20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 American Technicolor adventure film and the first science fiction film shot in CinemaScope. The film was personally produced by Walt Disney through Walt Disney Productions, directed by Richard Fleischer, and stars Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas and Peter Lorre. It was also the first feature-length Disney film to be distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. The film is adapted from Jules Verne's 19th-century novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". It is considered an early precursor of the steampunk genre. The film was a critical
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea public-domain translation, which is available from a number of sources, notably a recent edition with the title "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas" (). In 2010 Walter released a fully revised, newly researched translation with the title "20,000 Leagues Under the Seas" — part of an omnibus of five of his Verne translations titled "Amazing Journeys: Five Visionary Classics" and published by State University of New York Press. In 1998 William Butcher issued a new, annotated translation from the French original, published by Oxford University Press, , with the title "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas". He includes detailed notes,