"Fantastic Voyage" (1968) - CLOSING

[EddietheHead32]

I love the ending with that labatory with all of the computers, cool show.

[MONGOOSE1ful]

This cartoon series was the second of 3 series Filmation Associates did,

in assoc. with ABC and 20th Century Fox TV.which included "JOURNEY

TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH" and "THE HARDY BOYS". this

version of "FANTASTIC VOYAGE" was well made,considering Filmation's

limited animation budget at that time-and years before its mega accomplish-

ment,"FLASH GORDON" in 1979. this cartoon series,which debuted on 9/14/68

was one of three Filmation series that fall-"THE BATMAN-SUPERMAN HOUR"

and THE ARCHIES

[TheSpelldoctor]

Yes indeed... No school like old ;)

[vilster2005]

Old school....this stuff needs to be brought back.

[bukster1]

I'd love to see some full episodes of this cartoon on YouTube

[tellusorbit]

@bukster1

You aren't the only one! Bring 'em on!

[bukster1]

@tellusorbit

I did get one episode that somebody uploaded. I had killer butterflies. I can't find it now, perhaps it's been removed.

I downloaded it, so if you're really interested. I could upload it somewhere you could check it out.

[zaius316]

One of the layout artists was Don Bluth!

[1137rr]

Look at the artwork. I think its awsome. It maybe cheap anamation compared to this crap they got on tv nowadays. I think this ending here they spent more time and detail on then the actual seens in the cartoon How about the charrectors. That Guy with the turbin Guru. He waves his hand and saves the day with some majic

[1137rr]

I was a little too young to have seen this when it was first showed on TV. 1968 through 1970 I was 3 and 4 years old. But when I was about 9 or 10.I caught this show on TV in Seattle it came on a station called KOST13 broadcast out of Bremerton. This was before cable. So for me to watch it I'd have to pull the rabbit ears up as high as they could go. Then manipulate them until it would show up enough to see. With snow and bad reception. I thought it was the coolest cartoon.

[lennomenno]

Watching this..I feel like I'm a kid again watching Saturday Morning Cartoons. I used to live for saturday Mornings.God bless YouTube. It's the closest thing we have to time travel.

[racookster]

So this is what Ted Knight did before he was Ted Baxter on Mary Tyler Moore!

I wonder what made them change the design of the miniaturizer from the film version. The honeycomb thing looked cool, but I guess it didn't have enough movement for a cartoon. It just sat there and glowed.

[bc81758]

Filmation was known to use stock footage to save money and keep animation in the USA.

Thumbs up to Lou for doing that.

[starstarstar42]

I loved this show as a kid, but even at the tender age of 7 I often wondered how many "miniaturized, unseen enemies of Freedom" there could really be. Tiny commies? Really?

[kidstl]

@starstarstar42  eh thats not the point asshole....like the above poster said,different america than...not the pussfied one you like and promote !

[starstarstar42]

@kidstl How..no really, HOW....can you possibly turn an funny comment about a vintage 60's cartoon into a political rant and a personal attack? I mean, you know there is medication for your condition, right? It's ok, most people who are Bipolar suffer with it silently. The symptoms are over-reaction to innocuous situations or comments (like you just demonstrated), and then escalating reaction to the same situation, which I predict is incoming in 5...4...3...2....

[kidstl]

@starstarstar42 first of all i am reporting you to youtube for a personal attack on me,uncal for & borders on slander,eh you dont know me 1st of all 2nd R U a doctor and are state certified to diagnost illness over the internet ?

my comment was to be taken in a comic way, as i said regarding another clip from this show, that its amazing the NWO people can shrink a crew and sub to explore inner-space, but cant make a bionic eye replacement for the capt., guess they have yet to encounter the BORG

[starstarstar42]

@kidstl

1. Ok, you fail at online sarcasm :) Next time, don't use insults or at least please stick a "j/k" or smiley face on the end, to convey intention to the receiving party. Do it, or I'll find where you live and visit you as you sleep, you stupid motherfucker... j/k :) See how that works?

