This month marks the 25th anniversary of Disney Studio's landmark SF film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, adapted from the Jules Veme novel. It was Disney's first live-action film to be made in this country and the second CinemaScope feature ever to go into production. The film starred James Mason as the lonely and embittered Captain Nemo, Paul Lucas as the truthseeking Professor Aronnax, Kirk Douglas as the harpooner Ned Land and Peter Lorre as Conseil.
The film, which won Academy Awards for art direction and special effects, was directed by Richard Fleischer and is principally remembered for James Mason's definitive portrayal of Nemo, a number of exciting underwater sequences and the Nautilus submarine designed by Harper Goff.[…]
