THE DISNEY DIVERS
A tribute to the Unsung Heroes of Walt Disney’s 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea
HONOR
ROLL
(Known Disney Divers in alphabetical
order)
NORM BISHOP
RICOU BROWNING
FRANK DENBLACKER
F. DONAHUE
AL HANSEN
CHARLIE MCNABB
LEONARD MOTT
BRENDAN O'CONNOR
GIL PARKER
ROBERT PAULSON
CHARLES REGAN
DAVID YALE ROCHLEN
ED STEPNER
BILL
STROPAHL
MANFRED
“FRED” ZENDAR
Walt Disney’s movie version of Jules Verne’s 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea gave audiences a view of an underwater world they’d
never seen before. But the story of the
efforts required to film those scenes, and the amazing achievements of the
people who did it, is a modern day Odyssey in its own right.
In
1954, Disney Studios sent a small fleet of vessels to the Bahamas under this
very familiar banner.
The principle dive barge (a converted U.S.
Navy LCT) was accompanied by numerous smaller support vessels, and served as a
floating nerve center for the underwater filming operations.
Here, we see the Disney crew lowering one of their specially adapted cameras into the water in preparation for a shot. Weather permitting; the crew dived in the morning, and again in the afternoon. The coordination and skill of the people who performed this work was impressive indeed.
Filming the underwater scenes for Leagues
was the greatest technical feat of its kind ever attempted. Nothing on this scale had ever been done
before. The operation was so
unparalleled, and the photographic methods were so revolutionary, that the
United States Navy sent observers along to film the operation and see what they
could learn about underwater photography from the Disney team.
In 1954, SCUBA diving was still in its early
years. The equipment seen in the movie
was experimental. Conceived and
perfected by people like Harper Goff, Fred Zendar, and Al Hansen, the Disney
diving systems combined hard-hat and SCUBA gear with unique art-metalwork that
was out-of-this-World.
The rigs were tremendously heavy: well over
two hundred pounds each. Because of
this, safety protocols required that each individual diver had to have several
assistants to help him in and out of the water.
Once aboard the barge, the divers were guided
to numbered seats on benches where tenders would remove and service their gear,
and the air tanks could be recharged for the next dive.
Here we see some of
the Disney Divers all geared up and ready to go. That’s Ricou Browning in the #9 station. Ricou is also well known as the diver who
played the monster in the underwater scenes for Creature from the Black
Lagoon. Al Hansen is the seated
diver on the left, and Canadian diver Leonard Mott is the diver on the right
side of the picture.
The diving suits came in three basic types:
there was one for Captain Nemo, distinguished by the gray suit and the headlamp
atop his helmet. Twelve were made for
the crew with the distinctive “crown top” helmet.
And five of the third variant (dubbed the
“Baldy”) were also made, for a total of 18 rigs in all. Production Designer Harper Goff realized the
divers of the NAUTILUS could not be clad in anything the audience would recognize
as modern equipment, and what he came up with was truly unique.
Here we see Director Richard Fleischer
examining the BEL AQUA dry suit of underwater camerman Till Gabbani. Obviously, the familiar rubberized canvas of
a conventional 1950’s MkV diving suit wouldn’t do for Nemo and his 19th
century crew, so special garments of thin rubber were made. Today, BEL AQUA’s successor, the AQUALA
SPORTS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, is still going strong under the leadership of my
good friend Ty Alley in Shreveport Louisiana. (You can access the AQUALA
Website via our LINKS page.)
Of course, conventional diving equipment
played a part, too. Here we see the
production Safety Diver dressed in his MkV diving suit. The film crew used standard SCUBA gear, too.
With
all those people running around underwater, things must’ve gotten pretty hectic
at times….
…so
whenever possible it made sense for the divers to conserve their energies.
But for Director Richard Fleischer and underwater
cameraman Till Gabbani, there wasn’t much downtime. Lunch was just another opportunity to plan
and organize what was going to happen next.
Some of the props used underwater were
remarkable in their own right; like this full-sized replica of the NAUTILUS
stern section, used in filming the “fixing the faulty rudder” sequence.
Here, we see underwater cameraman Till Gabbani swimming through the scene as the divers go about the business of repairing the damaged rudder.
This two-dimensional NAUTILUS prop was intended for placement in the background behind the divers during the underwater scenes, to simulate the submarine standing by at a distance. If it was ever used, none of the footage made the final cut.
Being an athletic type who frequently played
action roles, it’s no surprise Kirk Douglas was very much interested in the
dive operation. Here, we see Kirk on the
dive barge, examining the Nemo Helmet.
Here, we see Kirk suited-up in a Crew Diver
rig like the one his character Ned Land wore. Did he actually dive it? Read on….
Here Kirk is apparently getting ready to make
a SCUBA dive in conventional gear. I
don’t know if this is where he learned to dive or not, but maybe this was part
of the process of the dive crew breaking him in?
