Fantastic Voyage
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''Fantastic Voyage'' is a 1966 American
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...
directed by
Richard Fleischer Richard O. Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave. Though he ...
and written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and
Jerome Bixby Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby (January 11, 1923 – April 28, 1998) was an American short-story writer and scriptwriter. He wrote the 1953 story " It's a Good Life", which was the basis of a 1961 episode of ''The Twilight Zone'' and was included ...
. The film is about a submarine crew who are shrunk to microscopic size and venture into the body of an injured scientist to repair damage to his brain. Kleiner abandoned all but the concept of miniaturization and added a Cold War element. The film starred
Stephen Boyd Stephen Boyd (born William Millar; 4 July 1931 – 2 June 1977) was a Northern Irish actor. He appeared in some 60 films, most notably as the villainous Messala in '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), a role that earned him the Golden Globe Award for Bes ...
,
Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in '' Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hamm ...
,
Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien w ...
,
Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...
, and Arthur Kennedy.
Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...
obtained the rights for a paperback novelization based on the
screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...
and approached
Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
to write it. Because the novelization was released six months before the movie, many people mistakenly believed that the film was based on Asimov's book. Its modern and imaginative production design received five nominations at the 39th Academy Awards mostly in technical departments, winning for Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction in Color. The movie used the concept of
miniaturization Miniaturization ( Br.Eng.: ''Miniaturisation'') is the trend to manufacture ever smaller mechanical, optical and electronic products and devices. Examples include miniaturization of mobile phones, computers and vehicle engine downsizing. In ele ...
in
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
along with ''
The Incredible Shrinking Man ''The Incredible Shrinking Man'' is a 1957 American science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold based on Richard Matheson's 1956 novel '' The Shrinking Man''. The film stars Grant Williams as Scott and Randy Stuart as Scott's wife Louise. ...
'' and inspired an animated television series of the same name.


Plot

The
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
have both developed technology that can miniaturize matter by shrinking individual atoms, but only for one hour. Scientist Dr. Jan Benes, working behind the
Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
, has figured out how to make the process work indefinitely. With the help of American intelligence agents, including agent Charles Grant, he escapes to the West and arrives in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, but an attempted assassination leaves him
coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
tose with a
blood clot A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of ...
in his brain that no surgery can remove from the outside. To save his life, Grant, Navy pilot Captain Bill Owens, medical chief and circulatory specialist Dr. Michaels, surgeon Dr. Peter Duval, and his assistant Cora Peterson are placed aboard a Navy
ichthyology Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octob ...
submarine at the Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces facilities. The submarine, named ''
Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus (; Ancient Greek: Πρωτεύς, ''Prōteus'') is an early prophetic sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" ''(hálios gérôn)''. ...
'', is then miniaturized to "about the size of a microbe", and injected into Benes' body. The team has 60 minutes to get to and remove the clot; after this, ''Proteus'' and its crew will begin reverting to their normal size, become vulnerable to Benes's immune system, and kill Benes. The crew faces many obstacles during the mission. An undetected
arteriovenous fistula An arteriovenous fistula is an abnormal connection or passageway between an artery and a vein. It may be congenital, surgically created for hemodialysis treatments, or acquired due to pathologic process, such as trauma or erosion of an arterial ...
forces them to detour through the heart, where
cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...
must be induced to, at best, reduce turbulence that would be strong enough to destroy ''Proteus''. As the crew faces an unexplained loss of oxygen and must replenish their supply in the lungs, Grant finds the surgical
laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...
needed to destroy the clot was damaged from the turbulence in the heart, as it was not fastened down as it had been before: this and his safety line snapping loose while the crew was refilling their air supply has Grant begin to suspect a
saboteur Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identiti ...
is on the mission. The crew must cannibalize their wireless radio to repair the laser, cutting off all communication and guidance from the outside, although because the sub is nuclear powered, surgeons and technicians outside Benes's body are still able to track their movements via a radioactive tracer, allowing General Alan Carter and Colonel Donald Reid, the officers in charge of CMDF, to figure out the crew's strategies as they make their way through the body. The crew is then forced to pass through the inner ear, requiring all outside personnel to make no noise to prevent destructive shocks, but while the crew is removing reticular fibers clogging the sub's vents and making the engines overheat, a fallen surgical tool causes the crew to be thrown about and Cora is nearly killed by
antibodies An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...
, but they are able to reboard the sub in time. By the time they finally reach the clot, the crew has only six minutes remaining to operate and then exit the body. Before the mission, Grant had been briefed that Duval was the prime suspect as a potential surgical assassin, but as the mission progresses, he instead begins to suspect Michaels. During the surgery, Dr. Michaels knocks out Owens and takes control of ''Proteus'' while the rest of the crew is outside for the operation. As Duval finishes removing the clot with the laser, Michaels tries to crash the submarine into the same area of Benes' brain to kill him. Grant fires the laser at the ship, causing it to veer away and crash, and Michaels to get trapped in the wreckage with the controls pinning him to the seat, which attracts the attention of
white blood cell White blood cells, also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cell (biology), cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. All white blood cells are produced and de ...
s. While Grant saves Owens from the ''Proteus'', Michaels is killed when a white blood cell consumes the ship. The remaining crew quickly swim to one of Benes' eyes and escape through a tear duct seconds before returning to normal size.