2. I'm not a doctor, but I play one at the hospital that I've faked an I.D. card for, so yes, I'm qualified to diagnose you with Bipolar Disorder, or venereal disease.

3. Ok, it's all good :)

[chasxyz1234]

@kidstl Good point about the bionic eye. Must be the same kind of scientists they have on Star Trek original series. They have warp drive, teleporters, food creation out of nothing but poor Capt' Christopher Pike gets stuck with that shitty "wheelchair" with only ONE blinking light to communicate with. WTF, Stephen Hawking could kick his ass (if he stll has one) in a jousting match!

[Poco1997]

Brings back memories of all the classic cartoons I used to watch

[lennomenno]

Thanks for posting..Good memories...Anyone notice that even closing credits have become unwatchable? Gotta cram it... so you can't see or hear it ..so we can tell you what crappy show is coming up next.

[rredhawk]

Perhaps the reason for no people in this video is that it's test footage from when the series was being developed--before the characters were drawn. That or it's a "curtain call" for the TRUE stars of cartoons like this one (the technology, graphics, and sound effects themselves rather than the characters associated with them).

[rredhawk]

I definitely noticed a decline in the number of hi-tech, hi-adventure dramatic cartoons like this one, Space Ghost, and Johnny Quest after Scooby Doo became such a big hit. I stopped watching cartoons for the most part after this because it seemed most studios just wanted to produce teenage rock & roll themed shows which were at best goofy and at worst appealed to lazy imaginations.

[InfiniteMushroom]

Cartoons like this were for the Apollo generation when America was king and space was ours for the taking. We had a formidable competitor in the Soviet Union. We needed to raise up the Best and Brightest to compete and win.

To that end, cartoons like this were designed to stimulate scientific fantasy and grandiose aspirations. It was a different America then.

Compare then to the deindustrialized police-state ruins of today. Cartoons today are designed to stupefy kids into mindless anomic blobs

[MrMeefos]

spot on

[lAmRightYouAreWrong]

Does anyone know how long this show was on tv? I vaguely remember it as a little kid, the music was erie.

[Scarletspeedster68]

Fantasic Voyage aired for just two seasons from 1968-1970 on ABC.

[enigma413]

Love the creepy music.

[lomasloco70]

i remember as a kid when the closing credits showed up, just got mesmerized. the images of the lonely place and the wooooo-wooo sounds. i've felt like ghosts took over the place. (actually, maybe they ran it all the time! lol!) miss this series. bring back gooood mem'ries... thanx 4 postin'!

[ssosmcin]

There's something very creepy about the end credits. The music coupled with the totally abandoned control center and that odd "boom" at the end. Used to give me chills as a little kid.

[ocmike34]

i do agree that stuff on nickelodeon is horrible nowadays but

cartoons went downhill after that immature sponge came around imo 

rip

good cartoons

'60's-'05

[benjaminvlz]

@ocmike34 SpongBob SquarePants came out in 1999.

[kelloggs2066]

I must say, I really love the creepy, intense music. Thank you for posting this! Brings back memories!

[RomanTix]

I saw both the Fantastic Voyage movie with Raquel Welch as well as this cartoon. To see this intro again sure brings back memories.

And, yes, the ending is very moody and creepy :)

[wangershairpiece]

way too cool. kids these days have no idea what a good story line and animation can do; compared to the s*it that is blasted to them on Disney, Nick, and Cartoon network,

[coolspindrift]

You are absolutely right about that!

[smoothpoppa2007]

that's for damn sure! All these BS Japanese weird crap cartoons..What do they call it ?? Hentei or something? The ONLY good Japanese cartoon was Speed Racer...Saturday morning cartoons are a fucking JOKE now!

[emptysatisfaction]

I don't suppose anyone caught the name Don Bluth as one of the layout artists?

[2005dave]

Umm... yeah...

