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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 American Technicolor adventure film and the first science fiction film shot in CinemaScope. The film was personally produced by Walt Disney through Walt Disney Productions, directed byRichard Fleischer, and stars Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas and Peter Lorre.[2] It was also the first feature-length Disney film to be distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. The film is adapted from Jules Verne's 19th-century novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It is considered an early precursor of the steampunk genre.[3] Contents  [hide]  1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 Record albums 6 In Disney resorts 7 Home media 8 Remake 9 See also 10 References 11 External links Plot[edit] In 1868, rumors of a sea monster attacking ships in the Pacific Ocean have created apprehension and fear among sailors, disrupting shipping lanes. The U.S. government invites Professor Pierre M. Aronnax (Paul Lukas) and his assistant, Conseil (Peter Lorre), to join an expedition to prove or disprove the monster's existence. On board the frigate with them is the cocky master harpooner Ned Land (Kirk Douglas) After months of searching, the "monster" is spotted. After the warship fires its heavy cannons, the monster turns and attacks the frigate, crippling it. Ned and Aronnax are thrown overboard, as is a lifeboat, and Conseil jumps in after Aronnax to save him. Now helpless, the frigate drifts silently and no one aboard answers when the overboard passengers cry out for help. The three drift in the ocean, eventually coming upon a strange-looking metal vessel. They realize the "monster" is actually a man-made "submerging boat" that appears deserted. Inside, they find a large viewing port amidships and watch a strange underwater funeral procession. Ned, Aronnax and Conseil are spotted, and as they attempt to leave in their lifeboat, the crew returns to their submarine and capture the castaways. The captain introduces himself as Nemo (James Mason), master of theNautilus. He returns Ned and Conseil to the deck, while offering Aronnax, whose name he recognizes from Aronnax's scientific work and research, the chance to stay. When Nemo discovers that Aronnax is willing to die with his companions, he finds out what he needed to know and allows Ned and Conseil to stay aboard. Nemo takes Aronnax to the penal colony island of Rura Penthe. Nemo reveals he was once a prisoner there, as were many of his crew. The prisoners are loading an ammunition ship. The Nautilus later rams and sinks the ship at sea, destroying its cargo and killing its crew. An anguished Nemo tells Arronax that his actions have saved thousands from death in war; he also discloses that this "hated nation" tortured his wife and son to death while attempting to force from him the secrets of his advanced work. Ned discovers the coordinates of Nemo's secret base, Vulcania, and releases messages in bottles containing the island's isolated location, hoping somebody will find and free them from captivity. Off the coast of New Guinea, the Nautilus becomes stranded on a reef. Ned is surprised when Nemo allows him to go ashore with Conseil, ostensibly to collect specimens. Ned goes off alone to explore avenues of escape. While kneeling at a pool to drink, he sees a number of human skulls on stakes. Realizing his danger, Ned runs for his life and rejoins Conseil as they are chased back to the Nautilus by cannibals. Despite remaining aground, Nemo is unconcerned, and the cannibals are repelled from the ship by electrical charges through the outer hull. Nemo is furious with Ned for not following his orders and confines him to the submarine's brig. A warship approaches, firing on the Nautilus. It slides off the reef and down into the depths, where it attracts the attention of a giant squid. An electric hull charge fails to repel the creature, so Nemo and his men surface during a violent storm to dislodge the beast. Nemo is quickly caught in one of the squid's tentacles. Ned, having escaped from captivity during the struggle, harpoons the creature, killing it, and jumps to Nemo's rescue, saving his captor from drowning as the dead squid sinks away. As a result, Nemo has a change of heart and decides to make peace with the outside world. As the Nautilus nears Vulcania, Nemo finds the island surrounded by warships, whose marines are converging on his hidden base in an interior lagoon. As Nemo goes ashore, Ned attempts to identify himself as the author of the bottled messages. Aronnax realizes this and becomes furious, recognizing that Nemo will soon destroy all evidence of his discoveries. Nemo triggers a time bomb in his large complex but is badly wounded from a bullet to his back while returning to theNautilus. After haphazardly navigating the submarine away from Vulcania, Nemo announces he will be "taking the Nautilus down for the last time". Nemo's crew declare they will accompany their captain in death. Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned are confined to their cabins. The Nautilus' crew also retreat to their cabins at Nemo's instructions. Ned breaks loose and manages to surface the Nautilus, hitting a reef in the process, causing the boat to begin flooding. Nemo staggers to his grand salon's viewing port, and as he looks into the depths of his beloved ocean he succumbs to his fatal rifle shot wound. Aronnax tries to retrieve his journal, which contains an account of their voyage, but the urgency of their escape obliges Ned to knock him unconscious and carry him out. From the Nautilus' skiff, the companions witness Vulcania destroyed by an enormous explosion, and Ned apologizes to Aronnax for hitting him. As the now adrift Nautilus is swamped, it disappears beneath the waves, as 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[edit] Dinner aboard the Nautilus. From left to right: James Mason, Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre, and Paul Lukas. Kirk Douglas as Ned Land James Mason as Captain Nemo Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Aronnax 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 Production[edit] 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was filmed at various locations in The Bahamas and Jamaica, with the cave scenes filmed beneath what is now the Xtabi Resort on the cliffs of Negril.[4] Filming began in spring of 1954.[5] Some of the location filming sequences were so complex that they required a technical crew of more than 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.[6] [Note 1]The sequence 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.[7] Cost overruns during production made the film very expensive for a Disney production, although by no means as expensive as other recent releases: Joan of Arc(1948) had cost $4.6 million; Quo Vadis (1951) had an estimated budget of $7.6 million.[8] Reception[edit] Upon release[edit] Upon the film's original release, The New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther gave it 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 CinemaScopeand color, it is as broad, fictitiously, as it is long (128 minutes), and should prove a sensation—at least with the kids."[9] In his 1967 biography The Disney Version, the critic, Richard Schickel, stated that James Mason was "superbly cast as the mad inventor Captain Nemo".[10] The film was also praised for the performances of the leading actors.[11] This was the first time that major international 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 British actor, had appeared in Disney's 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. Many people who had first seen him on-screen in the film identify him most strongly with this role.[12][13] 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea received positive reviews from critics, was the second highest grossing film of the year (behind White Christmas), earning $8 million in box office attendance in North America[14] and has become a notable classic film of the Disney corporation. Contemporary reception[edit] 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."[15] Audiences remember it primarily for its giant-squid battle sequence as well as the Nautilus itself and James Mason's portrayal of Nemo.[16] The film currently holds an 89% approval rating at the review aggregator 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."[17] Awards and nominations[edit] The film won two Academy Awards and was nominated for one more.[18] Academy Awards (1954) Won: Best Art Direction – Color (John Meehan, Emile Kuri) Won: Best Special Effects (John Hench, Joshua Meador) Nominated: Best Film Editing (Elmo Williams) 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.[19] American Film Institute recognition AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies - Nominated[20] AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills - Nominated[21] Record albums[edit] Rather than an authentic soundtrack recording of the film's score or dialogue, two vinyl studio cast 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, and considerably sanitized the character by omitting any mention of him killing anyone and even having him sing sea chanties with his crew. The albums also had Nemo surviving at the end and releasing Ned, Arronax, and Conseil out of gratitude for their saving his life.[22] In this version, Ned, Aronnax and Conseil were not shipwrecked because the Nautilus rammed the ship they were on, but because a hurricane came up.[23] 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.[24] The second album, released by Disneyland Records in 1963 in conjunction with the film's first re-release,[25] was issued on one 331⁄3 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 many of 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", written by Norman Gimbel and Al Hoffman and sung by Kirk Douglas, was also released in 1954 under the Decca Children's Series label. The song "And the Moon Grew Brighter and Brighter", which Douglas had sung in the movie Man Without a Star (written by Lou Singer and Jimmy Kennedy), was the B-side. Both songs can be found on the 2008 digital release of the film's soundtrack.