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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is an Australian 50-minute made-for-television animated film from Burbank Films Australia. It was originally released in 1985[1]. The film is based on Jules Verne's classic French novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, first published in 1870, and was adapted by Stephen MacLean. It was produced by Tim Brooke-Hunt and featured original music by John Stuart. The copyright in this film is now owned by Pulse Distribution and Entertainment[2] and administered by digital rights management firm NuTech Digital[3].
In the year 1886, a mysterious sea-monster is hunting the depths of the oceans and rising only to attack and destroy innocent ships at a cost of many lives. Experts around the world are trying to discover the identity of the monster and possibly destroy it before even more lives are lost. Marine expert Professor Pierre Aronnax, his faithful companion Conseil and harpoonist Ned Land, set out aboard the Abraham Lincoln from Long Island in search of said monster. Following an attack from the monster itself, the three companions are thrown overboard and declared lost by the ship's crew. Their lives are saved as they are held above water by the monster, which they discover to be a modern submarine, named the Nautilus. Inside, they meet the submarine's captain, Captain Nemo, and his faithful crew. In order to keep his secret safe, Captain Nemo decides to keep the three men aboard his ship. Aboard the Nautilus, the professor, Ned and Conseil travel throughout the depths of the ocean; a voyage the professor and Conseil find fascinating, but Ned soon finds his captivity unbearable and develops a hatred for the captain and a long for freedom. The professor learns of Captain Nemo's hatred towards mankind, for he had lost his wife, children and family to them, and now sought revenge by destroying as many ships as he encountered. On the other side, Captain Nemo has a great respect toward his men as well as the oceans and its creatures. When lives are lost aboard his submarine, he takes their bodies for burial in the lost continent of Atlantis to rest forever underwater. Spying inside the captain's private chamber, the professor, Conseil and Ned discover Nemo's plan of travelling to the seas of Norway, where he'll have the ultimate revenge by destroying the ship responsible for the loss of those dear to him. The three companions try unsuccessfully to bring him to reason, but the captain is determined even at the risk of his own life. Wanting no part in the calamity, the three men encounter a chance for escape aboard a rowboat, and wanting to warn the to-be-victimized ship, they're thrown ashore by the raging ocean waves. Finding repose and shelter in an unhabited island, the professor is happy to have kept his journal safe, so he may tell the world of their adventures. No one learns about the fate of the Nautilus and Captain Nemo, who may have perished or still be alive seeking revenge on mankind.
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