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) film's script without the usage of any of the film's cast for character voices. In addition, both albums were narrated by Ned Land as opposed to Aronnax, who narrated the film and the original novel. Neither album mentioned Nemo as actually being "cracked" (i.e. insane), as the film does, and considerably sanitized the character by omitting any mention of him killing anyone and even having him sing sea chanties with his crew. The albums also had Nemo surviving at the end and releasing Ned, Arronax, and Conseil out of gratitude for their saving his life. In this version, Ned, Aronnax