Director of operations writing instructions to the cameraman on slate during the underwater filming of Walt Disney’s production of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”.

FL, US, February 1954, Peter Stackpole

The Seaweed Harvest of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”

Actors playing Captain Nemo’s crewmen use four-pronged pitchforks to ”harvest seaweed” as a propman passes them a net they need for the scene.

FL, US, February 1954, Peter Stackpole

Propman with Crayfish during the underwater filming of Walt Disney’s production of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”.

A propman waits for the proper moment in the scene to release two more crayfish into view of the camera.

FL, US, February 1954, Peter Stackpole

Shooting the Underwater Burial of Walt Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”

Actors prepare to shoot a big scene involving an underwater funeral procession while a scene coordinator hovers above them. The actors had to wait four weeks to shoot the scene, because bad weather made the depths too murky.

FL, US, February 1954, Peter Stackpole

Movie Director Richard Fleischer, in diving suit during filming of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”

These distinctive suits, as the original captions noted, were a technical problem because they “had to be invented to clothe the fabled Nautilus crew— Victorian-looking yet practical and self-contained… the way Jules Verne imagined it for his mythical hero, Captain Nemo.”

FL, US, February 1954, Peter Stackpole

Underwater Camera Scaffold for the production of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”

Cameramen use the underwater scaffold to shoot a scene from afar while a saftey coordinator (L) watches for emergency hand signals from the actor-divers.

FL, US, February 1954, Peter Stackpole

Communications chief napping during the underwater filming of Walt Disney’s production of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”.

Salvage Man Frank Higgins grabs some shut-eye underwater. As the only member of the team whose suit had surface air-lines and a built-in telephone, Higgins was underwater for most of the day and had to grab rest whenever he could.

FL, US, February 1954, Peter Stackpole

A propman carries a 9-foot wooden wrench during the underwater filming of Walt Disney’s production of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. The wrench will be used in a scene where the Nautilus crewmen leave the submarine to repair a crippled propeller.

FL, US, February 1954, Peter Stackpole

Propmen —off-camera and wearing woolen underwear for warmth— drag a 400-pound net of Bahama crayfish across the sea floor for use in a later scene of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”.

FL, US, February 1954, Peter Stackpole

Scene from the underwater filming of Walt Disney’s production of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”.

FL, US, February 1954, Peter Stackpole