Cast

*
Stephen Boyd Stephen Boyd (born William Millar; 4 July 1931 – 2 June 1977) was a Northern Irish actor. He appeared in some 60 films, most notably as the villainous Messala in '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), a role that earned him the Golden Globe Award for Bes ...
as Charles Grant, a CIA Agent enlisted to protect Benes *
Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in '' Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hamm ...
as Cora Peterson, the technical assistant for Dr. Duval *
Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien w ...
as General Alan Carter, one of the officers in charge of Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces *
Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...
as Dr. Michaels, CMDF's medical chief and a circulatory specialist later revealed to be the saboteur of the mission *
Arthur O'Connell Arthur Joseph O'Connell (March 29, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an American stage, film and television actor, who achieved prominence in character roles in the 1950s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both ''Pic ...
as Colonel Donald Reid, the operational commander for Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces * William Redfield as Captain Bill Owens, a U.S. Navy officer who designed the ''Proteus'' for his branch's research and development program * Arthur Kennedy as Dr. Peter Duval, a top-class brain surgeon enlisted to perform the surgery on Benes *
Jean Del Val Jean Del Val (born Jean Jacques Gauthier; 17 November 1891 – 13 March 1975) was a French-born actor, also credited as Jean Gauthier and Jean Gautier. Career He played roles during the Hollywood silent era, beginning with ''The Fortunes of Fif ...
as Dr. Jan Benes, the comatose scientist who perfected the formula for unlimited miniaturization *
Barry Coe Barry S. Coe (born Barry Clark Heacock; November 26, 1934 – July 16, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in film and on television from 1956–1978. Many of his movie parts were minor, but he co-starred in one series, titled '' Follow the ...
as communications aide *
Ken Scott Ken Scott (born 20 April 1947) is a British record producer and engineer known for being one of the five main engineers for the Beatles, as well as engineering Elton John, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Duran Duran, the Jeff B ...
as a
Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
agent *
Shelby Grant Shelby Grant (born Brenda Thompson; October 19, 1936 – June 25, 2011) was an American actress whose credits included ''Our Man Flint'', ''Fantastic Voyage'', and '' Medical Center''. Early life Grant was born on October 19, 1936 in Orlando, O ...
as nurse *
James Brolin James Brolin (, born Craig Kenneth Bruderlin; July 18, 1940) is an American actor. Brolin has won two Golden Globes and an Emmy. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 27, 1998. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin. He ...
as technician


Production

The film was the original idea of Otto Klement and
Jerome Bixby Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby (January 11, 1923 – April 28, 1998) was an American short-story writer and scriptwriter. He wrote the 1953 story " It's a Good Life", which was the basis of a 1961 episode of ''The Twilight Zone'' and was included ...
. They sold it to Fox, which announced the film would be "the most expensive science-fiction film ever made."
Richard Fleischer Richard O. Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave. Though he ...
was assigned to direct and
Saul David Professor Julian Saul David (born 1966) is a British academic military historian and broadcaster. He is best known for his work on the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the Anglo-Zulu War, as well as for presenting and appearing in documentaries on ...
to produce; both men had worked at the studio before. Fleischer had originally studied medicine and human anatomy in college before choosing to be a movie director. Harry Kleiner was brought in to work on the script. The budget was set at $5 million. The budget went up to $6 million, $3 million of which went on the sets and $1 million on test footage. The Proteus submarine was constructed as a full-size set piece 42 feet long, first seen in the "miniaturizer" room and later in scenes set outside the lung and inside the inner ear, when the cast was to be seen "swimming" (actually suspended by wires) outside the sub. The full-size Proteus mockup contained all the interior sets that the actors are seen in to represent the interior of the sub, with sections that could be pulled out to allow for cameras and crew to film the interior. The sub was also constructed in miniature, including a large miniature around five feet in length that could be flown on wires in the abstract sets representing the inside of the human body. The heart and brain sets built to accommodate the five-foot miniature filled a soundstage on the Fox lot—these were filmed "dry for wet," with floating, blob-shaped elements meant to be blood cells filmed separately and composited over the footage. A smaller, 18-inch miniature of the Proteus was constructed to operate in liquid for a shot of the submarine bursting through an arterial wall early in the movie. A tiny Proteus miniature just a few inches in length was made for the miniaturization sequence to show the ship being picked up by a "precision handling device" and dropped into a large glass cylinder which was then miniaturized to become part of a syringe that would inject the Proteus into the brain-injured scientist. The film starred Stephen Boyd, making his first Hollywood movie in five years. It was the first role at Fox for Raquel Welch, who was put under contract to the studio after being spotted in a beauty contest by David's wife. For the technical and artistic elaboration of the subject, Fleischer asked for the collaboration of two people of the crew that he had worked with on the production of ''
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...
'', the film he directed for
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
in 1954. The designer of the ''Nautilus'' from the Jules Verne adaptation,
Harper Goff Harper Goff (March 16, 1911 – March 3, 1993), born Ralph Harper Goff, was an American artist, musician, and actor. For many years, he was associated with The Walt Disney Company, in the process of which he contributed to various major film ...
, also designed the ''Proteus;'' the same technical advisor, Fred Zendar, collaborated on both productions. At one point in the movie's preproduction it was positioned as one of the Derek Flint spy spoof movies starring James Coburn, which were produced by 20th Century Fox and Saul David. Several script pages sampled in the bonus features of the 2012 DVD release of Fantastic Voyage show Stephen Boyd's Grant character (who, like Flint, is a secret agent) being identified as Flint, and some of Flint's wisecracks about not wanting to be miniaturized survive to be uttered by Boyd's Grant in Fantastic Voyage. Years later comic actor Mike Myers proposed making an installment of his own Austin Powers spy spoof movies called Shagtastic Voyage, in which Powers would be injected into the body of Dr. Evil. The military headquarters is and the ''Proteus'' . The artery, in resin and fiberglass, is long and wide; the heart is and the brain is . The plasma effect was produced by chief operator Ernest Laszlo via the use of multicolored turning lights, placed on the outside of translucent decors. "There are no precedents so we must proceed by trial and error", said David. Frederick Schodt's book ''The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution'' claims that Fox had wanted to use ideas from an episode of Japanese animator
Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu''; – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such ...
's ''
Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan by its original name , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 ''tankōbon'' vo ...
'' in the film, but it never credited him. Isaac Asimov, asked to write the novelization from the script, declared that the script was full of
plot hole In fiction, a plot hole, plothole or plot error is a gap or inconsistency in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic established by the story's plot. Plot holes are usually created unintentionally, often as a result of editing or the w ...
s, and received permission to write the book the way he wanted. The novel came out first because he wrote quickly and because of delays in filming.Asimov 1980:363


