20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" is a robust adventure movie, filled to the brim with visuals ranging from awe-inspiring to bizarre, wall-to-wall excitement, and a constant air of intrigue and wonderment. Even in the hands of the Walt Disney Studios, there was plenty of room for the production to falter. Jules Verne's classic novel features deep characterizations and drips with mystery, and the pressure to soften the story in order to appeal to younger audiences was surely intense. Thankfully, Walt Disney and director Richard Fleischer did not give in to temptation. Like the greatest films of the science-fiction genre, including George Lucas's "Star Wars" trilogy, it tells a lively and exciting tale of mystical technology and worlds unknown where richly drawn and colorfully visualized characters happen upon the likes of a steel leviathan that plunges to unimaginable fathoms, man-eating sharks, a tribe of blood-thirsty cannibals, and a monstrous giant-squid

Three very different characters find themselves at the center of the action. Paul Lukas is Professor Pierre Aronnax, a famous French marine biologist, who along with his apprentice, Conseil (Peter Lorre), depart for Saigon on a United States warship from San Francisco in hopes of coming across a rumored sea monster that has struck fear in the hearts of every sailor on the Pacific Ocean. Also on the ship is cocky harpooner Ned Land, played with great zeal by Kirk Douglas, who is convinced that no such creature exists.

After the ship is sunk by the monster, a giant beast with glowing yellow eyes, the three men are left adrift on the open sea. Soon, they discover that the monster is in fact the Nautilus, a mighty steel submersible that is commandeered by the brilliant but deeply disturbed Captain Nemo, who is brought to stunning visual life by the great James Mason. After much deliberation by Professor Aronnax, Nemo takes them aboard the ship and a marvelous voyage ensues.

The sight of the Nautilus sets the tone of the entire production. Its exterior is a formidable steel vessel that looks like a cross between an alligator and a shark. Its interior, however, is the perfect manifestation of Nemo's imagination and in an ironic sense, the fantastical minds of both Jules Verne and Walt Disney. Despite the severity of its construction, its many rooms and corridors are lined with fine Victorian furnishings including an enormous pipe organ and a collection of red carpets and tapestries. These surfaces are topped with an assortment of obscure objects and devices that suggest the work of a genius is at hand. One room features a giant porthole that acts as a glass eye into the strange world of the ocean depths while another holds the atomic furnace that propels the craft on its many missions.

Most of the drama takes place inside the Nautilus. Nemo, who has vowed vengeance on the terrestrial world, is a complex figure who is neither hero nor villain. Over the course of the story, Nemo's inner being is slowly revealed, more often to Professor Aronnax, who despite his sensible mind, begins to slowly find empathy and understanding for the Captain's antics. This causes distrust of Conseil who finds friendship with Ned Land, who constantly is looking for a way out of Nemo's stronghold.

For being produced in an age before computer technology, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" is a masterpiece of art design and special effects. While the Nautilus provides the visual anchor for the entire story, the image most people take from the film is the epic battle with the giant squid. With its writhing tentacles and its menacing beak, it is still a fearsome sight for the average moviegoer. Also notable is the matte paintings by Peter Ellenshaw, who brought San Francisco's harbor and the island of Vulcania to vivid life.

Watching "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" again after many years, it became clear to me why it has endured for so long. Despite living in a time when computers are used for even the slightest effect, I still found myself lost in the production. Instead of fading into icons, the special effects have taken on an almost unattainable mystical quality in the same way that King Kong, the land of Oz, and Kane's Xanadu have done. The endless marine landscape and the beautiful yet claustrophobic interiors of the Nautilus inhabit a world that is all its own without rules and limitations and the adventure within is one of the greatest of all time.
November 25, 2008

Good Clean entertainment!

A classic tale, not as good as i remember it to be as a child but still good clean entertainment for the the whole family, better than commercial TV has to offer. June 19, 2008

The nutty mastermind aquatic reclusive adventure

Disney's presentation of Jules Verne's 20,000 leagues under the sea is solid family entertainment. Shipping routes are under attack by a mysterious monster. The navy is sent out to find if the monster exists and their ship is blown up by the mysterious monster. Ned Land (Kirk Douglas), Prof. Pierre Arronax (Paul Lukas) and Conseil (Peter Lorre) survive only to find themselves taken prisoners by the mad but genius Captain Nemo (James Mason).

While there is lots of adventure, including a battle with a Kraken, the story is about madness, revenge, science, slavery, exploration and the uncharted depths of the ocean. Sea lovers will enjoy every aquatic moment of it but Captain Nemo is one of the saddest and most bitter characters ever to grace the screens. It has an ominous depressing tone for a lot of it but the Nautilus ship set design is a work of art and much of the cinematography and underwater scenes are cutting edge for their time. If you are in for this one then you will probably want to see Mason in Verne's Journey to the centre of the earth also. June 1, 2008

We will never have a 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Like This

In this horrible 21st century full of mankind's awful things and with no more talent for creativity and quality,This movie is a treasure and legacy about what once was golden times for Disney and movies.
Not anymore.Walt Disney Corporation has to be ashame of themselves now.
This is a timeless movie.
We will never make a movie like this. May 21, 2008

Disney's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea

Disney's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea was one of the most influential film experiences of my youth. I definitely rate it as a five star film with good special effects, which though dated, were very good for the time. The best of the special effects scenes was the giant squid and I have read that this scene required many retakes and changes in mechanical approach to satisfy Disney who would not agree that it was done until it looked credible. In fact, improving the giant squid scene nearly ended the film and financially broke the studio. Fortunately, additional funding of well over a million dollars was obtained from bankers after their inspection of film efforts to date, with favorable results.

The design of the submarine Nautilus (by John Meehan) is regarded as something which was almost as beautiful as it was functional. Hundreds of models of this design by Disney studios continue to be made which are commercially available in almost all scales. Some absolutely amazing very large scale working submersible models of this original design may be found on the web using Google.

Based on the excellent documentary the origin of Disney's 20,000 Leagues was the work of a single visionary staff member who, unauthorized, story boarded his grand vision while Disney was away from the office. Fortunately, Disney immediately recognized that this film had to be made and his studio would be the one to make it.

I was only eight when I remember my mother taking me into the LUXOR Theater in the old Bronx one sunny Saturday afternoon. She bought me a good supply of candy and sat back expecting to relax while we took in another movie together. I suppose even at eight I had heard about submarines and known in some abstract way that people had experienced the ocean depths. Disney was able to make it very real and magical for me at the same time. The idea that people could walk on the ocean floor in a medium that I considered absolutely hostile was new to me.

I loved this movie and ruined the film for my mother by asking question after question about what I was seeing on the screen. I remember asking her "Can we do that?" and several other questions. Naturally, I had to get the Disney book on the making of the film and remember staying up late into the night and early morning looking at inboard profiles of the Nautilus with a flashlight under the covers reading the book too excited to sleep.

This film has remained one of my all time favorites and I credit Disney for this experience which I rank up there with several other Disney films (I don't mean Mickey). I also blame this film which, for better or worse, encouraged me to become an engineer working in marine engineering.
March 27, 2008

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