Here’s a B&W shot of Kirk in the DIVER
suit, apparently taken at the same time as the color picture above. He looks wet, so I figured this was a
post-dive photograph. Several years ago,
Harry Hathorne told me the event had been staged. “They just hit him with a
bucket of water and shot the picture,” he said. For a long time I wasn’t convinced, but look
closely. The shoulder straps should
travel over the top, and back down under Kirk’s armpits to the tank
harness bands behind him. Instead,
they are merely draped over his shoulders.
You wouldn’t dive this equipment rigged like that. The tanks could fall off, tear the air supply
hose from the helmet, and if that happened you’d be in big trouble. So, it looks like Harry might have been right
all along. Did Kirk ever dive a Leagues
suit? I don’t know. But I have to admit that this photo does
appear like it could have been staged.
Here we see Kirk Douglas (looking a little
wet) speaking emphatically to Screen Writer Earl Felton and Director Richard
Fleischer (in the drysuit) on the dive barge.
And here’s a picture of Kirk clowning around
with veteran commercial diver Al Hansen: one of those involved with developing
the Disney diving rigs, and the diver who played Kirk’s character Ned Land
in the underwater scenes.
A group dive operation of this size posed
unique communication challenges. Here we
see the Disney Divers aboard the dive barge, practicing the hand signals they’d
rely upon underwater.
Complicated dive sequences had to be worked
out beforehand so every participant understood what his role would be, where
he’d be in relationship to the camera, and so on. Here we see the crew “dirt diving” the famous
Burial Beneath the Sea scene.
That’s Captain Nemo in the foreground: the stick in his hands represents
the coral cross he’ll be carrying. And
beyond him, the crew of the Nautilus is carrying the “body” of one of
their deceased comrades: in this case, a litter bearing a wire-mesh mannequin.
Here we see Director Fleischer “deck-diving”
the next scene with the crew. The
details of how each dive would go had to be clearly understood by every man in
the water if the shoot was to be a success.
That’s Fred Zendar behind Fleischer, and Norm Bishop behind the
blackboard.
When the discussion stopped, the diving
started. Here, we see Stunt Diver
Leonard Mott assisting the Captain Nemo Diver as he prepares his
equipment.
A
close-up of the real Captain Nemo, while performing a pre-dive air
system check.
Though the suits were very heavy, once in the
water their buoyancy made them almost weightless, and the divers were able to
travel by great leaps and bounds across the ocean floor.
In this screen capture from Disney’s OPERATION
UNDERSEA, Captain Nemo and Professor Arronax leap from one coral head to
another, like astronauts on the Moon, effortlessly floating through inner
space.
But transporting divers from one site to
another didn’t rely on walking: they hung from knotted ropes suspended from an
Avon rubber boat, and were towed about on this improvised “underwater taxi”.
And thus, some of the most memorable
underwater images ever seen (like the famous Burial Beneath the Sea
sequence) were filmed.
Some scenes, like this one of Ned and Conseil
inside the sunken galleon (subject of a well-known Disney lobby card, and
the famous painting by John Steel) were actually filmed later in the
12-foot deep end of the Stage 3 tank at Disney Studios in California. Divers Al Hansen and Norm Bishop portrayed
Ned and Conseil for the scenes shot on location in the Bahamas; but on at least
one occasion here in the tank the divers were F. Donahue and D. Rochlen. At other times, Norm Bishop and Ed Stepner
did the honors. Supervising underwater
on these days of filming was Fred Zendar.
But most of the diving was done on location
in the Bahamas. Here we see Al Hansen
getting ready to go: adjusting a foam shoulder pad prior to receiving the
breastplate for his helmet from Ed Stepner.
To the right we see Disney Divemaster Fred Zendar (in swim trunks)
working with another member of the crew, possibly Fleischer.
The famous scene where Ned and Conseil
encounter a shark was filmed live in the Bahamas. The divers for this episode were Al Hansen
and Norm Bishop; and the nurse shark was definitely NOT animatronic.
A storm approaches, and a Diver lends a
hand. Credit one rescue to the Disney
Divers when Bill Stropahl lifted a young Bahamian boy to safety from a sinking
boat that was taking on water in rough weather.
(Update, December 2008:
According to Bill, the event did happen; but these pictures shown in The
Making Of DVD are not the actual event.
That’s neither Bill nor the boy he helped on the day in question. Possibly because no film of that event
exists, Disney used these images to illustrate the event on the DVD. I point this out now at Bill’s request,
because he wanted you to know the facts.
You can read more about this in the article about Bill Stropahl on The
Journal page here at VSC.)
