Atlantis : Milo's Return (May 20, 2003)

This is a direct-to-video sequel to Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Originally, another sequel, entitled Shards of Chaos, was I development but it was abandoned once Atlantis was less successful than anticipated. This sequel was released in its place, a mere compilation of three animated shorts, originally meant to be three episodes of a tv series that was never completed called Team Atlantis. Additional animation was added to connect the segments. All of the voice actors reprise their roles from the first film, save Milo’s and Cookie’s. The overarching plot is Kida and Milo have become Queen and King of Atlantis and are using the heart of Atlantis to rebuild their city. However, Kida feels guilty that there are Atlantean weapons scattered throughout the world, created by her father, the late King. This causes her and Milo, along with their crew from the original film, to go off on three adventures, solving problems caused by the appearances of the mythical creatures, the Kraken and Coyote Spirits, as well as a deluded man who thinks he is Odin and wishes to bring about Ragnarök. I think the series had a lot of potential, investigating even more phenomenon with such a great cast of characters, but I wish it dwelled on the city of Atlantis more as I think it is the more unique setting. The animation is fine for a TV show- it is faithful to the original character designs with lesser quality (the backgrounds are bland though). Regarding the stories told here, they are interesting enough, they actually remind me of Scooby Doo mysteries, nothing deep more profound but they hold my attention (I am also just happy to see these characters again as I really enjoyed the original movie). Overall, I think Milo’s Return could have been a good pilot and it is such a waste of potential that the rest of the show was never made. Maybe someday it will be revived, but I will not hold my breath.

Final Rating: 6/10