[26] In the film, Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor is played by Nemo on the Nautilus's organ, but James Mason's playing is actually dubbed by an anonymous organist. Official soundtrack[edit] 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Soundtrack) Soundtrack album by Various Artists Released January 29, 2008 Genre Soundtrack Length 1:18:23 Label Walt Disney Producer Randy Thorton On January 29, 2008, Walt Disney Records released a 26-track digital album containing the music of Paul Smith's original soundtrack score to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea plus both sides of the "A Whale of a Tale" single, 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 was initially available only through the iTunes Store.[26][27] Intrada released the same soundtrack on CD in 2011.[28] Track listing No. Title Artist Length 1. "Main Title (Captain Nemo’s Theme)"   Paul Smith 2:26 2. "Street Fight"   Paul Smith 1:04 3. "Aboard the Abraham Lincoln / Hunting the Monster"   Paul Smith 2:28 4. "A Whale of a Tale"   Kirk Douglas 2:09 5. "The Monster Attacks"   Paul Smith 2:21 6. "Deserted Sub / Burial / Captured"   Paul Smith 9:14 7. "Fifty Fathoms / The Island of Crespo"   Paul Smith 8:45 8. "Storm at Sea / Nemo Plays"   Paul Smith 2:25 9. "Strange Man of the Seas"   Paul Smith 4:04 10. "Nemo’s Torment"   Paul Smith 0:59 11. "Justified Hate"   Paul Smith 1:29 12. "Searching Nemo’s Cabin"   Paul Smith 4:02 13. "Ned’s Bottles"   Paul Smith 0:43 14. "Ashore at New Guinea"   Paul Smith 2:54 15. "Native Drums / Back to the Nautilus"   Paul Smith 3:08 16. "Submerge"   Paul Smith 1:45 17. "The Giant Squid"   Paul Smith 6:53 18. "Ambush at Vulcania"   Paul Smith 4:47 19. "Nemo Wounded"   Paul Smith 2:43 20. "Escape from Vulcania"   Paul Smith 3:41 21. "Finale / Deep Is the Mighty Ocean"   Paul Smith 0:56 22. "A Whale of a Tale (Single)"   Kirk Douglas 2:11 23. "And the Moon Grew Brighter and Brighter (Single B-Side)"   Kirk Douglas 2:35 24. "A Whale of a Tale"   Bill Kanady 2:24 25. "A Whale of a Tale"   The Wellingtons 2:07 26. "A Whale of a Tale (Reprise)"   Kirk Douglas 0:11 Total length: 1:18:23 In Disney resorts[edit] 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 artistPeter Renaday stood in for James Mason in the role of Captain Nemo.[29] In 1994, a walkthrough attraction at Disneyland Paris, named Les Mystères du Nautilus, opened,[30] and a dark ride at Tokyo DisneySea was created in 2001.[31] Home media[edit] The film has been released on VHS and DVD. An HD version was released on iTunes.[32] Remake[edit] On January 6, 2009, Variety reported that a remake entitled 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo was being planned with Joseph McGinty Nichol, a.k.a. "McG", attached to direct. The film serves as an origin story for the central character, Captain Nemo, as he builds his warship, the Nautilus.[33] 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.[34] The film was to be produced by Sean Bailey with McG's Wonderland Sound and Vision.[35] McG once suggested that he wanted Will Smith for the Captain Nemo role, but he has reportedly turned down the part.[36][37] 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. The project was later shelved in November 2009 with McG backing out of directing.[38] 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.[39] While Fincher was wrapping up The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011), it was speculated that 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea would enter principal photography by late 2012.[40] In the meantime, Fincher began courting Brad Pitt to play the role of Ned Land while the film was kept on hold.[41]However, in February 2013, it was announced that Pitt had officially turned down the role.[42] In April 2013, it was announced that the Australian government will provide a one-off incentive of $20 million in order to secure the production.[43] Despite this, the film was put on hold again the following month due to complications in casting a lead.[44] On July 17, 2013, Fincher dropped out of the film to direct the adaptation ofGone Girl.[45] Fincher revealed in an interview that he left the film because he wanted Channing Tatum for Ned Land, but Disney wanted Chris Hemsworth for the role.[46][47] Additionally, the money originally allocated for the production of this film was redirected towards Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.[48] In February 2016, it was announced that Disney will still do the film titled Captain Nemo with James Mangold directing.[49] See also[edit] Mysterious Island, a 1961 film by Columbia Pictures, based on Verne's 1874 novel, The Mysterious Island, which was a sequel to two of Verne's earlier novels:Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and In Search of the Castaways (aka Captain Grant's Children) (1967) In Search of the Castaways, a 1962 film, also by Disney, based on Verne's 1867 novel, In Search of the Castaways (aka Captain Grant's Children) IN A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN 12.03.09 - Based on Jules Verne's classic 1869 novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was a commercial, artistic and critical success when it was released 45 years ago this month. Few realize that Walt Disney initially bought the rights to the story thinking to make it an animated film. But instead, 20,000 Leagues would become Disney's first big-budget live-action film after Song of the South, So Dear to My Heart and a handful of films made in Britain in the early 1950s (Treasure Island, The Story of Robin Hood, The Sword and the Rose, and Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue).  Director Richard Fleischer (far right) at work on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on Soundstage 3 at the Disney Studio Lot. Peter Lorre and Kirk Douglas can be seen in the boat. Click here for more photos from the making of this landmark film. Although an early film version of the story had been released by Biograph in 1905, it turned out to be primarily a fantasy film; a second version, this time a science fiction film, was released in 1916 by Universal. So to help make his new feature unique, Walt put filmdom's latest technologies to use: CinemaScope and stereophonic sound.  CinemaScope, which was first used for The Robe (Fox, 1953), was such a new technology that there was only one camera lens in existence. So Walt had to borrow it intermittently from Fox until Bausch & Lomb completed building a second lens. Until then, the crew was hindered, unable to do two-camera coverage during action scenes or send out a second camera unit during filming.  CASTING CALL John Tucker Battle was originally hired to write the screenplay; while the script was monumental, its incorporation of all of Verne's scenes would have made the film more than four hours in length! A dissatisfied Walt hired screenwriter Earl Felton to give it a try and selected Richard Fleischer to direct. This proved to be a significant moment of irony in Disney history: Max Fleischer, Richard's father, had been a major animation competitor of Walt's years earlier! Felton and Fleischer had previously collaborated on several films for RKO.  Borrowing on his animation traditions, Walt had the entire film storyboarded — the first time this had ever been done for a live-action film — and more than 1,300 drawings were made over a year before filming began. Walt, ever the master showman, injected some humor to counterbalance the tense dramatic moments, such as incorporating Ned Land's scene-stealing pet seal.  When it came to casting, Disney went for top stars: Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Peter Lorre and Paul Lukas. The character of Ned Land was a change of pace for Douglas, who normally played unscrupulous, high-strung characters. For Professor Arronax, Walt first picked Charles Boyer, but moved on to Paul Lukas when Boyer bowed out. In playing Conseil, Peter Lorre, long a villain, was able to show that he was also adept at comedy. And James Mason, selected for Captain Nemo, originally didn't even want to do the film; he feared it would be geared to children and didn't like the thought of Nemo being played down to a juvenile level. But Walt's aim, as it was for all his projects, was to make a film for the entire family — not just for children or adults.  THE MIGHTY NAUTILUS  Walt had no live-action staff, so he had to recruit one from Fox, Paramount and RKO. The primary element of the film, the Nautilus, was designed by Harper Goff, a Warner Bros. set designer whom Walt had hired to work on Disneyland. In the original book, the Nautilus was mistaken by observers as a terrifying sea creature. Instead, Goff decided to make the submarine a cross between a shark and an alligator.  He explained in an interview, "I always thought that the shark and alligator were quite deadly-looking in the water, so I based my design on their physical characteristics. The submarine's streamlined body, dorsal fin, and prominent tail simulated the traits of the shark. The heavy rivet patterns on the surface plates represented the rough skin on the alligator, while the forward viewports and top searchlights represented its menacing eyes."  When Goff built his first model, over Labor Day 1952, the thought was still to make 20,000 Leagues as an animated film. At first Walt didn't like Goff's model; he wanted a sleek, cylindrical craft. Eventually, Walt was sold by Goff's concept, and by late fall the animated film had become a live-action one. The full-size Nautilus ultimately measured in at 200 feet long and 26 feet wide at its broadest point; scale models from 18 inches to 22 feet were constructed.  Lavish interiors of the Nautilus were furnished by Academy Award®-winning set director Emile Kuri. In fact, Walt was so impressed that he hired Kuri to head the Studio's set decorating department. One of his more notable tasks would be designing Walt's apartment at Disneyland.  One day, Kuri saw a newspaper advertisement for an organ and went out to look at it in the seller's garage. Although the organ no longer worked, its keyboard and stops were all there. Buying the console for 50 dollars, Kuri knew it'd be the perfect one for Captain Nemo's parlor. Fleischer had to teach Mason how to finger Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D Minor; the actor didn't even know how to play the piano. Today, Disneyland park-goers can see this same organ in the ballroom of theHaunted Mansion.  