At the 20,000 LEAGUES EXPO in Anaheim, July
2003, Disney Diver BILL STROPAHL made a personal appearance and shared his
experiences with assembled fans. Here,
Bill is speaking to Paul Brooks about the emergency air bottle on the diver’s
chest. Bill would certainly know about
that particular dive suit shown on the cover of the 1954 LIFE Magazine he’s
holding: he was wearing it when the
photo was taken.
Being mid-Pacific islanders ourselves, we weren’t able to attend the EXPO on the mainland; but VULCANIA SUBMARINE was represented by a photo display outlining the Leagues-related projects we’d built up to that time. Bill did us the honor of posing for the cameras with our display.
Bill Stropahl also honored us by autographing
the photo of my (then) in-process NAUTILUS DIVER helmet. Here’s a closeup of the display taken at the
EXPO by Wayne Orlicki. (The glare is a
reflection on the acrylic cover of the framing; the autograph is on the photo
itself.) Apparently, Bill really liked
our work. Coming from a guy who actually
dived the real rigs for the movie, his complement means a lot to me. This photo display has become a favorite part
of my collection.
Bill Stropahl narrates a slide presentation about
his experiences as a Disney Diver at the 20,000 LEAGUES EXPO. For this occasion, Bill was joined by the
Brooks brothers, Larry (left) and Paul (on the right), both of whom are well
known and highly respected for their knowledge and dedication to the movie.
Here’s
one of Mr. Stropahl’s slides. That’s
Bill front and center, with his fellow divers on location.
Sadly for us, Al Hansen, Norm Bishop, and
many of the other Disney Divers have passed on.
But the movie they all made has become timeless; and their work still
continues to amaze and inspire new fans almost 50 years later: a truly
remarkable achievement.
Recently, Harry Hathorne and I asked Disney to produce a program honoring THE DISNEY DIVERS. So far we have had no success. As Captain Nemo said, “There is hope for the future.” But whether such a program is ever made or not, as long as this Website exists the Disney Divers will not be forgotten.
Images from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Making of
20,000 Leagues Documentary, and Operation Undersea are all copyright
Walt Disney, “All rights reserved.”
Special thanks to Harry Hathorne, Larry Brooks, Ty Bumgardner, and
Wayne Orlicki for graphic contributions and support.
MORE DIVER IMAGES
Ty Bumgardner provided us with this excellent screen-grab
from the DVD of the moment Nemo fires at the shark to save Ned and Conseil, and
the projectile is clearly visible as a red streak exiting the rifle barrel: one
of numerous special effects added to the footage that many never realized was
Disney animation.
Here’s a still from Harry Hathorne’s collection showing an
early test of Nemo entering the diving chamber.
In this scene, he had to climb up and out of the lockout hatch: not easy
in a rig weighing over 200 pounds! Harry
told me these scenes were filmed in a stage built over the wet-set at Disney
Studios. There was a diver down below
with a fire hose, creating all that foam we see surging into the chamber.
Ty Bumgardner also sent us this screen grab
from the DVD showing how the final stunt was aided by the use of a “grab bar”
overhead. Still, this was no easy
feat. Having worn a replica Nemo suit, I
know the diver’s upward visibility is so limited he made this grab on “blind
faith” alone. Then, lifting a
heavily-weighted SCUBA rig and diving boots over the lockout combing and into
the set (while making it look easy) represents a seemingly superhuman athletic
accomplishment. Based on what we’ve
learned by actually operating rigs like this; and what we know about how Leagues
was filmed; we at VULCANIA SUBMARINE are of the opinion that this was probably
one of those scenes where lightweight replica SCUBA tanks and dive-weights were
used. That would have been within the
equipment’s capabilities.
Here’s another look at the Safety Diver in
his MkV gear, on location in the Bahamas.
Notice the twin air hoses with tips attached, spewing air bubbles into
the water. The Disney LEAGUES diving
apparatus was equipped with quick-connect adapters. In the event of an emergency, the Diver could
use his chest-mounted pony bottle and raise his hand to indicate distress,
whereupon he’d be extracted to the surface as soon as possible. Beyond that, if the need arose, the Safety
Diver was equipped to connect the LEAGUES diver to an air hose, which would
provide a virtually unlimited supply of air, just as if he were breathing from
a surface-mounted compressor as the MkV diver does. Obviously, safety was a primary concern, and
Disney took extra precautions to ensure that options were available if
necessary.
A rescue diver hovers above the actors during
filming, ready to respond in case of an emergency. There was one rescue diver for every two
“crew actor” divers, and two for each of the main characters. If anything went wrong, the rescue divers
could swim a man to the surface in a few seconds.
I believe that’s Fred Zendar making like an
umpire calling the runner “Safe!” Actually,
the signal is for everyone to stand by for action; the next signal would be for
the scene to begin. Behind Fred, divers
Al Hansen and Norm Bishop wait with a chest of sunken treasure.
