20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916 film) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916 film) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1916 American silent film directed by Stuart Paton. The film's storyline is based on the novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne. It also incorporates elements from Verne's "The Mysterious Island". This was the first motion picture filmed underwater. Actual underwater cameras were not used, but a system of watertight tubes and mirrors allowed the camera to shoot reflected images of underwater scenes staged in shallow sunlit waters. The film was made by The Universal Film Manufacturing Company (now Universal Pictures), not then
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage to those who pass by. The lagoon remained as a scenic viewpoint (and was renamed "Ariel's Grotto", complete with a King Triton spouting statue) until 2004, when the water was drained and the sets and infrastructure were demolished. Pooh's Playful Spot was built where the attraction formerly stood and operated between 2005 and 2010 before making way for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as part of the Fantasyland Expansion. 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 from 1971 through 1994.