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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)
Encyclopedia
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 adventure film
starring Kirk Douglas
as Ned Land, James Mason
as Captain Nemo
, Paul Lukas
as Professor Pierre Aronnax, and Peter Lorre
as Conseil
. It was the first science fiction film
produced by Walt Disney Productions, as well as the only science-fiction film produced by Walt Disney
himself. It was also the first feature length Disney film to be distributed by Buena Vista Distribution
. The film has become the best-known adaptation of the book of the same name
by Jules Verne
, and cited as an early example of the genre of steampunk
.
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 harpoonist Ned Land.
After months of fruitless searching, the monster is spotted one night. It immediately charges, and the ship's crew are only able to fire cannons at the monster a few times before impact. Ned and Aronnax are thrown overboard, and Conseil goes in after Aronnax. The warship, burning and helpless, drifts silently and no one on board answers when the overboard passengers cry for help. 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, presumably for a man on the submerging boat who was killed by the expeditionary ship's guns.
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 the secrets of his work. 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. While kneeling at a pool to drink he sees a number of human skulls on stakes. Unbeknownst to him he has been spotted by a cannibal in a nearby 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 a detailed 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. 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". 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."
, with the cave scenes filmed beneath what is now the Xtabi
Resort on the cliffs of Negril
. Filming began in spring of 1954. Some of the location filming sequences were so complex that they required a technical crew of over 400 people. The film presented many other challenges as well. The famous giant squid attack sequence had to be entirely re-shot as it was originally filmed as taking place at dusk and in a calm sea. It was filmed again, this time taking place at night and during a huge gale, both to increase the drama and to better hide the cables and other mechanical workings of the animatronic squid. Cost-overruns during production made it the most expensive film produced at the time (exceeding the 1939 film Gone With the Wind
).
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea received positive reviews from critics, was the second highest grossing film of the year (behind White Christmas
), and has become a notable classic film of the Disney corporation. Audiences fondly remember it primarily for its giant-squid battle sequence as well as the Nautilus itself and James Mason's portrayal of Nemo. The film currently holds a 91% approval rating at the review aggregation website 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, although Robert Newton
, a well-known actor in British films, had played Long John Silver
in Disney's Treasure Island
(1950), 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 of Captain Nemo as many people who had first seen him on-screen in the film identified him most strongly with this role.
Upon the film's original release, New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther
gave the film a generally positive review by stating that, "As fabulous and fantastic as anything he has ever done in cartoons is Walt Disney
's "live action" movie made from Jules Verne
's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
." Turned out in CinemaScope
and color, it is as broad, fictitiously, as it is long (128 minutes), and should prove a sensation—at least with the kids."
Modern day film critic Steve Biodrowski said 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." Biodrowski also added that the film "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."
Disneyland used the original sets as a walk-through attraction from 1955 to 1966. Walt Disney World Resort's
Magic Kingdom
also had a dark ride named 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. In 1994, a walkthrough attraction at Disneyland Paris, named Les Mystères du Nautilus
, opened, and a dark ride
at Tokyo DisneySea
was created in 2001.
and was nominated for one more. In addition, the film's DVD was nominated for a Saturn Award
:
The film's primary art designer, Harper Goff
, who designed the Nautilus, was not a member of the Art Directors Union in 1954 and therefore, under a bylaw within the Academy of Motion Pictures, he was unable to receive his Academy Award for Art Direction.
or dialogue, two vinyl
record albums were released to coincide with the film's first two releases. Both albums contained condensed and heavily altered versions of the film's script without the usage of any of the film's cast for character voices. In addition, both albums were narrated by Ned Land as opposed to Aronnax, who narrated the film and the original novel. 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 the voice of 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.
