I cauf=ght the 1954 classic on TCM-why is Disney allowing one of their precious films to be hawked by turner? Anyway, a question about captain Nemo: his uniform jacket has two braod strips with one narrow stripe-which denotes the rank of Lietenant commander-shopuldn’t he have had 4 stripes? of course, its his own navy, so he can do waht he wants. Anyway: I was under the impression that Disney strictly controls the distribution and broadcast of its films-so how did TBS get hold of this one?
20,000 Leagues ??? Wow that’s deep !!! 
As a kid, the title bothered me quite a bit. The sea isn’t 20,000 fathoms deep! (Exc ept once, for 20 minutes, in 1960)
I finally figured out it meant that the ship traveled a distance of 20,000 transverse leagues while under water.
Oh.
As for Nemo’s uniform, I don’t recall the descriptionj in the book, but I’ll bet the folks at Disney made it up. And theres no reason Nemo’s system of bars had to correlate with any existing Navy’s, so he could make it any style he wanted.
Cal, perhaps you are unfamiliar with a Saturday Night Live sketch from about 14 years ago.
In a way, that is a running joke at the SDMB (nowhere near the popularity of 1920’s style death rays) but every now and then it “surfaces” you might say. 
Darn, it seems Bryan Ekers was a bit quicker at posting that link.
My posting would have gone through sooner but at the moment I’m …
20,000 leagues under the sea.
Different navies use different systems.
In many navies, junior officers (ensign to lieutenant) wear 1 to 3 narrow stripes, while senior officers (lt. cmdr. to captain) wear 1 broad stripe below 1 to 3 narrow stripes [which, in the USN, would indicate an flag officer].
In some countries, the navy wears army insignia [and sometimes even use army rank titles].
By the way, in the early scenes, they are aboard a USN ship, with the crew dressed in Civil War era uniforms. That captain wears 6 stripes!
Does anyone happen to know what insignia would have been used in the Indian navy at the time? That’s probably what Nemo would most likely have based his insignia off of (he being an Indian prince, of course).
In the time period when the books were set, those uniforms would look very much like British Navy uniforms.
and besides, he was supposed to be Polish, I believe. Verne changed Nemo to Indian at his publisher’s insistance so as to not offend his legions of Russian readers.
In the late 19th Century, India was under British rule
Royal Navy
http://www.uniforminsignia.net/index.php?p=show&id=133&sid=973
modern Indian Navy
http://www.uniforminsignia.net/index.php?p=show&id=145&sid=1208
In the late 19th Century, Poland was under Russian and German rule
Russian Empire
http://www.uniforminsignia.net/index.php?p=show&id=229&sid=1722
German Empire
http://www.uniforminsignia.net/index.php?p=show&id=237&sid=2539
modern Poland
http://www.uniforminsignia.net/index.php?p=show&id=118&sid=278
That website only shows the shoulder insignia for the Russians and Germans. I may be wrong, but I believe that both used sleeve insignia similar to the UK/modern US system, ie., 4 stripes for a Captain.
Also, regardless of rank, the Commander of a ship or boat, (subs are boats), is the Captain
Commander is a perfectly good rank for a modern nuclear submarine captain, maybe Nemo was just ahead of the curve and Disney right on target.
Here: let me check my 1963 Disney “Big Golden Book” of 20,000 Leagues…. In most of the illustrations, he has 2 stripes on his sleeve. On page 29, though, he has a yellow cuff with a fleur-de-lis-type emblem. I hope this clears up any confusion.
… I never knew Moriarty was Indian…