The Disney movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea depicts the giant squid with impressive special effects for a 1954 production. The movie version of the enormous cephalopod, which captures protagonist Captain Nemo in one of its coiling tentacles, is shown to be a fearsome predator with a relatively accurate physiognomy. Its large eyes, the coiling motion of the sucker-laden tentacles, and the overall appearance of the invertebrate are fairly concurrent with the creature's real-life anatomy. Furthermore, the Nautilus encounters the giant squid deep under the surface, the natural habitat of the real life giant squids.
             However, scientists have learned much about the Architeuthis dux since 1954 to render the Disney version inaccurate. Most notably, the real-life giant squid is not quite as large as the film version shows it to be. The film squid appears colossal, resembling the Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, or colossal squid, more than the Architeuthis dux. The latter is thought to grow up to 60 feet including the tentacles, but so far the only specimens to have washed ashore are smaller. When Japanese scientists finally captured the first footage of the giant squid alive in its natural habitat, the cephalopod does not appear as gigantic as the one in the movie. The fin and mantle of the real giant squid slimmer compared with the Disney squid and the tentacles are much less cumbersome. Simlarly, the modern, real-life giant squid seems to move more gracefully than that in the film.
             Furthermore, the real-life giant squid is unlikely to be as overtly aggressive toward a submarine. Although the Architeuthis dux is known to be an "energetic predator," its fight scene in the Disney movie is largely exaggerated given the squid's notorious elusiveness and its possessing natural enemies like the sperm whale ("Live giant squid"). The Disney depiction of the giant squid alludes to popular mythology that promoted an image...