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September, 2004. I'm sitting here in Florida after dodging 4 major hurricanes in 5 weeks and I decided to make some time and go through my Nautilus collection photos. I finally came across some pictures of the original 11 foot miniature model in the water tank at the studio during filming. The 11 footer is the "holy Grail" of the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea miniatures. Here is the photo I came across before enhancement. |
| This brought up an old question that Tom Scherman and I wrestled with over the years. I have never seen a picture of the 11 foot SFX model with any of the grating between the aft hatch and the skiff. And I really mean EVER! The 22 foot surface model (at right) had grating on the aft deck and the full sized deck set had it too. But not the 11 foot hero model. |  |
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At left is a close-up of the main special effects model otherwise known as the "hero" as it appears today at Disney World's "Living Seas" in Florida. I took this photo which clearly illustrates that the 11 footer indeed had no deck grates aft of the rear hatch. The small hole you see at the lower left, which is really a slot, was cut by someone who didn't know what they were doing. When I examined the sub in 1954, the slot was not there. The picture has 1" white squares to use for sizing reference. |
| Then lo and behold we find a picture of the sub with 'something' on the back deck ! But what is it? Looks like whatever this object comprises, it is above the deck. There is a shadow from it on the left side of the photograph. This is a false color shot to show better detail. I'm of the opinion that there is something there with knobs on it, similar to the bollards that are adjacent to the grate area. |  |
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Tom and I asked Harper Goff and he had no recollection. We asked John Hench and he responded with the same answer. Tom Scherman also asked Warren Hamilton and anybody who worked on the film. Nowhere could we find an answer. I don't think it's an optical illusion. Something is definitely there. The white area is probably air escaping. |
| This last rendering is in black & white in yet another attempt to show better detail. Were the 'knobs' controls for the special effects of the model's air, motor controls or lights? I would welcome anybody's answer or even if you have a good guess. I'm also interested if anybody has a picture that shows this more clearly. The investigation continues ... |
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