20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1907)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a French film short created by Georges Méliès in 1907. It is based on the 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by author Jules Verne and is the first adaptation of the story. It is the third film in the sci-fi genre directed by Méliès, the first two being A Trip to the Moon and The Man With the Rubber Head, both of which were made in 1902. At least six different versions of this story have been adapted into film between 1907 and the present. Running only 18 minutes long, the film was hand-tinted frame by frame by female factory workers, making it one of the very first colorized movies.

Notes & Trivia

 * French title: Deux cent mille lieues sous les mers.


 * Billed in the UK as Amid the Workings of the Deep.


 * First use of underwater photography