"Atlantis: The Lost Empire" features one of the largest ensemble casts ever created for a Disney animated film. Rising to the occasion, a team of top animators and vocal talents were enlisted to bring these characters to life and give performances that would be both believable and entertaining.
To supervise the pivotal role of Milo Thatch, the directors turned to John Pomeroy, a veteran animator who had most recently supervised Captain John Smith in "Pocahontas" and the title character of the "Firebird" for the Stravinsky segment of "Fantasia / 2000." Pomeroy, whose non-working hours are devoted to creating impressive paintings of military encounters and historic moments, jumped at the chance to animate a spirited adventurer.
"From the moment Don Hahn told me the story, I knew I wanted to be on the picture," recalls Pomeroy. "I related to the character instantly because I'm a bit of a historical bookworm myself. My wife even calls me 'Milo' because to her I'm one with the character. Like Milo, I tend to get oblivious to my surroundings when I'm focused on what I'm working on. He has a naivete that is very appealing and is someone we can all relate to. He has wonderful ideas and theories but is under the thumb of the museum hierarchy. He's the underdog and my heart goes out to him. As a character, he has a great arc and we get to see him transform physically, spiritually and mentally. I love watching Milo winning over his companions. It's very Capra-esque."
"Michael J. Fox was amazing to work with," adds Pomeroy. "He was a virtuoso at the microphone and he understood the situation and would improve it. He also improvised emotional nuances that weren't in the script and made the character very sympathetic. Michael is also incredibly funny and brought his own sense of humor to Milo. It's been a joy working with him and on this character. In almost 30 years of animating, I've never had an experience like this."
Pomeroy explains, "The Milo character has a kind of angularity about him that's very refreshing. After the first recording session with Michael J. Fox, everything fused together and the sound filled in the visuals for me. I knew how the mouth and eyes should look. Mignola's style was challenging and fun. I didn't have to worry if the anatomy was correct as long as I had a good graphic representation of the structure. It's a lot like 'Sleeping Beauty' in the sense that the animation is a flat graphic style."
For Michael J. Fox, creating the role of Milo Thatch was "an honor." He notes, "What was really cool was to watch the project develop. Normally when you do a movie, you know what you're going to look like. Here, you're informed by the pictures as to what the character is all about. You're collaborating in a really special way and it was great fun.
"What I relate to in Milo is his sense of adventure and integrity," adds Fox. "The best thing that I can say about somebody is that they're the same when they're alone as when they're with other people. And that's Milo. He is so zoned in on this quest and for all the right reasons. He's flawed and he knows it yet, at the same time, he doesn't limit what he expects from himself and he really thinks he can rise to the occasion. He's the type of person who believes that there's more to the world than meets the eye and that there's magic out there. It's that kind of optimism that is great about Milo and I feel that way too. It's great to play a character like that.
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