Disney Is Ignoring The Animated Classic That Most Needs A Live-Action Remake

Although Disney has been making many live-action remakes of its animated films, there is still one classic movie that Disney has ignored: Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Set in 1914, Atlantis: The Lost Empire tells the story of Milo Thatch, a naïve museum cartographer who uses a long-lost journal to guide a team of explorers to the underwater city of Atlantis. Although there have been rumors of an Atlantis: The Lost Empire remake being in development, there has been no official confirmation from Disney. Despite this, however, the time is now right to revisit the story.

Over the past few years, Disney has remade many of its beloved animated films. Some of these have been widely popular, such as Beauty and the Beast (2017) and Maleficent (2014), which changed the story’s perspective to focus on Maleficent rather than Sleeping Beauty. However, other live-action remakes which have done little to update the original movies have been less successful, including The Lion King (2019) and Lady and the Tramp (2019). Despite these mixed outcomes, Disney plans to continue adapting some of its most well-known works into live-action movies and has already revealed some cast members for Peter Pan and Wendy (2022) and The Little Mermaid (2023).

For all the live-action reboots currently in the works, however, there are currently no set plans for an Atlantis: The Lost Empire remake. Since the movie did not perform well at the box office and is dissimilar from most Disney movies, it has often been forgotten. Nevertheless, despite these disappointing returns, Atlantis: The Lost Empire has gained a cult following since its release in 2001. If converted into a live-action movie, Atlantis: The Lost Empire could not only gain even greater popularity, but show audiences a less well-known story. Additionally, Atlantis: The Lost Empire‘s unique worldbuilding and distinctive characters would work well within the live-action framework.

One aspect of Atlantis: The Lost Empire that would translate well to a live-action movie is the unique setting it portrays. Although all of the movie’s locations are richly detailed, the city of Atlantis itself is where the worldbuilding stands out the most. Atlantis features its own fictional language and ecosystem, designed specifically to survive underwater. In addition, Atlantis’ design draws upon many different civilizations to reflect its multicultural mythic origins. This, combined with the aquatic setting, shaped Atlantean architecture, technology, and even tattoos, provide the opportunity for a cinematic movie with beautiful, unique locations.

Similarly, Atlantis: The Lost Empire also succeeds in creating strong characters for a follow-up to work with. Although Milo travels with a large crew of explorers, its key members all have well-developed personalities and diverse backgrounds, which influence their relationships with each other. Even Kida, the princess of Atlantis who is introduced much later in the film, stands out due to her bold personality. A live-action remake of Atlantis: The Lost Empirewould highlight this diverse cast, which forms the emotional core of the story. Not only would a remake, therefore, allow filmmakers to revisit less successful aspects of the original, but many of the first film’s commendable building blocks could be incorporated to provide a solid live-action foundation.

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