Atlantis: The Lost Empire was a distinct and
underrated entry in Disney’s modern-day lineup, breaking with a lot of
convention and showcasing gorgeous, engrossing animation to boot. According to
its director, Kirk Wise, a sequel was planned, with a twisty villain reveal and
everything.
A sequel, that is,
that isn’t the small animated series Disney ended up putting out and then
selling as a sequel “movie” called Atlantis:
Milo’s Return. This sequel was different, and a bit more dramatic.
“[Story
supervisor] John Sanford, Gary [Trousdale] and I actually concocted an idea for
a sequel to Atlantis,” Wise told
Collider. “It had no relation to the Atlantis
TV series that was being developed at Disney Television Animation. This
was a feature-length, full-on, full-blown sequel to Altantis.”
As Collider details,
this sequel wasn’t very far along in the creation process, but did have a plot
structure intact.
“We were going
to have a new villain in the story. The villain was going to be wearing big,
scary, wool, bulky, World War I-style clothing with a frightening gasmask to
obscure it’s face; a little Darth Vader-esque. And this villain was going to
try and retake Atlantis and finish the job that Rourke was unable to
accomplish. And the big twist in the climax of the movie is that the villain is
unmasked and it turns out to be Helga Sinclair. Plot twist!” Wise
explained.
https://gizmodo.com/atlantis-the-lost-empire-is-a-beautiful-gem-of-a-movie-1727214546
This Helga, the
surviving second-in-command to the big bad from the first movie, has gone
through some changes by the time of the sequel.
Wise
elaborated, saying, “So Helga survived her fall, became an early-20th-century cyborg and started her own team of
mercenaries.”
That’s honestly
pretty intense, and leans in well to the movie’s steampunky vibes. The first
one told a fairly cohesive story and didn’t really require a followup, but the
setting felt rich enough that I certainly wouldn’t have minded returning. What
do you think? Does this sequel idea hold any water?
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