A single
for the film's most memorable song "A Whale of a Tale" was also released in 1954 under the Decca Children's Series
label. The song "And the Moon Grew Brighter and Brighter" was the B-side
. Both songs can be found on the 2008 digital release of the film's soundtrack. In the film, Johann Sebastian Bach
's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
" is played by Nemo on the Nautilus's organ, but James Mason's playing is actually dubbed by an anonymous organist.
released a 26-track digital album
containing the music of Paul Smith
's original soundtrack score to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as well as a digital booklet
companion that explores the music of the film. This was the first official release of the film score and it can only be obtained through the iTunes Store
.
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, with Justin Marks and Randall Wallace
brought in 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. However, the project was later shelved in November 2009 with McG backing out of directing.
During the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, director David Fincher
announced plans of directing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Walt Disney Pictures
based on a script by Scott Z. Burns.
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
starring Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
as Ned Land, James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
as Captain Nemo
Captain Nemo
Captain Nemo, also known as Prince Dakkar, is a fictional character featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island ....
, Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas was an Austrian-Hungarian-born actor.-Biography:Born Pál Lukács in Budapest, he arrived in Hollywood in 1927 after a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany and Austria where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and his film debut in 1917...
as Professor Pierre Aronnax, and Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
as Conseil
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax...
. It was the first science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
produced by Walt Disney Productions, as well as the only science-fiction film produced by Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
himself. It was also the first feature length Disney film to be distributed by Buena Vista Distribution
Buena Vista Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is a motion picture and television feature distribution company owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc. Buena Vista International was the international distribution arm, Buena Vista Home Entertainment was the firm's video and DVD distribution arm, and Buena Vista...
. The film has become the best-known adaptation of the book of the same name
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax...
by Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
, and cited as an early example of the genre of steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
.
Plot
In the year 1868, rumors of a sea monsterSea monster
Sea monsters are sea-dwelling mythical or legendary creatures, often believed to be of immense size.Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or multi-armed beasts. They can be slimy or scaly and are often pictured threatening ships or spouting jets of water...
attacking ships in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
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
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
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 harpoonist Ned Land.
After months of fruitless searching, the monster is spotted one night. It immediately charges, and the ship's crew are only able to fire cannons at the monster a few times before impact. Ned and Aronnax are thrown overboard, and Conseil goes in after Aronnax. The warship, burning and helpless, drifts silently and no one on board answers when the overboard passengers cry for help. 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, presumably for a man on the submerging boat who was killed by the expeditionary ship's guns.
When the submarine crew returns to their ship, they capture the three castaways. The captain introduces himself as Nemo, master of the Nautilus
Nautilus (Verne)
The Nautilus is the fictional submarine featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island . Verne named the Nautilus after Robert Fulton's real-life submarine 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
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
.
Later on, Nemo takes Aronnax to the penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
island of Rura Penthe
Rura Penthe
Rura Penthe is the name of a fictional penal colony in the following works:* A penal colony in Siberia in the 1869 Tolstoy novel War and Peace* A penal colony island in the 1954 Disney film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea...
. 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 the secrets of his work. 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
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, 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. While kneeling at a pool to drink he sees a number of human skulls on stakes. Unbeknownst to him he has been spotted by a cannibal in a nearby 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
Giant squid
The giant squid is a deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae, represented by as many as eight species...
. 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 a detailed 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. 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". 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."
Cast
- Kirk DouglasKirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
as Ned Land - James MasonJames MasonJames Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
as Captain NemoCaptain NemoCaptain Nemo, also known as Prince Dakkar, is a fictional character featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island .... - Paul LukasPaul LukasPaul Lukas was an Austrian-Hungarian-born actor.-Biography:Born Pál Lukács in Budapest, he arrived in Hollywood in 1927 after a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany and Austria where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and his film debut in 1917...
as Professor Pierre Arounax - Peter LorrePeter LorrePeter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
as Conseil - Robert J. WilkeRobert J. WilkeRobert J. Wilke was a prolific American film actor noted primarily for his villainous roles, mainly in westerns.Wilke started as a stuntman in the 1930s and his first appearance on screen was in San Francisco...
