Welcome to my new website dedicated to theNautilus...I'm still working on content, but the gallery pages are up and full of wonderful images, so please take your time and browse, and return often; new images will be added as I develop the source files and create fresh renders.
Disney versus Verne
Probably at least 90% of the people in a street-poll would directly relate their impressions and memories of the Nautilus to the interpretation developed for the Disney movie, 20,000 leagues Under the Sea. While it was an exciting and fascinating film in it's own right, unfortunately its portrayal of the Nautilus fell far short of marks for accuracy compared to the descriptions in Verne's novel.(Very typical for the movie industry, where versimilitude often takes a back seat to drama) To his credit, Disney himself was committed to the idea of a cigar-ship planform as portrayed in the novel for his movie, but Harper Goff, the designer hired for producing the action models for the film, was so insistent on his 'Victorian version' design, to the point of fabricating a special concept model to show Disney, that he eventually prevailed.
Below is a quick-comparison of the Disney version with my own interpretation, whose plan dimensions are absolutely faithful to those Verne gave, as well as to the description recounted by Aronnax in chapter13, where Nemo describes his boat;
" It's in the shape of a very elongated cylinder with conical ends, --rather like a cigar. This cylinder is exactly 230 feet long from stem to stern, and its beam, at the widest point, is 26 feet".
There are literally thousands of pages on the web describing Goff's model as "Vernes'Nautilus" or, "Nemo's Submarine"...nothing could be further from the truth. It is "Disneys Nautilus".
Although aesthetically engaging, the Goff version sacrifices interior volume in the very places it is most required, in the engine/power section, and the forward air reserve...also the salon placement is too far aft and the text states that the salon transparencies were rectangular, fitted with shutters that ran along the long axis of the hull, not an Iris, not circular. The platform-mounted searchlight is absent. The cabin layout described in the text is very skimpy on accomodations for guests and room for ancilaries, so by comparison the Goff version would have to forego them entirely. The Goff version shows the divelock located at the aft portion of the Salon, which, although an intriguing placement, is wholly impractical, not to mention the fact that this is where Verne placed Nemo's library. Were we to continue aft from there following Verne's plan description, we would find the galley in the Goff versions power room, and the crews quarters in the middle of the engine! Suffice it to say, never believe everything you see on the movie screen. The Disney Nautilus is exciting, menacing in aspect, but wholly innaccurate. I would love to see a studio attempt a re-make of this story, as the current state of the art in CGI and production values could result in a masterpiece of adventure.
Dedicated Servers at GoDaddy.com
