Sunday, August 1, 2010

Not Your Average Nautilus

In 1954, Walt Disney introduced the moviegoing world to the Jules Verne story 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  Unusually dark for a Disney movie, the story stayed true to the vengeful character Captain Nemo.  In this scene, Captain Nemo, Charlie, Ned Land, and Consiel, listen to Professor Aronnax explain something interesting over dinner aboard Nemo's submarine the Nautilus.  Little do Nemo's guests know that it was Nemo who deliberately sank the warship they were traveling on or that they would soon battle a giant squid.  Pictured from left to right are James Mason, who played Nemo, Charlie, Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre, and Paul Lukas.

The Nautilus was a real submarine and was the first nuclear powered sub in the US Navy's fleet.  On August 3, 1958, the Nautilus became the first vessel to complete an undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole.  On that voyage, the captain was US Navy Captain Hyman Rickover.  Whether or not any squids were battled remains classified.

- Charlie

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