seriously!

My son is interested in underground sewers. He's building a large network of sewers in Minecraft right now. Do you have any ideas for links, books, resources for us? We thought of movies like Turtle Ninja and Les Misérables but what else? He's 11. Thank you very much!

Ratatouille - the video game takes place partly in the sewers. The game is very basic, but fun. And the sewers are beautifully done.

Also this book is very good. Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization "The unsung hero of human history was, of course, the Brain of Drains, the Hub of Tubs, the Power of Showers, the Brewer of Sewers...the humble plumber." -- W. Hodding Carter When we consider the amenities that really make a difference in our well-being, surely good plumbing must rank near the top...

there is some fascinating info on the london sewage system on wikipedia and this featured in a documentary my kids really enjoyed. London's Sewers are a triumph of Victorian engineering.

Just yesterday, Marty was telling me and Holly that in Las Vegas, Nevada, there are BIG storm drains big enough to handle a flood that comes only every hundred years or so, and that homeless people live down there, with furniture and everything, and the city would just clear them out if a rain storm was imminent.

Phantom of the opera (which might not be interesting to an 11 year old)

I googled you some lists that might be scary, or not. He might be just interested in slight facts about movies with sewers:

10 Movies in Sewers. Seems he could have called that one "Sewers in Movies" rather than "Movies in Sewers, but hey... it's not my list.

Here's something about movie posters with manhole covers. Sewer Cinema: Manholes in Movie Posters

The 10 finest sewers of B-movie cinema

Note from Sandra (green):
This article is funny. It starts off "Sooner or later, all monsters end up hiding in a sewer. Here’s our list of 10 particularly fine B-movie drainage systems…"

Of course the #1 poster was an image that was on the wall at our house for years, and on the cover of a record album we owned, and a cassette tape, and a VHS tape. That poster is iconic and many men in their 20's and 30's now know very well which of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles he most identifies with, and why. Many had the sewer playset, which is preserved in a museum in London (and probably other places).

Marty says if you're not squeamish about video games with rough language and shooting, Fallout 3 has much of its action in the underground of futuristic(ish) Washington DC, in the Metro tunnels and side passages of that.

The new Batman movie ("The Dark Knight Rises") has sewer action, and Marty says it's not too rough for an 11 year old. "That would be AWESOME if I was 11--best movie EVER!"

Amazing Spiderman, Marty says, has a bad-guy lair in the sewer so a lot of the fighting takes place, and Spiderman makes a web like a spider would to find the guy. (I'm typing as Marty tells stories enthusiastically.)

Ratatouille has sewer scenes!

Ashlee (Marty's girlfriend) says "Volcano" has lava coming down into underground tunnels. Subway? Terrible movie, they said. But tunnels.

Marty wonders whether it's specifically sewers and flow and drainage, or could it be tunnels or other underground passages.

Super Mario Brothers Movie (still.... Marty talking...). Not a good movie, but some sewers. Depends what he's looking for. (Marty says)

Futurama has "Old New York," under New York, where the mutants live, and it's all done like sewers.

Is Dirty Jobs on Netflix?

"Flushed Away," rats being flushed and having an adventure in the sewer system somewhere in England.

Titanic has tight corridors and water.

Monk has an eisode in the sewers

There is a fair bit of sewer action in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Jim read a book called The Big Necessity which might be hard for him to read himself--maybe you could read it and tell him about the interesting bits...

I was going to say Spiderman too - the half-reptile dude lives in the sewers...There are lots of resources on the history of London's sewer system if you google that (lots of cool maps and info)

This looks promising and has awesome pictures of sewers (if you like that kind of thing!) Sub-Urban Main Drainage of the Metropolis

2024 note: That site has a safety warning now, but I've linked to a 2013 archived page that's safe, and from there (the wayback machine) you can look at other saved dates.

Welcome to the site. Presumably you've arrived here out of some interest in London's sewerage and drainage network? It is a subject that scholars, historians and enthusiasts have dedicated many hours of study to. Relatively few of these hours however have been given over to practical studies of the infrastructure itself. Having a keen interest in London history and a penchant for underground escapades we hope to redress the balance a little in that regard. Site content is somewhat slim at the moment, but with time that will change. Take a look around, a quick search is probably a good place to start.

Part of the second Harry Potter takes place in a sewer, and Archer's Goon has a passage set in a sewer, if he's interested in fiction set in those places.

There's an episode of 'Come Outside' about how sewerage works, it might be a bit young for him but interesting:

Ratatouille has * sewer scenes* in Paris.

I know it's kind of old, but you can also check out the tv series "Beauty and the Beast (1987), with Linda Hamilton. I remember there were a lot of scenes that were underground.

From the wikipedia description: "Catherine Chandler (played by Linda Hamilton) is abducted, beaten, and slashed and left to die in Central Park inadvertently mistaken for Carol Stabler. She is rescued and cared for by Vincent (played by Ron Perlman) who has taken her to Father (played by Roy Dotrice), head of a hidden community of people dwelling in tunnels below the city of New York." Beauty and the Beast

Neil Gaiman's book Neverwhere takes place in underground London. There are sewer parts in it too.

Cities of the Underworld on the History Channel

There's a Modern Marvels episode on sewers. Sewers - Modern Marvels - History Channel Documentary

There's a lovely huge article in National Geographic (probably about 1 year ago) with pull-out maps and the history of the underground tunnels dating back a long time. I bet someone with a subscription could dig it out (pun!!) for you. Apparently Rome has quite a few, too... happy exploring!
Paris Catacombs - National Geographic Magazine

Research "mole people". There are groups of people that live in abandoned subway tunnels (not sewers, I knoe but thought he might be interested in tunnels also) in NYC.

There was a good "Bones" episode in season 1 called "The Woman in the Tunnel" that included an underground society of homeless people as well as secret treasure. Also, the book "City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau is about an entirely underground society. There was a movie, too, but I don't know if it's good (didn't get great reviews).

There is a Terry Pratchet book -Dodger which is set in Victorian London and has a lot of detail about sewers. I don't know how sensitive to sex or death your 13 year old is but I think there's some mild element of each... so maybe read it first- it's very good.

My mum suggests The Third Man (film)

Hey! Don't know how far you live from Seattle, but your son may enjoy a tour of the Seattle Underground. There's an interesting history about how it developed, including the Great Seattle Fire and some city planning to prevent flush toilets from backing up when Elliot Bay is at high tide.

The episode of The Tick (the animated version) "The Tick vs Filth" takes place mostly in the sewer and focuses on the superhero Sewer Urchin.

TIME PASSED...

Lafamille Laferrière-Meloche wrote a month later, on May 17, 2013:

A few weeks ago, I came here asking for ideas for the interest of my son for sewers. We explored most of these ideas and I also asked my city to arrange a visit! Here's a little video that my son made (translated by me) about it (he wants to share his work with you). There is a little something for you in the end... 🙂

I don't know if you want more sewer resources but the Magician series by Raymond Feist has a lot of action in the sewers, the thief networks in all the cities operate from the sewers and the storyline frequently goes down there.

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