Atlantis: Milo's Return

Atlantis: Milo's Return (also known as Atlantis II: Milo's Return), released in 2003, is Disney's twentieth animated direct-to-video sequel. It is a sequel to the 2001 animated film Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Originally, Disney was developing a sequel entitled Shards of Chaos, but it was abandoned once The Lost Empire was less successful than anticipated. The released sequel consists of three animated shorts, originally meant to be three episodes of a series that was never completed called Team Atlantis. Some additional animation was done to link the stories more closely.

Cree Summer (Kida), Corey Burton (Mole), Don Novello (Vinny), Phil Morris (Dr. Sweet), Jacqueline Obradors (Audrey), John Mahoney (Whitmore), and Florence Stanley (Wilhelmina) all reprise their roles from the first film, with James Arnold Taylor replacing Michael J. Fox as Milo and Steve Barr replacing Jim Varney, who died before the first film finished production, as Cookie. This is also Florence Stanley's final film; she died months after production ended.

Plot
After the decline in Atlantean culture following the sinking, Kida (Cree Summer), now Queen and married to Milo Thatch (James Arnold Taylor), is using the heart of Atlantis to restore her city's former glory. Suddenly, Milo's comrades and Mr. Whitmore (John Mahoney) arrive in Atlantis; while their arrival is unexpected, the Atlanteans welcome their old friends. Unfortunately, they have come to inform them of a mysterious creature causing trouble on the surface. Kida suspects that the creature might be Atlantean. They arrive in Trondheim, Norway and discover that the mysterious problem is actually the creature known as the Kraken, which had been attacking shipping freighters and taking their cargo to a cliffside village. At first they presume it to be an ancient Atlantean war machine gone rogue (like the Leviathan from the previous film), but they discover that the town magistrate, Edgar Volgud (Clancy Brown), seems to be controlling the Kraken. They soon learn, though, that the Kraken itself is the master, having made a deal with Volgud. When they blow up the Kraken, the man disintegrates and the spirit of the village is restored.

All the while, Kida is learning about the outside world and is adapting well. However, she still feels guilty, as there could still be other Atlantean war machines in the world causing problems, like the Leviathan. Their next mystery is in the Southwestern United States, involving coyote spirits opposing them. They later find a hidden city in Arizona that contains a statue that greatly resembles Atlantean architecture. Unfortunately, a very sly shop owner, Ashton Carnaby (Thomas F. Wilson), intends to pillage the place for its valuables, but the spirits then turn him into one of them. A man named Chakashi (Floyd Red Crow Westerman), who is a Native American wind spirit, trusts them with the knowledge of their sanctuary and informs Kida that she can choose Atlantis' destiny.

Returning home, the adventurers discover that one of Whitmore's old competitors, Erik Hellstrom (W. Morgan Sheppard), believed himself to be the Norse god Odin. At night, Hellstrom stole one of his possessions, an ancient spear called the Gungnir, presumably an artifact of Atlantean origin. When they track him down in the frigid Nordic Mountains, he presumes Kida to be his long lost daughter and kidnaps her. He dresses her in Norse clothing. He explains that his intentions are to end the world in Ragnarok. He creates a lava beast and an ice beast to destroy the world, but well-placed explosives used by Vinny distract the monsters long enough for Kida to retrieve the spear and vanquish the beasts. During these escapades, Kida comes into a greater understanding of just how powerful the Atlantean Crystal is, and that she must choose between hiding it and sharing it with the rest of mankind.

Having retrieved the spear, Kida realizes her father was wrong to hide the Crystal from mankind. She combines the Spear with the Heart Crystal and lifts Atlantis above water. Two fishermen are shocked when they suddenly see an entire city rise before them. In the end, Atlantis is above the water for the first time in over 9,000 years. Mr. Whitmore narrates that from then on, the world was a better place.

Voice cast

 * Cree Summer - Queen Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh
 * James Arnold Taylor - King Milo James Thatch (Michael J. Fox's replacement)
 * John Mahoney - Preston B. Whitmore
 * Jacqueline Obradors - Audrey Rocio Ramirez
 * Don Novello - Vincenzo "Vinny" Santorini
 * Corey Burton - Gaëtan "Mole" Molière
 * Phil Morris - Doctor Joshua Strongbear Sweet
 * Florence Stanley - Wilhelmina Bertha Packard
 * Frank Welker - Obby, Mantell
 * Steven Barr - Jebidiah Allerdyce "Cookie" Farnsworth (the late Jim Varney’s replacement)
 * Clancy Brown - Edgar Volgud
 * Jean Gilpin - Inger Eliassen
 * Kai Rune Larson - Seaman, Gunnar
 * Bill Fagerbakke - Sven
 * Thomas F. Wilson - Ashton Carnaby
 * Floyd Red Crow Westerman - Chakashi
 * Jeff Bennett - Sam McKeane
 * W. Morgan Sheppard - Erik Hellstrom

Crew

 * Greg Weisman - Voice Director

Unmade episodes
The series would have feature episodes with different legends incorporated, such as Puck, the Loch Ness Monster and the Terracotta Warriors.

The last
One of the episodes of Team Atlantis that was never animated featured an appearance by Demona from Gargoyles. It introduced the hunter known as Fiona Canmore, known friend to Dr. Sweet. The episode would have Demona using the Praying Gargoyle statue to bring Gargoyle statues in Paris alive to kill the local humans.

Scripts and voice recording of the episode can be seen at The Gathering conventions. Marina Sirtis reprises her role as Demona, and Fiona Canmore is voiced by Sheena Easton. Greg Weisman, who wrote the episode, planned to use the story for the Gargoyles comic book series. He said if he is unable to use the Atlantis characters, then he will use analogues for the story.

Greg has mentioned that while the episode itself is canon in the Gargoyles universe, the entire series Team Atlantis is not. In fact, the Team Atlantis interpretations of the Loch Ness Monster and Puck differ from those seen in Gargoyles (notably, the Loch Ness Monster in Gargoyles actually is a surviving plesiosaur belonging to a colony, like the common depiction).

Reception
The film generally received mixed reviews.