For scenes like the one above, a full sized
replica of the diving hatch area of the NAUTILUS keel was built and suspended
from the bottom of a barge on location.
Ever wonder how the heavily-weighted divers were able to rise up into
the hatch? Underwater, the LEAGUES suits
have only a slight negative buoyancy. A
diver can leap upwards and ascend a considerable distance. Temporarily closing off the helmet exhaust
valve and adding a little air to the suit to increase buoyancy, could have also
enhanced the jump. But in this case,
they were on a wire being pulled up from above.
From the collection of Harry Hathorne: a
picture of Captain Nemo getting a little direction underwater, with what looks
like the NAUTILUS keel prop in the distance behind them.
Director
Richard Fleischer at the pressure-compensated underwater movie camera.
A diver hops upwards so Fred Zendar can
adjust one of the hemp carpets used to keep down the clouds of silt that kept
billowing up every time the divers walked through the area. His body position is very much like the diver
shown on the cover of the well-known DELL 20,000 LEAGUES Comic Book, and this
picture may have been a reference used for that illustration, as seen below.
Captain Nemo supervising the NAUTILUS crew making
repairs to the rudder. On the seabed we
can see one of the hemp carpets used to keep “silt fog” at a minimum.
A Disney prop man services one of the
underwater rifles. In the cardboard box
below the table, we can see a large number of the “spools” used to make the
“air filter” device on the visor of the crew diver helmets. Today, these things are extremely hard to
find.
This scene was shot in a tank in California:
this is where Ned and Conseil are inside the sunken ship and find the treasure
chest. The divers are either F. Donahue
and D. Rochlen, or Ed Stepner and Norm Bishop.
All four worked on the Galleon sequence.
Way back in the 1980’s, friends Fred Zendar
and Harry Hathorne took a moment to pose for the camera with one of the actual
helmets used in the filming of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. There are very few of these still around:
many had the art metalwork stripped off after shooting was complete. Most of those that still exist are in private
collections, and in some cases their whereabouts are known only to trusted
friends as a matter of security.
20,000
Leagues Diving Gear by VULCANIA SUBMARINE, Hawaii
This page was conceived as a tribute to those
Disney Divers who did so much to make 20,000 Leagues the masterpiece it
turned out to be. But it seems to me our
greatest tribute to those folks is found in the functional underwater
technologies they inspired us to replicate.
Few will ever know all that went into these
projects. Nowadays, Information that (largely
due to disclosures made by VSC) is fast becoming common knowledge, I had to
discover through countless hours of personal research. Details of how Disney’s Leagues suits
were built and operated, I had to learn through my own experimentation. Not to mention the time, effort, and money
that went into creating the tooling to make these rigs; and then, to
manufacture the rigs themselves, by hand, while working alone in a small
home-based shop.
It’s all been done for the sake of doing what
the Disney Divers did: walk the bottom of the sea in 20,000 Leagues
diving gear, for whatever advantages that might have. An obsession?
Perhaps. Was it worth it to
me? Definitely. Not only from the personal satisfaction (and
fun) I’ve gained in doing this; but in the acknowledgement and support
we’ve received from other Leaguers, people associated with Disney and 20,000
Leagues, leaders in the helmet diving community, major publications,
world-class museums, and websites related to this subject around the World. Thank you.
I’m happy you’ve enjoyed seeing this as much as I’ve enjoyed doing
it.
But what I’ve really gained from all this is a real appreciation of what it was like for the Disney Divers, operating experimental equipment back in the 50’s when SCUBA was still in its infancy. The only way one can truly understand what it was really like is to dive one of these rigs, and I consider myself fortunate for being able to do that. The experience has given me a greater insight into the movie, and more understanding and respect for the Disney Divers than I could have had without it. What they did way back then was truly amazing by any standard, and it’s been both a joy and a privilege to share something akin to that experience in my lifetime. Thank you for the inspiration, gentlemen. I salute you all.
Pat Regan
PREVIEW: OPERATION UNDERSEA TWO
New! In
October of 2007, our friends got together to stage an event that, because of
its nature and complexity, we came to call OPERATION UNDERSEA TWO; again in
honor of the Disney Divers.
As one of our participants observed, “The
only way to know what it was like for them to dive one of these suits is to do
it yourself.”
And to that we might add, “The best way to
understand what the original Operation Undersea was like is to attempt
something similar.” On a smaller scale,
the Vulcania volunteers did precisely that, and it was an amazing experience
for all involved.
We’ll be posting a page about OPERATION
UNDERSEA TWO here at VSC in the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, we’d like to continue our tribute
to the Disney Divers by posting this photo collage representing the experience
of diving, filming, and photographing our functional replicas of these amazing
diving rigs in the environment for which they were intended: the sea.
20,000
Leagues Diving Suits by Vulcania Submarine
Copyright
2007 by Pat Regan, “All Rights Reserved.”