. Snider
of The Daily Herald - "Atlantis: The Lost Empire is
nearly as great as Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin,
but is also utterly and completely different from them...When
it moves, the film is wildly exciting, recalling the great adventure
films of the past. When it's funny, it's outstandingly so..."
Lou Lumenick
of the New York Post - "Disney's disappointing Atlantis,
sadly, is a lot like much of the studio's recent animated output:
eye-popping visuals and great vocal characterizations sunk by
a dead-in-the-water script... Unfortunately, it's so oppressively
tedious at times that you almost wish the cast would break into
a chorus of Under the Sea..."
Frank Lovece
of TV Guide - "Despite a confusing and contradictory Atlantean
backstory and occasionally clichéd dialogue, the film is
spectacular, with fantastic design work so well-executed that
when that crane's iron hooks disengage and the sub plunges into
the sea, you can almost feel its weight. The character designs,
however, are much less impressive. Except for the oddly naturalistic
Sinclair, the rest look like cartoony characters from one of Disney's
'60s films..."
Glenn Whipp
of the Daily News, Los Angeles - "Atlantis remarkably
merges conventional hand-drawn animation with computer-generated
images more than any previous Disney film, but largely fails in
terms of storytelling, character development and audience involvement.
Given the potential of the subject matter and the resumes of the
talent involved (directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale made Beauty
and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame), the
movie can't help but feel like a disappointment."
> Visit
the "Atlantis is Waiting" dFX Movie Site
> Track
the Daily Box Office Results of Atlantis: The Lost Empire
> Return
to the top of page
Atlantis
to Air Digitally on 13 Screens
(by digitalmediafx.com) Beginning tomorrow, Disney's Atlantis
will air digitally on 13 movie screens nationwide.
"Audiences
have responded in a big way to our digital engagements of Toy
Story 2, Dinosaur, and The Emperor's New Groove, and
we're delighted to be presenting our latest animated achievement
in a digital format," says Chuck Viane, President of Buena
Vista Pictures Distribution. "Atlantis: The Lost Empire
adds a bold visual style to Disney's tradition of high quality
storytelling, and moviegoers can now see it in the best possible
presentation; digital cinema allows us to bring them just that."
Atlantis:
The Lost Empire will be available in a digital presentation
in Hollywood; New York City; Burbank, California; Irvine, California;
San Francisco; San Diego; Plano, Texas; Olathe, Kansas; Chicago;
Cleveland; Orlando, Florida; Vancouver, BC; and Toronto, Ontario.
> Return
to the top of page
New dFX
Newsletter Tomorrow - Shrek Interview Sneak Peek
(by digitalmediafx.com) A new edition of the dFX
Animation and Visual Effects Newsletter will be emailed
tomorrow to those subscribed
to receive the free email publication. Published twice a month,
the newsletter presents original animation and FX news as well
as sneak peeks at new areas. Besides news, tomorrow's issue will
also contain links to Jim Hill's newest column and a brand new
interview with Raman Hui, Supervising Animator of Shrek.
Those not subscribed to the newsletter will have access to these
sections next Monday.
If you're
not subscribed, sign
up for the free newsletter right now.
> Return
to the top of page
News Link
of the Day - Fox is Getting Animated
According to Montreal Gazette:
"...Coincidentally,
[Michael J.] Fox has discovered cartoons as a new outlet for his
thoughtfully manic performances. The actor's recent starring roles
include the voices of a shy linguist in Disney's new Atlantis:
The Lost Empire and the tiny, computer-generated mouse in Stuart
Little and its coming sequel…"
Click
here for the full story.
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