20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Almost two decades since 20,000 Leagues Under the sea had last been adapted Jules Verne's classic returns but in animated form.

When I say animated form I don't mean what would be considered "Anime", make no mistake this is family friendly and perhaps arguably a children's movie. Made by Rankin/Bass that likely confirms that, it's cutesy, it's over the top and it even involves an animal "Friend".

As you can likely imagine it's not exactly loyal to the source material, it takes the original story and tweaks it to such an extent that it's less of an adaptation and more of a "Influenced by.."

Despite this it is well animated with a decent enough voice cast. I think this is also considerably better for children's viewing that the nonsense that seems to dominate these days.

Passable, I'm just not the demographic.

The Good:

Looks the part

The Bad:

Story feels rushed

A lot of needless silliness

By far the best animated telling of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. I look forward to the day that this Rankin/Bass gem is released on DVD. Those of you who are familiar with the Rankin/Bass style of animation will appreciate this offering as it is highly reminiscent of the studios other works like The Hobbit. Having read the novel itself, this telling follows the story more closely than the Disney movie ever did.....which is of course a masterpiece in its own right. Rankin/Bass has produced many other series and movies over the years that would make great additions to any collectors library if only they would release them on DVD/Video. If anybody has a source for this animated feature why not post it for the rest of us?