as Nautiluss First Mate - Ted de CorsiaTed de CorsiaTed de Corsia was a radio and movie actor.He is probably best remembered for his role as a gangster turned state's evidence in The Enforcer...
as Captain Farragut - Carleton YoungCarleton YoungCarleton Scott Young was an American character actor born in New York City, New York and known for his deep voice.-Private life:...
as John Howard - J. M. KerriganJ. M. KerriganJoseph Michael Kerrigan , better known as J. M. Kerrigan, born in Dublin, Ireland, was an Irish character actor.-Life:Kerrigan worked as a newspaper reporter until 1907 when he joined the famous Abbey Players...
as Billy - Percy HeltonPercy HeltonPercy Helton was an American film and television actor.One of his most memorable supporting roles was playing a drunken Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th Street. He also appeared in small but memorable roles in Criss Cross , The Set-Up , Kiss Me Deadly and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid...
as Coach driver - Ted CooperTed CooperEdward Theodore "Ted" Cooper was a long-time United States television scenic designer and creative consultant. Cooper is best known as the production designer and creative consultant for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, the leading producer of American TV game shows...
as Abraham Lincolns First Mate - Fred GrahamFred Graham (actor)Fred Graham was an American actor and stuntman, who performed in scores of films from the 1930s. A semi-professional baseball player, Graham appeared mainly in Westerns, doing stunts and playing opposite John Wayne among others. He also featured alongside Wayne in several films with director...
as Casey
Production
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was filmed at various locations in Bahamas and JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, with the cave scenes filmed beneath what is now the Xtabi
Xtabi
Xtabi is a cove on the cliffs of Negril, in Westmoreland, Jamaica. It consists of a labyrinth of caves and passageways carved from solid rock over a period of several million years.An eponymous hotel sits atop the cliffs.-History:...
Resort on the cliffs of Negril
Negril
Negril is a small but widely dispersed beach resort town located across parts of two Jamaican parishes of Westmoreland and Hanover. Westmoreland is the westernmost parish in Jamaica, located on the south side of the island...
. Filming began in spring of 1954. Some of the location filming sequences were so complex that they required a technical crew of over 400 people. The film presented many other challenges as well. The famous giant squid attack sequence had to be entirely re-shot as it was originally filmed as taking place at dusk and in a calm sea. It was filmed again, this time taking place at night and during a huge gale, both to increase the drama and to better hide the cables and other mechanical workings of the animatronic squid. Cost-overruns during production made it the most expensive film produced at the time (exceeding the 1939 film Gone With the Wind
Gone with the Wind
The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
).
Reception
White Christmas (film)
White Christmas is a 1954 Technicolor musical film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas"...
), and has become a notable classic film of the Disney corporation. Audiences fondly remember it primarily for its giant-squid battle sequence as well as the Nautilus itself and James Mason's portrayal of Nemo. The film currently holds a 91% approval rating at the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 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, although Robert Newton
Robert Newton
Robert Newton was an English stage and film actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the most popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys...
, a well-known actor in British films, had played Long John Silver
Long John Silver
Long John Silver is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Silver is also known by the nicknames "Barbecue" and the "Sea-Cook".- Profile :...
in Disney's Treasure Island
Treasure Island (1950 film)
Treasure Island is a 1950 Disney adventure film, adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. It starred Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, and Robert Newton as Long John Silver...
(1950), and Richard Todd
Richard Todd
Richard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
, another well-known star of British films, had appeared in a Disney Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
live-action version of The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men is a 1952 live action Disney version of the Robin Hood story in Technicolor which was filmed in Buckinghamshire, England...
(1952). Mason especially was singled out for his performance of Captain Nemo as many people who had first seen him on-screen in the film identified him most strongly with this role.
Upon the film's original release, New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
gave the film a generally positive review by stating that, "As fabulous and fantastic as anything he has ever done in cartoons is Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's "live action" movie made from Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax...
