One of my favorite things to do is to occasionally peruse the Ideas portion of the LEGO site. I’m constantly impressed by just how creative people can be, and how much the love of a particular thing and/or intellectual property can lead to something that someday everyone could buy and build and have in their own home. Now, obviously not all of the ideas can make it to the shelf (there’s a heavy vetting process) but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to see what things people can come up with.

One project I DO hope makes it to the next stage is builder Orion Pax’s truly excellent Nautilus set, based on the Disney film version of the Jules Verne novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The submarine design for the movie was done by Harper Goff and Pax has used it as the basis for his ship, right down to the portholes, propellers, and ladders on the side. It’s a steampunk masterpiece by way of the 1950s.

As gorgeous as the ship looks, and it really does, I think my favorite part is how accurate the character minifigs are. A great representation of James Mason as Captain Nemo, whose shifty eyes are definitely not those of the normal LEGO figure. Kirk Douglas’ hapless guitar-playing sailor Ned Land is just as smiley and macho as the film character, and if you thought “What would it be like if they made a Peter Lorre LEGO Minifig?” but assumed you’d never get to find out, then I can happily report you are mistaken. (He’s basically just a hairless Bilbo Baggins.)

You can enjoy the full gallery below.

You have a week left as of this writing to sign the petition and get this set on to the next stage. I recommend doing so, if for no other reason than the obscurity of having a set based on a 1954 film version of a 19th Century novel.

And just to prove how close to accurate it is, here’s the trailer for the film.

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IMAGES: ORION PAX