10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Atlantis: The Lost Empire
9. It Was The Most CGI That Had Been Used In A Disney Film At The Time
Disney wasn’t shy of blending 2D animation with CGI technologies before. We all remember when it was used in the gorgeous ballroom number in Beauty and the Beast, or the exciting lava sequence in Aladdin. Many predecessors features the odd bit of CGI, but it had never been used in a single film as frequently as in Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
Special effects director Marlon West found every opportunity he could to use more computer-generated imagery than before. Everything that moved was blended with modern graphics to really enhance the adventure sequences – not just within the moving vehicles but the finer details right from the underwater bubbles to the mist.
The new experimental visuals paid off as Atlantis is a thorough visual feast, offering many exhilarating action sequences which felt reminiscent of something from Indiana Jones. It was also a stepping stone for when the studios would fully embrace CGI animation without any hand-drawn elements.