20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997 Hallmark film) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997 Hallmark film) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1997 television film directed by Michael Anderson and starring Ben Cross as Captain Nemo. It premiered on March 23, 1997. Based on the novel of the same name by Jules Verne, it is most notable for replacing the character of Professor Aronnax's manservant, Conseil, with the Professor's daughter, Sophie, who disguises herself as a boy so that she may accompany her father aboard the USS "Abraham Lincoln"; she becomes the apex of a love triangle involving Captain Nemo and Ned the harpooner. The film was
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film) come to pass, in God's good time". In 1950 Sig Rogell announced he had bought the rights to the novel as well as to an adaptation prepared by Robert L. Lippert's production company. He was going to make the film independently. The rights eventually went to Disney. "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. Filming began in spring of 1954. Some of the location filming sequences were so complex that they required a technical crew