The cramped interior set, differing from most movie sets, was designed so that the walls, ceiling and floor were visible the entire time that shooting was taking place, so the set lighting had to be mostly behind the camera or hidden by furniture or cushions.  Test filming began on miniatures at the Disney Studio on October 7, 1953, with most of the miniature work done between December and April of 1954. The staff encountered some problems, such as when a sub model for the miniature shots was too big for the set of the subterranean entrance to Vulcania. Goff solved the problem by building a wonderful, squeezed model — perfect in every detail. (Even its rivets were oval!) It was shot with a standard lens, and later, when the results were projected with a CinemaScope lens, it stretched out to the right proportions.  SEA SHOTS Despite having access to useful studio tanks for the underwater scenes, Walt demanded more realism, so he surveyed areas with water that was clear, warm, filled with interesting fish and coral formations and free of silt. He found an ideal location: Lyford Cay, at the western end of New Providence Island. A 54-man crew, headed by Till Gabani, was sent over to the Bahamas isle, where filming began on January 11, 1954, and toiled for 8 weeks, 17 days over schedule. 20 tons of equipment — packed into 212 wooden crates — was sent from California, and a special pressurized water-tight case was devised for the Mitchell movie camera.  The first scene to be filmed, the complicated underwater burial, was the biggest sub-surface scene ever attempted, taking 8 days to film. Weighed down by their 225-lb. suits, divers only had limited time that they could spend under water. The crew filmed at a depth of 31 feet, where the light was most abundant and atmospheric pressure was minimal. At times there were up to 42 men on the ocean floor at a time.  The cannibal shots were filmed at Long Bay, near Negril, Jamaica, for a couple weeks. At Negril's disposal was a magnificent, crescent-shaped six-mile stretch of beach with towering coconut palms and brilliant white sand!  Back at the Disney Studio, shooting began on March 10, 1954. The first scene to go before the cameras? The iconic squid fight sequence. To film it, Walt had to build a whole new soundstage, Stage 3, which included a $300,000 tank for underwater filming. The tank, 90 by 165 ft., had a depth ranging from 3 to 12 feet. Designed by Chris Mueller and executed by Robert Mattey, the squid required a staff of 28 men to operate it, using wires and air compression. For a week, the crew toiled on filming, but Walt was displeased with the results; the squid had been filmed on a calm, flat sea at sunset, and the wires needed to operate the tentacles were all too obvious. So, two months later, the entire scene was reshot at an additional cost of $200,000. This time, a raging storm helped add more thrill to the sequence while hiding many of the imperfections. Wind machines, dump tanks and water cannons were rented from MGM. All three soundstages at the Disney Studio were utilized for filming the interiors of the Nautilus.  For a scene in which Professor Arronax and his friends are left on deck while the Nautilussubmerges, Walt called upon the U.S. Navy for help. A full-scale afterdeck was fitted onto an actual submarine, the USS Redfish, and it was filmed submerging off San Diego. During the first take, the submarine dived too far and quickly, washing the stuntmen off the deck! Obviously, procedures had to be rethought. It took a week to set up and shoot this elaborate sequence.  For scenes needing an outdoor tank, filming was done at 20th Century Fox Studio, in what was known as Chicago Lake and the Serson Tank, noted by its huge painted sky backdrop. The scenes of the San Francisco waterfront and street were filmed on Universal's backlot. The exteriors of Rorapandi were filmed at the Alberhill Coal and Clay Co. in Corona near Lake Elsinore. Also, one day of filming took place at California's Red Rock Canyon State Park, north of Mojave on Highway 14.  For the film, matte artist Peter Ellenshaw painted 27 mattes. Most people don't notice the paintings, as they shouldn't, a testament not only to Ellenshaw's immense talent, but also to the realism that Walt demanded. There is some animation in the film — mostly jellyfish and seaweed. THAT'S A WRAP! During the editing phase, film editor Elmo Williams was unhappy with the sound effects provided for the humming of the Nautilus's engines. So one day, he went with a sound man to Los Angeles' Farmer's Market where there was a huge Chinese gong. They taped the sound as they beat on it very gently, then reversed the sound, and voila: humming engines!  As a few added notes of interest, RKO and Paramount had bid to distribute the 20,000 Leagues, but Walt decided to go with his new Buena Vista Distribution Co., which just the year before had been formed to release The Living Desert. The film, at 2 hours and 7 minutes, was released two days before Christmas in 1954, opening in 60 theaters to generally favorable reviews. The final cost of the film totaled in at $4.3 million; $250,000 went for the Nautilus alone. Yet it made $12.2 million in its first release and received two Academy Awards — one for Special Effects and another for Art and Set Decoration. And let's not forget: Esmerelda the seal won the Patsy Award as the year's best animal performer.  