[Scarletspeedster68]

I did. He not only worked on this series, but also on the 1969 special, "Archie and His New Pals", which introduced Sabrina, The Teenage Witch", who couple years later.

[06pittor]

it is really a cool music, i would like to find some other themes of this kind, and sound effects too. I'm exploring YouTube searching for all the intros and theme songs of these 60's cartoons but i can't find it on Cd or on E-Mule. Do you know some site where to find more informations ??

[PrinceAndrew100]

The music on this show is out there, so great.

[Shawnster65]

What makes it even creepeier, is that the lab is actually alive, and doing it's own thing as the music plays. This is perhaps the creepiest and strangest set of sound effects this side of an Irwin Allen show, Lost In Space and The Time Tunnel come to mind.

[reelsiriuspwnage]

Interesting trivia: the character Erica Lane was named after both of Lou Scheimer's kids!

[rnigma]

This was before Norm and Lou put their names in a rotating circle (probably arose from an argument over billing), and Hal Sutherland had his billing "signature" style.

I noticed oldtimers such as Dave Tendlar (Fleischer), Norm McCabe and George Grandpre (WB) among the animators.

And I always wondered who "Xenia" was. I thought it was a cool name as a kid.

[GandSAfan]

Hal Sutherland eventually had his billing mention in a "signature" and Norm Prescott and Lou Scheimer had theirs in a rotating circle.

[jupitr2]

Don Bluth listed at the bottom of the screen under Layout at 0:14, started his work at Disney and then brought us several theatrical animated movies in the 70's for Disney. He later made the animation for the cult favorite arcade games of the early 80's, 'Dragon's Lair' and 'Space Ace.' Loved this show and wish Saturday mornings were what they used to be, full of great cartoons!

[Scarletspeedster68]

Interesting that you mention Don Bluth as he also worked on another Filmation series, that being The Archie Show, which like Fantastic Voyage debuted in 1968, having the highest rating for Saturday morning television with a 55 share. Ahh... these were the good old days! :)

[Scarletspeedster68]

Did you also notice that there was at least one other staff member at Filmation who once worked with Lou Scheimer and Hal Sutherland of particular prominence, that being Erv Kaplan, who was served as background director for virtually every animated series Filmation produced from Superman to BraveStarr? Talk about dedication! :)

[wmbrown6]

I've noticed that Filmation at that time had a thing for using Standard Medium (known today as AG Old Face Bold - the "AG" being Akzidenz Grotesk) for its closing credits - which they also did for "Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down?"

[TheLSK]

Sadly, this cartoon wasn't really that popular in its day and wound up in Sunday Morning Graveyard until around 1969 or 70. But, I enjoyed it...and it got me thinking why I've seen a lot of beefs about this "old school done-the-hard-way" animation, especially by Filmation. Will someone tell me why if it was so bad, then why is it more entertaining than most of today's prime time fare and certainly the dreck that calls itself animation today...(

[bull705]

Filmation's strong points were scriptwriting and creating overall concepts.The animation wasn't bad for its time since most Saturday Morning shows of that time (be they Filmation or Hanna-Barbera)were using a less expensive method so as to produce more episodes quicker.However when compared to current techniques,it doesn't look as impressive.

[Scarletspeedster68]

You make some good points, but keep in mind that Filmation started out from an empty bank building with 24 empty desk drawers and a mannequin made to look like a receptionist, but they went on to become a successful company, producing all their shows in the US. Besides, some of the shows I watched from them were not only entertaining, but educational as well, whether the animation was good or not. :)

[bull705]

I didn't mean to be critical.I am also a fan of a lot of Filmation's work,but mass production combined with the technology of the time meant they had to compensate by making scripts and other aspects stronger.

[Scarletspeedster68]

Its cool. Btw, Lou Scheimer has a book coming out next month called "Creating the Filmation Generation" which I plan to get a copy of that since I missed out on the last one which was authored by Darrell McNeil and Michael Swanigan called "Animation By Filmation" in 1993.

