''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' is a 1985 Australian

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

animated film from Burbank Films Australia. The film is based on Jules Verne's classic 1870 novel, ''

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre- ...

'', and was adapted by Stephen MacLean. It was produced by Tim Brooke-Hunt and featured original music by John Stuart. The

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

in this film is now owned by Pulse Distribution and Entertainment and administered by digital rights management firm

NuTech Digital NuTech Digital, Inc. was a company that licensed and distributed karaoke products, general entertainment films (action-adventure, horror, and comedy), and children's animated films. In 2005, Nutech became focused on producing and distributing ...

.BTECH
article on NuTech and Pulse distribution agreement.

Plot

In 1866, a mysterious sea-monster is hunting the depths of the

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

s and rising only to attack and destroy innocent ships at a cost of many lives. Experts around the world are trying to discover the identity of the monster and possibly destroy it before even more lives are lost. Marine expert Professor Pierre Aronnax, his faithful companion Conseil and

harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal ...

ist Ned Land, set out aboard the ''Abraham Lincoln'' from Long Island in search of said monster. The monster attacks, and the three companions are thrown overboard and the ship's crew declares them lost. Their lives are saved as they are held above water by the monster, which they discover to be a modern submarine, named the ''Nautilus''. Inside, they meet the submarine's captain,

Captain Nemo Captain Nemo (; later identified as an Indian, Prince Dakkar) is a fictional character created by the French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). Nemo appears in two of Verne's science-fiction classics, ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' ...

, and his faithful crew. To keep his secret safe, Captain Nemo keeps the three men aboard his ship. Aboard the Nautilus, the professor, Ned and Conseil travel throughout the depths of the ocean; a voyage the professor and Conseil find fascinating, but Ned soon finds his captivity unbearable and develops a hatred for the captain and a longing for freedom. The professor learns of Captain Nemo's hatred towards mankind, for he had lost his wife, children and family to them, and now sought revenge by destroying as many ships as he encountered. On the other hand, Captain Nemo has a great respect toward his men as well as the oceans of the world and their creatures. At the beginning of the voyage, the Nautilus is attacked by a

giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around Trac ...

that grabs Nemo but is killed by Ned. In the waters off India, Nemo saves a pearl-diver from a hungry shark and gives her a pearl. He then prevents Ned from killing a

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

. Ned, the professor, and Conseil escape the Nautilus by rowing to a tropical island but are chased back to the Nautilus by natives, whom Nemo scares away with electricity. When a life is lost aboard the submarine, Nemo takes the body for burial in the lost continent of

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

to rest forever underwater, but Ned is chased by giant crabs. Spying inside the captain's private chamber, the professor, Conseil and Ned discover Nemo's plan of travelling to the seas of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, where he will have the ultimate revenge by destroying the ship responsible for the loss of those dear to him. The three companions try unsuccessfully to bring Nemo to reason, but he determined even at the risk of his life. Wanting no part in the calamity, the three men take a chance to escape in a rowboat, and wanting to warn the to-be-victimized ship, are thrown ashore by the ocean waves. Finding rest and shelter on an uninhabited

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

, the professor is happy to have kept his

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

safe, so he may tell the world of their adventures. No one learns about the fate of the Nautilus and Captain Nemo, who may have perished or still be alive seeking revenge on mankind.

Cast

Tom Burlinson Tom Burlinson (born 14 February 1956) is a Canadian actor and singer. Career Tom Burlinson was born in Toronto, Canada, the son of Antony T. Burlinson (born 1923, in Greenwich, Middlesex) and Angela Schofield (born 1926, in Bury St Edmunds, ...

- Ned Land * Colin Borgonon - Captain Nemo * Paul Woodson * Liz Horne * Alistair Duncan * Gilbert Christian

References

External links

* *
''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea''
at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, Feature film, animated feature films, Animated television series, animated television shows, and cartoon Short film, shorts. The BCDB proj ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:20000 Leagues Under The Sea (1985 Film) 1985 television films 1980s adventure films Australian animated feature films Australian television films 1980s Australian animated films 1980s English-language films Films set in the 1880s 1980s science fiction adventure films Films based on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Animated television films 1985 animated films 1985 films Animated films based on novels 1980s children's adventure films Television shows based on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea