20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Directed by	Richard Fleischer
Produced by	Walt Disney (uncredited)
Written by	Jules Verne (novel) Earl Felton (screenplay)
Starring	Kirk Douglas James Mason Paul Lukas Peter Lorre
Cinematography	Franz Planer
Editing by	Elmo Williams
Studio	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release date(s)	December 23, 1954
Running time	127 min.
Country	Template:FilmUS
Language	English
Budget	$4,300,000 (estimated; nearly $9M with print and advertising)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 film starring Kirk Douglas as Ned Land, James Mason as Captain Nemo, Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Aronnax, and Peter Lorre as Conseil. It is the first science fiction film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, as well as the only science-fiction film produced by Walt Disney himself. It is also the first feature length Disney film to be distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. The film has become the most well-known adaptation of the book of the same name by Jules Verne.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was filmed at various locations in Bahamas and Jamaica, with the cave scenes filmed beneath what is now the Xtabi hotel on the cliffs of Negril. Some of the location filming sequences were so complex, that they required a technical crew of over 400 people. It presented many challenges and cost-overruns during production.

Plot

In the year 1866, rumors of a sea monster attacking ships in the Pacific Ocean have created apprehension and fear among sailors, disrupting the shipping lanes. Prof. Pierre M. Aronnax and his assistant, Conseil, are on their way to Saigon but get stuck in San Francisco by the halting of ships. The U.S. government invites Aronnax onto an expedition to either prove or disprove the monster's existence. One of their fellow crew is the cocky master harpooner Ned Land.

After months of searching, the monster strikes, ramming the naval frigate. Ned and Aronnax are thrown overboard, and Conseil goes in after Aronnax. They watch in horror as their ship, badly disabled, is unable to rescue them. The three drift in the ocean, eventually finding a strange-looking metal vessel, and realize the "monster" is a man-made "submerging boat", that seems to have been deserted. Inside, Aronnax wanders down into the Salon, where he finds a massive viewing window and sees an underwater funeral taking place.

When the submarine crew returns to their ship, they capture the three castaways. The captain introduces himself as Nemo, master of the Nautilus. He returns Ned and Conseil to the deck, while Aronnax, whom he recognizes for his work and research, is allowed to stay. He tempts Aronnax to remain with him, but Aronnax prefers to share his companions' fate. Nemo prepares to submerge Nautilus with the three stowaways on the deck, but at the last moment changes his mind and allows them to stay. After dinner that night, Nemo takes them all on an underwater expedition to gather supplies, but Ned tries to salvage a treasure chest from a sunken wreck, almost getting attacked by a shark.

Later on, Nemo takes Aronnax to the penal colony island of Rura Penthe. Nemo reveals he was once a prisoner there himself, as were many of the crew of the Nautilus. A munitions ship embarks at sunset, whereupon the Nautilus rams it, destroying its munitions cargo and killing the entire crew. When confronted by Aronnax, Nemo claims that his actions have just saved thousands from death in war; he also discloses that this "hated nation" had killed his wife and son in an attempt to force him to reveal his atomic secrets. Meanwhile, Ned discovers the coordinates of Nemo's secret island base, Vulcania, and releases messages in bottles, hoping somebody will find them and free him from captivity.

Off the coast of New Guinea, the Nautilus gets stranded on a reef. Ned is surprised when Nemo freely allows him to go ashore with Conseil, ostensibly to collect specimens. Ned goes off alone inland to explore avenues of escape, until he sees a bunch of human skulls, and a cannibal in a tree. Realizing his danger, Ned runs for his life and rejoins Conseil as they are chased back to the Nautilus. Despite remaining aground, Nemo is unconcerned and the cannibals are repelled from the ship by electrical charges circulated on its hull. Captain Nemo is furious at Ned for not following his orders, and confines him to the submarine's brig as punishment.

A warship approaches, firing and striking the submarine just as it breaks free of the reef. It descends into the depths, where it attracts the attentions of a giant squid. The electric charge fails to repel the monster, so Nemo and his men are forced to surface in order to fight and dislodge the beast. During the battle, Nemo is caught in one of the squid's tentacles; Ned, having escaped from captivity in the struggle, jumps to Nemo's rescue and saves his captor's life. As a result, Nemo has a change of heart; he claims now to want to make peace with the outer world, by sharing his secrets of the sea. However, this is to be short-lived.

As the Nautilus nears Vulcania, Nemo finds the island surrounded by warships, whose marines are converging on his hideout. He goes ashore, setting a time bomb to destroy his discoveries, but when returning to the Nautilus, he is struck in the back by enemy fire and mortally wounded. After navigating the submarine away from Vulcania, Nemo announces he is "taking the Nautilus down for the last time." Loyal to Nemo to the very end, his entire crew declare that they will accompany their captain in death.

Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned are taken forcibly to their cabins. Ned fights back, escapes to the now deserted bridge, and manages to surface the Nautilus, hitting a reef in the process and causing the ship to begin flooding rapidly. In his final moments, Nemo staggers to a viewing window, collapses, and looks at his beloved ocean one last time as he dies.

Aronnax tries to go back and retrieve his journal, which contains an account of the voyage, but the urgency of their escape obliges Ned to knock him unconscious and carry him out. The companions witness Vulcania destroyed in an explosion. The shock from the explosion causes the Nautilus to sink even more quickly, and as it disappears beneath the waves forever, Nemo's last words to Aronnax echo: "There is hope for the future. And when the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass. In God's good time." Aronnax's diary of the voyage is also lost forever, and when Ned apologizes for having hit him, the Professor replies "Perhaps you did mankind a service, Ned".

Cast

• Kirk Douglas as Ned Land
• James Mason as Captain Nemo
• Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Arounax
• Peter Lorre as Conseil
• Robert J. Wilke as Nautilus's First Mate
• Ted de Corsia as Captain Farragut
• Carleton Young as John Howard
• J. M. Kerrigan as Billy
• Percy Helton as Coach driver
• Ted Cooper as Abraham Lincoln's First Mate
• Fred Graham as Casey

Reception

File:NautilusByWikiFred.jpg

The Nautilus as envisioned in the Walt Disney film

The film received positive reviews from critics, was a box-office smash, and has become a classic film of the Disney corporation. Audiences fondly remember it for the giant-squid battle, the Nautilus itself, and James Mason's portrayal of Nemo. The film currently holds a 91% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being: "One of Disney's finest live-action adventures, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea brings Jules Verne's classic sci-fi tale to vivid life, and features an awesome giant squid."

The film was also highly praised for the performances of the leading actors. This was the first time that major Hollywood stars such as Kirk Douglas, James Mason, and Peter Lorre had appeared in a Disney film ^{[citation needed]}, although Robert Newton, a well-known actor in British films, had played Long John Silver in Disney's 1950 Treasure Island, and Richard Todd, another well-known star of British films, had appeared in a Disney Technicolor live-action version of The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952). Mason especially was singled out for his performance as Captain Nemo ^{[citation needed]}, and many people who first saw him on-screen in the film identify him most strongly with this role.

Critic Steve Biodrowski says that the film is "... far superior to the majority of genre efforts from the period (or any period, for that matter), with production design and technical effects that have dated hardly at all." and that it "... may occasionally succumb to some of the problems inherent in the source material (the episodic nature does slow the pace), but the strengths far outweigh the weaknesses, making this one of the greatest science-fiction films ever made."

The film has inspired a dark ride at Tokyo DisneySea and a walkthrough at Disneyland Paris. Disneyland used the original sets as a walk-through attraction from 1955 to 1966. Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom also had 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage from 1971 to 1994 which consisted of a submarine ride, complete with the giant squid attack. For this ride, voice artist Peter Renaday stood in for James Mason in the role of Captain Nemo. ^{[citation needed]}

Record albums

Two record albums were made from the film, but neither used its cast. Rather than being soundtrack recordings of the film score or dialogue, both were condensed (and heavily altered) versions of the film's script. The albums were both narrated, not by Aronnax as in the film and the original novel, but by Ned Land. Neither album mentioned Nemo as actually being "cracked" (i.e. insane), as the film does. The first album was issued in 1954 in conjunction with the film's original release, and starred William Redfield as Ned. This album, a book-and-record set, was issued as part of RCA Victor's Little Nipper series on two 45-RPM records. The second album, released by Disneyland Records in 1963 in conjunction with the film's first re-release, was issued on one 33 1/3 RPM 12-inch LP with no accompanying booklet and no liner notes - the usual practice with most Disneyland label albums. It contained much more of the film's plot, but with the same alterations as the first album, so this recording was technically a remake of the earlier one. The cast for the 1963 album was uncredited. Neither album listed the film's credits or made any mention of the film's cast.

Prequel

On January 6, 2009, Variety reported that a remake entitled 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo was being planned with McG attached to direct. The film serves as an origin story for the central character, Captain Nemo, as he builds his warship, the Nautilus. McG has remarked that it will be "much more in keeping with the spirit of the novel" than Richard Fleischer's film, in which it will reveal "what Aronnax is up to and the becoming of Captain Nemo, and how the man became at war with war itself." It was written by Bill Marsilli, and Justin Marks and Randall Wallace were brought on to do rewrites. It was to be produced by Sean Bailey with McG's Wonderland Sound and Vision.

McG once suggested that he wanted Will Smith for the Captain Nemo role, but he has reportedly turned down the part. As a second possible choice, McG had mentioned Sam Worthington, whom he worked with on Terminator Salvation, though they did not ever discuss it seriously. As of November 18, 2009 however, the project has been shelved and McG has backed out of directing.

See also

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage, a Walt Disney ride that was based on the film.

External links

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at the Internet Movie Database