[bull705]

Sounds cool.His interview on the "Archie Show" DVD set was pretty interesting.

[ccie12933]

I didn't look at the comments here before watching this, and I thought "Man, the ending of this show used to scare me to death!" :)

Reminds me of the later Spidey '68 cartoons - very moody. Especially odd since most cartoon closings then were simply panels from the opening.

Great stuff, thanks for posting it.

[bull705]

Oddly enough they just slowed the tempo of the opening theme for most of the closing credits.However combined with the images it's pretty intense.

[Blackroo1967]

And instead of using a mechanical sound for that

machine, they used the sound of a rattlesnake.

Rattlesnakes *ARE* pretty scary by themselves,

you know.

[MR1227]

I wonder who did the theme music...I don't see it in the end credits. It was one of the coolest and moodiest of themes for any cartoon show!

[vinylrecord68]

The theme music was composed by Robert Allen and Spencer Raymond (listed under the voice cast at 00:24-00:26)

[jonparshall]

I agree that this is some of the coolest and creepiest theme music I've ever heard. I remember as a kid (I was six when this show was on) that the music was just awesome.

[06pittor]

it is really a cool music, i would like to find some other themes of this kind, and sound effects too. I'm exploring YouTube searching for all the intros and theme songs of these 60's cartoons but i can't find it on Cd or on E-Mule. Do you know some site where to find more informations ??

[bsisko212]

Even the music within the show was pretty good. Very exciting, with a pop-jazz feel.

[lazyel]

If you want to see a episodes of Fantastic voyage and journey to the center of the Earth then you should visit a site called (type Saturday morning blog in your web browser)Saturday morning blog ,the best and worst animation.

[lawford42]

Comments Part 4:

Absolutely the most frightening end credits to any cartoon I've ever seen, and the music conveys that feeling perfectly. The only other television music I can think of (animated or live action) that parallels this is the closing theme to Gerry Anderson's UFO.

[lawford42]

Comments Part 3:

I used to watch this show when WNEW Channel 5 in NYC ran it in the mid 70's at 4:30 in the afternoon, right after Journey to the Center of the Earth (4 PM). Come November/December the living room was dark because the sun had set, and if there weren't any other lights on it was just me, these end credits, and my overactive imagination. As scary as I thought they were though, I couldn't quite pull myself away either.

[lawford42]

Comments Part 2:

Couple that with the weird angles they show- first from the top of the three towers, then even higher in the control room looking down on those same towers- and you have this almost backwards remote viewing going on. And the music captures the whole thing perfectly. Anyone with kenophobia (fear of large empty spaces) probably got a little unnerved watching these. I wonder who's idea it was to give it that dark, haunted feel?

[lawford42]

Comments Part 1:

I remember watching them as a child and thinking that they were flat out scary, and it wasn't until I saw them again as an adult that I finally figured out what had bothered me. Basically, you see panning shots of this massive, empty laboratory/building that has apparently come to life on it's own.

[Shawnster65]

Right on SellawEvets! I must have heard most of those sound FX on Lost In Space, every time Will and Dr. Smith walked into that one cave that was always populated by the alien of the week, LOL. Great fun!

[Shawnster65]

This is the eeriest ending to any cartoon I have ever seen..it's like the lab is alive on it's own.

Add those great Irwin Allen-esque sound FX in the background as the music plays, and the illusion is complete. Great ending!

[SellawEvets]

My thoughts exactly! I can't think of any other cartoon theme anywhere near as eerie.

Another lost cartoon that needs to be released on DVD.

[bsisko212]

FVC was pretty intelligent stuff for a kid's cartoon. Did anyone note that Jonathan Kidd may have been the second cartoon character to comply to current ADA guidelines? The first one of course was Porky Pig. The 60s even produced progressive cartoons. BTW, is Guru supposed to be Sikh? If so what happened to his mustache and beard?