." Turned out in CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
and color, it is as broad, fictitiously, as it is long (128 minutes), and should prove a sensation—at least with the kids."
Modern day film critic Steve Biodrowski said 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." Biodrowski also added that the film "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."
Disneyland used the original sets as a walk-through attraction from 1955 to 1966. Walt Disney World Resort's
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...
also had a dark ride named 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage was an attraction at the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World Resort from 1971 through 1994.- The 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
Peter Renaday
Peter Renaday is an American voice actor.-Film:*The Aristocats as the truck driver*Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost as Mr.McKnight-TV series:*Angel as The Beast's Master...
stood in for James Mason in the role of Captain Nemo. In 1994, a walkthrough attraction at Disneyland Paris, named Les Mystères du Nautilus
Les Mystères du Nautilus
Les Mystères du Nautilus is a walkthrough attraction at Disneyland Paris in France. It is an updated version of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea walkthrough attraction that was at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA in the early 1950s, based upon the film of the same name.This attraction takes guests...
, opened, and a dark ride
Dark ride
A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride where riders in guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music, and special effects....
at Tokyo DisneySea
Tokyo DisneySea
is a 176-acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just outside Tokyo. It opened on September 4, 2001. It is owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses the theme from The Walt Disney Company. Tokyo DisneySea attracted an estimated 12 million visitors in...
was created in 2001.
Awards and nominations
The film won two Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
and was nominated for one more. In addition, the film's DVD was nominated for a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
:
- Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
(1954)
- Won: Best Art Direction - ColorAcademy Award for Best Art DirectionThe Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(John MeehanJohn MeehanJohn Meehan was an American art director and production designer.He was born in Tehachapi, California and attended the University of Southern California...
, Emile KuriEmile KuriEmile Kuri was a Mexican-born American set decorator of Lebanese parentage. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for six more in the category Best Art Direction....
) - Won: Best Special Effects (John HenchJohn HenchJohn Hench was an employee of The Walt Disney Company for more than sixty-five years, an exceptionally long tenure which saw the rise of nearly every Disney animated feature and theme park....
, Joshua MeadorJoshua MeadorJoshua Meador was an animator, special effects artist, and animation director for the Disney studio. He was a member of the team that created the special effects for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , for which the Walt Disney Studio won an Academy Award...
) - Nominated: Best Film Editing (Elmo WilliamsElmo WilliamsElmo Williams is an American film and television editor, director, producer, and executive. His work on the film High Noon received the Academy Award for Film Editing...
)- Saturn Awards (2004)
- Nominated: Best Classic Film DVD ReleaseSaturn Award for Best Classic Film DVD ReleaseThe following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best DVD Classic Film Release....
The film's primary art designer, Harper Goff
Harper Goff
Harper Goff , born Ralph Harper Goff, was an American artist, musician, and actor. For many years, he was associated with the Walt Disney Company, in the process of which he contributed to various major films, as well as to the planning of the Disney theme parks. During World War II, he was also an...
, who designed the Nautilus, was not a member of the Art Directors Union in 1954 and therefore, under a bylaw within the Academy of Motion Pictures, he was unable to receive his Academy Award for Art Direction.
Soundtrack releases
Rather than an authentic soundtrack recording of the film's scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
or dialogue, two vinyl
Vinyl
A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...
record albums were released to coincide with the film's first two releases. Both albums contained condensed and heavily altered versions of the film's script without the usage of any of the film's cast for character voices. In addition, both albums were narrated by Ned Land as opposed to Aronnax, who narrated the film and the original novel. 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
William Redfield (actor)
William Redfield was an American actor and author who appeared in numerous theatrical, film, radio, and television roles.-Acting career:...
as the voice of Ned. This album, a book-and-record set
Book-and-Record set
Book-and-Record sets are a form of edutainment for children, consisting of a picture storybook and an accompanying recording to be played while following along with the book...
