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RESTORED DISNEY DIVER HELMET

In 1954, Disney Divers Bill Stropahl, Al Hansen, and others performed the underwater sequences for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, wearing what was then a new form of hybrid diving gear. Today, fifty-four years later, some of the equipment they used is back in operation for the first time, restored by Vulcania Submarine.

Pat Regan is a fairly common name. There’s a famous musician by that name who worked with Deep Purple, Camine Apice, and wrote themes for several movies; but I’m not him.

Chris Larson is also a very common name, shared by a well-known Nautilus modeler and a TV News personality in Nevada; but we’re not talking about them, either.

Chris Larson is a former Disney Imagineer who worked for several years as a Special Effects Technician/Designer and Model Maker in Glendale, California. Below is a picture of Chris working on a model of a Disney Train Depot.

In the year 2000, part of Chris’ duties included overseeing an Imagineering R&D facility known as Bonus Built, shown below.

One afternoon (in his own words) Chris was “receiving various pieces of equipment from other WDI buildings for the purposes of inventory and determining the disposition of each item.” One shipment included a large, very old and dilapidated box containing the damaged remains of a Disney 20,000 Leagues diving helmet and three mismatched diving boots.

“The Disney Archives was immediately contacted with a description of the find. They said they already had two of the helmets and weren't interested in the boots. Their instructions were to store the helmet for a year and at the end of that time, if no request for it had been made, then dispose of it. Those instructions were honored.”

In December 2007, after having left Disney, Chris began researching the helmet’s history. On a hunch, he contacted the agency representing Kirk Douglas to ask if the actor had any recollection of the helmet being damaged in the Longboat Fight scene. Unfortunately, Mr. Douglas could provide no information about that.

In February 2008 Chris contacted Vulcania Submarine for assistance. I began where Chris left off: trying to learn how the helmet had gotten into such bad shape. Through careful study, I came to believe the damage may have occurred during filming. But after consulting Leagues historians and cast members, I couldn’t find anyone with first-hand knowledge that would prove my theory. Thus, without a provenance documenting how it occurred, the damage was historically insignificant: not worth preserving.

I solicited opinions about what should be done with the helmet. Since the nature of the damage could not be proven; and since most of the surviving Disney helmets (including the “Hero” Nemo, shown below) have received some repair over the years; the general opinion among those film authorities, Leaguers, diving helmet collectors, and vintage SCUBA enthusiasts I contacted was that this damaged and forsaken movie prop should be restored: hopefully, while maintaining as much authenticity as possible. I gave it a lot of thought, and finally agreed that restoring the helmet was the right thing to do.

I felt a little awestruck and intimidated by the task. This was a genuine screen artifact: one of only four Crowntop Crew Diver helmets known to still be in existence. Everything I’d learned and all the skills I’d developed in my years of producing functional replicas of the Disney diving apparatus would now factor into restoring an authentic helmet. I felt like I was holding history in my hands.

In all, the restoration process took several months. Special efforts were made to preserve the aged patina and authentic SFX paint detailing, while returning the damaged metal artwork to its original form. Whenever possible, missing pieces were replaced with authentic vintage parts. No fiberglass or resin facsimiles were used. The metal “crown” was handmade using an actual Disney piece as the reference, and fit perfectly into the trace marks left over from the original installation when finished.

I also solicited opinions as to what should be done with the helmet after it was restored. Most believed if the helmet could be dived again, it should be. So during the restoration I serviced all of the functional systems, and returned the helmet to an operational condition. On Sunday, October 12, 2008, we performed a test dive in the swimming pool at Vulcania Submarine, Hawaii. The helmet passed with flying colors.

Then, on November 1, 2008, we took the equipment to the ocean and photographed it in the environment for which it was intended: under the sea. These events marked the first time any of the authentic Disney 20,000 Leagues diving gear had been used underwater in the fifty-four years since the movie made its debut.

The ocean dive was conducted at Puhi Bay on the East side of the island of Hawaii. We chose that spot because it was accessible and the shoreline provided an easy entry to the dive site. But the day was not without surprises. J

As 20,000 Leagues Director Richard Fleischer said, “The sea is always there to defeat you.” Diving from the coast into the open ocean, one can become subject to rapidly changing conditions. It got a little rough. Above left, I’m readjusting my tank harness after being jostled about in fairly strong currents. And on the right you can see the negative effect that halocline and particulate matter in the water have on clarity.

Here’s a close-up taken while I was walking out, and another as I was surfacing. The “spools” got tilted a bit as I was being bounced around in the surge, but the helmet performed as well for me as it did for the Disney Divers more than five decades ago.

Pat Regan and the World’s only operational authentic Disney 20,000 Leagues diving helmet.

In closing, here’s a recent picture of Disney Imagineer Chris Larson: the man who discovered this long-lost Leagues helmet and cared enough to save it from destruction. Without Chris, none of this would have happened. Because of him, a significant piece of Leagues history has been saved to dive again.

We’re proud to have Mr. Larson wear the colors reserved for our Vulcania Submarine dive crew. He can dive with us anytime. On behalf of 20,000 Leagues-fans everywhere: “Thanks for everything, Chris! You are a true Leaguer.” J

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