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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

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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.

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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.

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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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These news articles and all digitalmediafx.com content are ©copyright 2001 by Joe Tracy and may not be reused for any purpose without expressed written consent of the author and Digital Media FX. All rights reserved.