History Film / TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea

* AFatherToHisMen: While distant, Nemo obviously cares for his men, from officiating a funeral for a man killed during a warship attack to him getting snared by the giant squid trying to rescue a man who fell overboard. In return, his men are unquestioningly loyal, and willingly follow any order Nemo gives [[spoiler:even if it's to sink the ''Nautilus'' and die with him.]]

* EverythingsSquishierWithCephalopods: Possibly the most memorable scene of the film, with the Nautilus crew taking on a giant squid amid a storm at sea.

* AFatherToHisMen: While distant, Nemo obviously cares for his men, from officiating a funeral for a man killed during a warship attack to hin getting snared by the giant squid trying to rescue a man who fell overboard. In return, his men are unquestioningly loyal, and willingly follow any order Nemo gives [[spoiler:even if it's to sink the ''Nautilus'' and die with him.]]

* ChekovsGun: The bottled messages that Ned throws out with the triangulated coordinates to Nemo's hidden IslandBase lead to Nemo's enemies invading it, which forces Nemo to [[spoiler: detonate it out of fear that his secrets will be used for war. This also results in Nemo being fatally wounded and, due to his crew's SuicidePact, their demise as well.]]

* ChekovsGun: The bottled messages that Ned throws out with the triangulated coordinates to Nemo's hidden IslandBase lead to the US government invading it, which forces Nemo to [[spoiler: detonate it out of fear that his secrets will be used for war. This also results in Nemo being fatally wounded and, due to his crew's SuicidePact, their demise as well.]]

** Arronax gives one to Ned for sending the bottles with Vulcania's location, which lead to Nemo destroying the secrets he finally ready to unveil to the world.

* SweetSeal: Captain Nemo gets a NonhumanSidekick in the form of Esmeralda the sea lion, in true Disney tradition.

* ChekovsGun: The bottled messages that Ned throws out with the triangulated coordinates to Nemo's hidden island base lead to the US government invading it, which forces Nemo to [[spoiler: detonate it out of fear that his secrets will be used for war. This also results in Nemo being fatally wounded and, due to his crew's SuicidePact, their demise as well.]]

* ChronicBackStabbingDisorder: Ned Land, apparently unable to go a scene without attempting to betray Nemo in some small way.

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: In the opening scenes of the movie we see 3 ships sunk or crippled on-screen by the Nautilus, and it's clear that several other ships have met similar fates. But once the main characters come on board, Nemo and his men only attack one ship on-screen over the course of many months - and dialogue supports that this is the only ship attacked in that time period, so we know he didn't go after any other ships during any time skips.

* GrudgingThankYou: After Ned saves Nemo from the giant squid. It's the former for Nemo and the latter for Ned, despite the fact that he did the rescuing.

* ILoveNuclearPower: While the original novel used electric power itself as Nemo's AppliedPhlebotinum, the movie had him splitting the atom decades before its time.

* SurvivalThroughSelfSacrifice: In the Disney film version of the story, Nemo is ready to spare Arronax but not Conseil or Ned Land, leaving them to drown when the Nautilus submerges. Arronax goes back to die with his friends, leading Nemo to spare all three.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Nemo is shown using treasure taken from sunken ships as ballast as opposed to water...so how do they dive when the tanks are empty and there are no ships nearby?
** He also uses regular, water-filled ballasts, as he occasionally orders to "empty/fill the tanks". The treasures simply grant an additional weigth that allows for faster diving.

* BigDamnHeroes / SaveTheVillain: Ned Land arrives in the middle of the giant squid attack, harpoons it right in the eye and saves Captain Nemo from drowning.

* ForeignQueasine: The dinner party. Well, just the sperm whale milk pudding.

* ILoveNuclearPower: While the original novel used electric power itself as Nemo's AppliedPhlebotinum, the movie had him splitting the atom decades before his time.

* OnlySaneMan: Conseil and Ned see Nemo for what he is and actively looking for ways to escape, while Arronax is too awe-struck by the Nautilus and Nemo's scientific discoveries.

* PragmaticAdaptation: Of a sort. Screenwriter Earl Felton found the novel more of a travelogue than a story, so he rejigged it into a "prison break" narrative.

* RammingAlwaysWorks: How the ''Nautilus'' destroys ships, building up enough speed to slice open the bottom of the wooden target with its reinforced metal hull. Bites them in the butt with the final ship we see be destroyed, the volatile weapon material in the ship's hold explodes from the impact before the ''Nautilus'' gets to a safe distance and damages the rudder.

* SweetSeal: Captain Nemo gets a NonhumanSidekick in the form of Esmeralda the Sea Lion, in true Disney tradition.

** Arronax gives one to Nemo, after he sinks a warship loaded with gun powder.
** Conseil gives one to Arronax, for defending Nemo even calling him "captain".

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: How Nemo justifies sinking ships - they are from a belligerent nation that carry tools for war, so he is merely avenging those who have been needlessly killed, along with the slaves forced to produce the materiels.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: How Nemo justifies sinking ships - they are from a belligerent nation that carry tools for war, so he is merely avenging those who have been needlessly killed.

* EverythingsSquishierWithCephalopods: The notorious GiantSquid sequence and the ExoticEntree mentioned below.

* GiantSquid: One grabs onto the ship, and the crew has to surface in the middle of a storm in order to drive it off.
* GrudgingThankYou / EmbarrassingRescue: After Ned saves Nemo from the giant squid. It's the former for Nemo and the latter for Ned, despite the fact that he did the rescuing.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: An accent example. Aronnax has Paul Lukas' Hungarian accent, which doesn't sound anything close to a French one (more like German). Ironically, Peter Lorre, playing Conseil, is also of Hungarian descent, but provides a convincing French accent.

* CanonForeigner: Esmeralda, the sea lion, who doesn't exist on the book.

The film featured an AllStarCast (Creator/KirkDouglas as Ned Land, Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Aronnax, Creator/PeterLorre as Conseil, and Creator/JamesMason as Captain Nemo) and a memorable design for the ''Nautilus'' as well as the memorable giant squid attack. It has become one of Disney's classics.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: How Nemo justiies sinking ships - they are from a belligerent nation that carry tools for war, so he is merely avenging those who have been needlessly killed.