Just before the film was released, Walt aired an hour-long program on his television series calledOperation Undersea, which explored the making of the feature. The episode was so well done, in an era when most movie studios were practically boycotting the new medium, that it received an Emmy® for best individual show of the year. Keep in mind: this award was granted to what was in essence an hour-long commercial for the film!  When Walt needed something to fill in his Tomorrowland section of Disneyland when it opened in July 1955, he had the Nautilus sets sent down to Anaheim to display in the park. While it was planned as a six-month exhibit, it became so popular that it remained for 18 years.  The film was reissued in movie theaters in 1963 and 1971, and was later released on video in 1980. A dozen years later, an extensive restoration of the film was accomplished by Scott MacQueen at the Disney Studio to achieve a high quality refurbished product for a 1992 video release. When director Richard Fleischer saw the restored version he was so impressed that he said it even looked better than it did in 1954. The film was released on DVD in 2003.  Walt Disney, Richard Fleischer and all the cast and crew should be proud; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has been called one of the best science-fiction films of all time.  By Disney Chief Archivist and Disney Legend Dave Smith. The Screen in Review; '20,000 Leagues' in 128 Fantastic Minutes By BOSLEY CROWTHER Published: December 24, 1954 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. For the corps of Disney mechanics that worked on this wild adventure film, which opened yesterday at the Astor, were wholly unrestrained in picturing Verne's old pseudo-science thriller about voyaging in a fanciful submarine; they have climaxed it all with the explosion of what appears to be an atomic energy plant to rival Los Alamos. This familiarly modern contrivance has been worked into the nineteenth century yarn as the secret base of operations of Captain Nemo, the misanthropic genius who commands the submarine. And it is when he is finally ambushed by a fleet of warships at this island base that he touches off his phenomenal energy factory—and thus deprives the world of the secret of atomic fission for another eighty-odd years. Even though this is just a bit post-Vernian, the impulse is wholly within the vein of wild imagination and fabrication, that flows through this vivid, crazy film. The Nautilus, in which Captain Nemo and his uninvited guests cruise the seas, going under for occasional sight-seeing tours or sub-aqueous strolls in diving suits, is a luridly gimmick-crammed iron monster containing a Victorian saloon that is as large and ornate as the main lounge of a movie theatre. The Disney people naturally have made it as elaborate as it was made by Verne. And they have likewise developed all the other intriguing potentials of the yarn with a joyful exaggeration that is expected in science-fiction films. They have worked out a fascinating sequence of the underwater making of repairs on the damaged Nautilus. And the business of the battle with the giant squid—a stock thing in submarine thrillers—is whipped into a frenzied episode. What are known as "special effects" in movies are well employed by Director Richard Fleischer here. As one might expect, the human elements are a bit on the simple side. Captain Nemo, darkly played by James Mason, is a harsh and hard-headed sort. Professor Aronnax, played by Paul Lukas, is an earnest humanitarian. Ned Land, the misplaced harpoonist, whom Kirk Douglas flamboyantly plays, is a good-natured, practical-minded roughneck, and the valet, Conseil, of Peter Lorre is a grotesque. Members of the crew of the Nautilus are all dead-panned human machines. It seems there is less observation of the wonders of the deep than there should be in a picture of this nautical nature. The Disney people have brought within range of their CinemaScope color cameras only a minimum standard assortment of fishes and rays. This could be mildly disappointing to the adults who go to see this film in the expectation of beholding some real submarine phenomena. But the kiddies—those not dedicated to exclusive exploration of outer space—should love every minute of its nonsense. They'll come out of this one wringing wet. 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, screen play by Earl Felton, based on the story by Jules Verne; directed by Richard Fleischer; distributed by the Buena Vista Film Distribution Company and presented by Walt Disney. At the Astor.  Ned Land . . . . . Kirk Douglas  Captain Nemo . . . . . James Mason  Professor Aronnax . . . . . Paul Lukas  Conseil . . . . . Peter Lorre  Mate on Nautilus . . . . . Robert J. Wilke  John Howard . . . . . Carleton Young  Captain Farragut . . . . . Ted de Corsia  Diver . . . . . Percy Helton  Mate on Lincoln . . . . . Ted Cooper  Shipping Agent . . . . . Edward Marr  Casey Moore . . . . . Fred Graham  Billy . . . . . J. M. Kerrigalt     ebay3600