Atlantis: The Lost Empire (VHS, 2002)

Part INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, part 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE marries mythology, cool futuristic underwater space crafts, and turn-of-the-century adventure for an animated treat. Thanks in part to cowriter Joss Whedon (creator of the edgy BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER series), the film is filled with relaxed wit and more grown-up, pseudo-supernatural perils than some recent Disney films, without being inappropriate for kids. This non-musical extravaganza pits Good against Evil, and pairs a nerdy young scientist-turned-explorer, Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox), with an independent-minded blond bombshell of a princess, Kida (Cree Summer)--provided Kida's father, the distrusting king (Leonard Nimoy) approves. Milo, a museum curator relegated to menial jobs, is obsessed with the famed lost empire of Atlantis. His grandfather once told him about a mysterious Shepherd's Journal that could help him find the now-sunken kingdom and, with the help of eccentric millionaire Preston B. Whitmore (John Mahoney), Milo and several other funny, quirky crew members set out on a heart-pounding adventure. The crew includes Vinny, a demolitionist (Don Novello, better known as Father Guido Sarducci), Dr. Sweet, the gentle cook (Phil Morris, a.k.a. Kramer's lawyer on SEINFELD), and a paternal but brusque Captain Rourke (James Garner). The plot is intricate and suspenseful, and artist Mike Mignola (creator of the graphic comic book HELLBOY) offers up an intense but beautifully simple animated environment as stunning as Queen Amadala's planet in STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE. With monsters like the vicious Leviathan (a mechanical lobster that guards the gates to the city) adding thrills and chills, who could ask for more?