Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Electric Quiz Game

One of my favorite live-action Disney films is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Nothing brings out the boy in a man like a cool submarine and a giant rubber squid! Add an all-star cast to this mix and you have a film I’ve watched far too many times.

So it should be no surprise that I love finding 20,000 Leagues merchandise. Today, I may have broken the Cool-O-Meter with this great Electric Quiz Game from Jacmar:

Box measures approximately 10″ x 8″ x 2 1/2″

Most Disney board games are great collectors pieces but have little real monetary value. $10 US is about what the average game usually sells for being as they are quite common, and they were produced in such great numbers. Rarer versions can fetch more. A game with an added dimension like electricity can also fetch higher prices, so I think I did OK with a purchase price of $20 CAN for this version. There is very little about this game on the Internet, with one eBay Seller asking in excess of $175.00 US for it, plus shipping.

This game has amazing graphics on the box, and an added bonus is that all four sides of the box have unique designs:

Let’s open the box and see what is inside:

At the top middle of the box you can see a red bulb that lights up when you choose a correct answer. The two red wires with the metal tips (called Selector Tips) are used to give a mild to severe shock depending on how wrong the answer may be. Original versions of this game were recalled as the hair of particularly stupid children were known to smoke after several minutes of play. And if you believe that, please send me $19.95 for your free Gullible Award today!

Actually, they are safely used to select questions and answers. Here are the full instructions from the inside lid of the game box:

Let’s place a playing card on the ‘deck’ for a demonstration:

To play, hold one selector tip in your left hand and place it on a contact station, or question. With the card above, we will select ‘Life Boat’ in the upper left corner. Then, holding the other selector tip in your right hand, place it on another contact station, or answer. In this case, it would be the metal disk just below ‘Anchor’ on the upper side of the Nautilus, between the Vertical Fin and the Rudder & Propeller. When you have made this final contact, the circuit is completed and the red light will glow to indicate a correct answer. If you were to place the selector tip in your right hand on the wrong metal disc, say in the lower left corner by the Anchor, nothing would happen, and you would have given a wrong answer. Play would then pass to the next player.

The whole thing is powered by a 1.5 volt dry cell battery which fits into this apparatus on the underside of the playing deck:

The game comes equipped with 6 cards printed on both sides for a total of 12 question and answer games. They are billed as interesting, fascinating, and educational! This game was commended by the Consumer Service Bureau of Parents’ Magazine and was proudly made in the U.S.A. by Jacmar Mfg. Co., Inc. of New York City perhaps in the 1950’s.

Let’s conclude with a closer look at all 6 cards, both sides:

    

Interior of Nautilus & Types of Vessels

   

Geographical Locations & Pieces of Personal Equipment

    

Sea Life & Isle of Vulcania

    

More Geographical Locations & Birds of the Ocean

    

Wonders of the Deep & Characters

    

Nautical Flags & Exterior of Nautilus

I think a night of watching Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and then a review via the playing of this game is a whale of an idea!

FUN FACT: 20,000 leagues refers to how far the Nautilus had traveled under the sea, not to the depth it had dived. A league is a rough measurement of about three miles, usually at sea. So if they had dove 20,000 leagues straight down under the sea, that would equal 60,000 miles!

The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam. Challenger Deep is approximately 36,200 feet deep.

So obviously the Nautilus didn’t dive 20,000 leagues down into the sea!

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