, was issued as part of RCA Victor's Little Nipper
Little Nipper
The Little Nipper series was an RCA Victor series of records aimed at children first issued in 1944 on 78 RPM, and then on 45 RPM in the 1950s. In the 1950s, Little Nipper was especially used for "extended play" albums featuring only four or five songs. The Disney Studio released several short...
series on two 45-RPM records. The second album, released by Disneyland Records
Disneyland Records
Disneyland Records is the original name of the Walt Disney Company's record company.After long associations with primarily RCA Victor Records, with a few select titles on Capitol, Disneyland Records was established by the Disney studio in 1956 with its first release entitled A Child's Garden of...
in 1963 in conjunction with the film's first re-release, was issued on one 33 1/3 RPM 12-inch LP
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
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.
A single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
for the film's most memorable song "A Whale of a Tale" was also released in 1954 under the Decca Children's Series
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
label. The song "And the Moon Grew Brighter and Brighter" was the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
. Both songs can be found on the 2008 digital release of the film's soundtrack. In the film, Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. It is one of the most famous works in the organ repertoire, and has been used in a variety of popular media ranging from film, video games, to rock music, and ringtones...
" is played by Nemo on the Nautilus's organ, but James Mason's playing is actually dubbed by an anonymous organist.
Official soundtrack
On January 29, 2008, Walt Disney RecordsWalt Disney Records
Walt Disney Records is a family music record label owned by the Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Records was formed in 1956 as Disneyland Records. Before that time, Disney recordings were licensed out to a variety of other labels such as . It was Walt Disney’s brother Roy O...
released a 26-track digital album
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
containing the music of Paul Smith
Paul Smith (composer)
Paul J. Smith was an Academy Award-winning American music composer. He was born in Calumet, Michigan. Smith spent much of his life working at Disney as composer for many of its films' scores, animated and live-action alike, movie and television alike...
's original soundtrack score to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as well as a digital booklet
Digital booklet
Digital booklets are the digital equivalent of liner notes that often accompany digital music purchases. They are most commonly distributed in Portable Document Format. One well-known distributor of digital booklets with digital purchases is the iTunes Store; the first instance of this on the...
companion that explores the music of the film. This was the first official release of the film score and it can only be obtained through the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
.
Future plans
On January 6, 2009, VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
reported that a remake entitled 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo was being planned with McG
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
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, with Justin Marks and Randall Wallace
Randall Wallace
Randall Wallace is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and songwriter who came to prominence by writing the screenplay for the 1995 film Braveheart. His work on the film earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America award for Best...
brought in to do rewrites. It was to be produced by Sean Bailey with McG's Wonderland Sound and Vision
Wonderland Sound and Vision
Wonderland Sound and Vision is the production company of producers McG and Stephanie Savage. They are responsible for producing The O.C. and Supernatural as well as Chuck. Wonderland also co-produced all of McG's films since Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.-History:McG and Stephanie Savage formed...
.
McG once suggested that he wanted Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
for the Captain Nemo role, but he has reportedly turned down the part. As a second possible choice, McG had mentioned Sam Worthington
Sam Worthington
Samuel Henry J. "Sam" Worthington is an English born, Australian actor. After almost a decade of roles in Australian TV shows and films, Worthington gained Hollywood's attention by playing Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation and the lead role, Jake Sully, in James Cameron's science...
, whom he worked with on Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by McG and starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. The fourth installment in the Terminator series, the film is set in 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet and humanity, with the human Resistance fighting...
, though they did not ever discuss it seriously. However, the project was later shelved in November 2009 with McG backing out of directing.
During the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, director David Fincher
David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...
announced plans of directing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
based on a script by Scott Z. Burns.
See also
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage was an attraction at the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World Resort from 1971 through 1994.- The Submarine Voyage :...
, an attraction at the Magic KingdomMagic KingdomMagic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...
theme park at Walt Disney World ResortWalt Disney World ResortWalt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
from 1971 through 1994.
External links
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at DBCult Film Institute
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at Turner Classic MoviesTurner Classic MoviesTurner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...