Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea has been adapted and referenced in popular culture on numerous occasions.
Stage, film and audio adaptations
Audio
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea has been adapted as an audiobook many times, both unabridged and abridged, with some well-known readers, including: 1960's, published by Caedmon Records, read by James Mason (excerpts); 1989, Recorded Books Classics Library Audiobook unabridged version, #89880, in 10 audio-cassettes, 14.5 hours , performed by Norman Dietz; 1994, published by Naxos Audiobooks, read by John Carlisle (unabridged); 1998, published by Blackstone Audio, read by Frederick Davidson (unabridged); 2008, published by Dove Audio, read by Harlan Ellison (abridged); 2011, published by Listening Library, read by James Frain (unabridged); and 2016, published by CSA Word/Talking Classics, read by Alex Jennings (abridged). Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea was adapted into a half-hour episode of the NBC radio series Favorite Story hosted by Ronald Colman and broadcast December 20, 1947 as the favorite story of Orson Welles. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1961), an 8-part serial adaptation broadcast on the BBC Home Service. In 1963, Disneyland Records released The Story of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (ST-1924), a loose adaptation of both the Verne novel and the 1954 Walt Disney film. This version is more family-friendly, changes the character of "Conseil" from Professor Aronnax's manservant to his nephew and provides a "happy ending". In 1974, Wonderland Records released 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (LP-294), a loose adaptation of the Verne novel. This version changes the characters' names to "Professor Anthony Aronnax" and "Ned Baker", added the character of "Commander Smith" and changes the character of Captain Nemo into a megalomaniac bent on world domination. A radio adaptation was broadcast on The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater, hosted by Tom Bosley, on March 13, 1977. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (2001) – A radio drama adaption of Jules Verne's novel aired in the United States. Nigel Anthony performed a five-episode abridged reading of the novel on BBC Radio 7 in May 2010; it was rebroadcast in November that same year. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (2015) – A double album recorded by Dutch post-rock trio I Could Float Here Forever, published by independent record label MoonSwing. This adaptation consists of twenty two tracks and features twenty four illustrations portraying the occurrences in the story. As it attempts to musically render an extra-musical narrative, it is to be considered a modern example of program music A new radio adaptation by Gregory Evans was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 29 July 2018 as part of its To The Ends of the Earth drama series, featuring Sagar Arya as Nemo, Neil McCaul as Professor Aronnax. David Seddon as Ned Land and Madeline Hatt as Connie Aronnax.
Stage
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1874) – musical – libretto Joseph Bradford – music G. Operti. A stage play adaptation by Walk the Plank (2003). In this version, the "Nautilese" private language used by the Nautiluss crew was kept, represented by a mixture of Polish and Persian. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (2006). A stage play adaptation by Ade Morris for the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor, England. This version was for six actors and used physical theatre to help tell the story, which emphasised parallels in Verne's original with contemporary world events.