Atlantis The Lost Empire: The Essential Guide

by David John, Walt Disney Company

An official pictorial guide to Disney's latest animated film starring Michael J. Fox includes a behind-the-scenes look at the characters, locations, and bizarre vessels featured in the movie.

Genres: Fiction

61 pages, Hardcover

First published May 7, 2001

Reviews

[Graham Barrett]

(Read as a kid, review from 2026)

Atlantis was one of my favorite movies as a kid and I regret having missed it in theaters due to my family traveling outside the country when it first premiered (and it didn't do well enough at the box office to justify it staying in theaters long enough for me to see it on the big screen). To compensate I do remember finding this in an English bookstore in Rome and quickly skimming this to tide me over. Not much but it was enough for my 8 year old self.

[Kreiden]

I love how accurate it is, for an essential guide. I enjoy all the artwork.

[Drew Graham]

Preston Whitmore hired an expert team of specialists to journey miles under the Atlantic ocean to discover the lost city of Atlantis. This book is a guide to the experts, their equipment, and the world and people they find when they undertake their epic adventure.

I found this book years ago at some sidewalk book sale or something, and I've always been a fan of the movie so it seemed like a fun thing to have and add to my art book collection. It IS fun, and it DOES have art, but it's not really an art book like a lot of the others in the Disney art book series. It presents the characters and settings of the movie as if real, and doesn't really discuss anything about the actual art of the movie (besides presenting a lot of it). I know that's not really what this book IS, so it's fine, I just thought it might be a little less straightforward in the presentation. It was kind of cool how they created backstories that help define and inform all the characters, and there was plenty to look at (and a pretty good balance of visuals and text, though if it were an art book I would say it had too much text), though some of the items pointed out in diagram-fashion were pretty silly -- Pants? Oh, really? Thanks so much for pointing out that those are pants. Still, it is what it claims to be, even if a little affected in its format, and it's probably more fun to look through than to read.

This is a fun guide to the world (not the movie) of Atlantis: The Lost Empire. It presents a lot of information and "history" that will be interesting to fans of the movie, but it's not really an art book, so I would say those fans are probably pretty much its sole intended readership (luckily, I AM a fan of that movie). Also, its diagrams point out things like "Boots" and "Pants," so... yeah, pretty informative.

[The Brothers]

I, personally, had never seen this cartoon though both boys (8yo and 5yo) have. I read it cover to cover for Dex and he hung on every word. I like the little "real life" corners, though Dex just wanted me to skip them.

Disney-esque illustration - no surprise there.