Fantastic Voyage (TV series)
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Fantastic Voyage is an American animated science fiction TV series based on the famous 1966 film directed by Richard Fleischer. The series consists of 17 episodes each running 30 minutes. It was run on ABC-TV from September 14, 1968 through September 5, 1970. The series was produced by Filmation Associates in association with Twentieth Century Fox, and was the story of the C.M.D.F. (Combined Miniature Defense Force), a secret United States government organization which possessed the ability to reduce people to microscopic size. The characters were Commander Jonathan Kidd; biologist Erica Lane; scientist Busby Birdwell; and a master of mysterious powers known as The Guru. The team was reduced in size and traveled around in a microscopic flying submarine, the Voyager, doing battle against the unseen, unsuspecting enemies of the free world (both criminal and germinal matter). The series featured the voices of Marvin Miller, Jane Webb, and Ted Knight. The producers were Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott, the director was Hal Sutherland, and the music was provided by Gordon Zahler.
[edit] Trivia
- Ted Knight, who provided character voice and narration, is most famous for playing Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
- In the motion picture, the initials CMDF stood for Combined Miniaturized Deterrent Forces. The producers felt that most kids wouldn't understand the word 'deterrent' and changed the initials to mean Combined Miniature Defense Force.
- Despite the series only running 17 episodes (one season), Aurora Model Company produced a plastic model of 'The Voyager' in 1970. This kit received only one press run, and as a result is one of the rarest kits to find of the Aurora line. Unbuilt, in-box kits have been sold on eBay for upwards of $3000.00 USD, while assembled versions - most in varied conditions ranging from "acceptable" to "obviously played with in the bathtub for at least two years" - are sold for $300.00 to $500.00, depending on condition. Polar Lights, a company specializing in retooling and reissuing old Aurora kits, had plans to produce new releases of this kit, but was unable to locate an unbuilt or even very good condition built copy of an original kit from which to remaster a set of molds. With the acquisition of Polar Lights by Racing Champions 2 and the refocusing of the product line towards model car kits and some specialty Star Trek models, odds are further diminished that a remastered, more affordable version of this kit will be forthcoming in the near future, if at all.
