A mysterious creature, larger and more rapid than a whale, has been haunting the deep: Professor Aronnax has been invited to join a task force to rid the seas of the monster.
With him on the Abraham Lincoln are his ever-faithful servant, Conseil, and the harpooner Ned Land. Their glorious mission becomes a nightmare when they are thrown from their ship and taken aboard the "monster" itself: a man-made submarine - "Nautilus" - exploring the wonders of the underwater world. There they are the captives of the inscrutable Captain Nemo.
Resigned to their fate, they are shown unimaginable wonders of the oceans: the reef of coral that formed a cemetery, the ice floes of the South Pole, the huge oyster and its priceless pearl, the volcanic wonders of the lost land of Atlantis and a great many more extraordinary sights that were to compensate for their lack of liberty.