This Jules Verne classic has been made into a movie at least four different times, starting way back in 1916. And there's another one on the way, supposedly due out sometime in 2010. Throw in the numerous animated versions that have been made and you've got one popular story. Except for the 1916 version, we've seen them all and they're universally horrible, except for Disney's 1954 version, which we'll focus on here.

The cast is quite a line-up, featuring Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre and James Mason. Not surprisingly, the plot only follows the storyline of the book in broad terms but a trio of men (no, there is no female lead in this version) sent out to hunt down a mysterious creature that is sinking navy ships, finds themselves sunk, stranded and eventually sitting atop the "creature" -- which turns out to be the Nautilus. They're brought inside and told they can never leave. Douglas and Lorre then spend the rest of the movie attempting to escape.

Twenty Thousand Leagues is strictly1950s family entertainment all the way. Douglas spends a lot of time playing a makeshift banjo. There's a singing seal. And Lorre plays it more cute than creepy. There's also approximately 15 minutes worth of pretty good dive footage. Overall, the movie is decent but boys, especially ages 8 to 12, will love it.

One last thing. Over the years, the title itself has been a huge source misunderstanding. A league is approximately three and half miles, and not even Verne envisioned his characters descending to a depth of 70,000 miles. The title refers to the distance traveled while under the sea. With that cleared up, we recommend this movie for anyone who has kids.