The Grant children _know_ their shipwrecked father must still be alive. Didn't he send them a message in a bottle? They search, through earthquake, fire, flood, and cannibal tribe.
In England in the 19th century, Professor Paganel, a whimsical French scientist, finds a floating bottle containing a note which he believes to have been written by the missing Captain Grant. Paganel and Grant's two teenaged children, Mary and Robert, approach wealthy shipping magnate Lord Glenarvan, the owner of Captain Grant's ship, and persuade him to finance a search expedition. Finally Paganel, Mary, Robert, Glenarvan, and his son John set sail for South America. In the Andes an earthquake sends them down a mountain on a glacier. A giant condor snatches up Robert, but Thalcave, an Indian chief, rescues him and later claims to know the whereabouts of Captain Grant. The group, after surviving a tidal wave and a lightning storm in their continuing search for Grant, discovers that the well-meaning Thalcave was mistaken; and they depart for Australia, where Paganel feels sure they will find Grant. In Melbourne they are met by Thomas Ayerton, who produces evidence that Captain Grant is in New Zealand. Unaware that Ayerton is the third mate who caused a mutiny on Grant's ship, the search party once more sets sail. Ayerton, a gunrunner, causes another mutiny; he sets the group adrift, and they are captured by Maori cannibals. They escape to a volcano and evade their pursuers by starting an avalanche which triggers off an eruption. They then find Captain Grant, overcome Ayerton and his mutineers, and sail for home. Songs : "Merci Beaucoup" (Paganel); "Grimpons!" (Paganel & Robert); "Enjoy It" (Mary, John, Robert & Paganel); "The Castaways Theme" (Mary).
