20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film) 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." Audiences 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 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,
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea seas and charted all oceans. Verne would have known of Matthew Maury's international fame and perhaps Maury's French ancestry. References are made to other such Frenchmen as Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, a famous explorer who was lost while circumnavigating the globe; Dumont D'Urville, the explorer who found the remains of Lapérouse's ship; and Ferdinand Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal and the nephew of the sole survivor of Lapérouse's expedition. The "Nautilus" seems to follow the footsteps of these men: she visits the waters where Lapérouse was lost; she sails to Antarctic waters and becomes stranded there, just