Biological issues and accuracy

In the film, the crew (apart from the saboteur) manage to leave Benes's body safely before reverting to normal size, but the ''Proteus'' remains inside, as do the remains of the saboteur's body (albeit digested by a
white blood cell White blood cells, also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cell (biology), cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. All white blood cells are produced and de ...
), and several gallons (full scale) of a carrier solution (presumably saline) used in the injection syringe. Isaac Asimov pointed out that this was a serious logical flaw in the plot, since the submarine (even if reduced to bits of debris) would also revert to normal size, killing Benes in the process. Therefore, in his novelization Asimov had the crew provoke the white cell into following them, so that it drags the submarine to the tear duct, and its wreckage expands outside Benes's body. Asimov solved the problem of the syringe fluid by having the staff inject only a very small amount of miniaturized fluid into Benes, minimizing its effect on him when it expands.


Music

The score was composed and conducted by
Leonard Rosenman Leonard Rosenman (September 7, 1924 – March 4, 2008) was an American film, television and concert composer with credits in over 130 works, including '' East of Eden'', ''Rebel without a Cause'', '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'', ''Beneath the ...
. The composer deliberately wrote no music for the first four reels of the film, before the protagonists enter the human body. Rosenman wrote that "the harmony for the entire score is almost completely atonal except for the very end when our heroes grow to normality".


Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews and a few criticisms. The weekly entertainment-trade magazine ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' gave the film a positive pre-release review, stating, "The lavish production, boasting some brilliant special effects and superior creative efforts, is an entertaining, enlightening excursion through inner space—the body of a man." (extract)
Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote, "Yessir, for straight science-fiction, this is quite a film—the most colorful and imaginative since '' Destination Moon''" (1950).
Richard Schickel Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for ''Time'' magazine from 1965–2010, and also w ...
of ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine wrote that the rewards would be "plentiful" to audiences who get over the "real whopper" of suspended disbelief required. He found that though the excellent special effects and sets could distract from the scenery's scientific purpose in the story, the "old familiar music of science fiction" in lush new arrangements was a "true delight", and the seriousness with which screenwriter Kleiner and director Fleischer treated the story made it more believable and fun. Schickel made note of, but dismissed, other critics' allegations of "
camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
." (archive) , the film holds a 91% approval rating at
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
from 33 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "The special effects may be a bit dated today, but ''Fantastic Voyage'' still holds up well as an imaginative journey into the human body."


Box office

According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $9,400,000 in rentals to break even and made $8,880,000, meaning it initially showed a slight loss, but television sales moved it into the black, and subsequent home video sales were almost entirely profit.


Awards and honors

The film won two
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
and was nominated for three more: * Academy Awards (1966) :Won: Best Art Direction – Color (
Jack Martin Smith Jack Martin Smith (January 2, 1911 - November 7, 1993) was a highly successful Hollywood art director with over 130 films to his credit and nine Academy Award nominations which ultimately yielded three Oscars. Career MGM He made his debut in 19 ...
,
Dale Hennesy Dale Hennesy (August 24, 1926 – July 20, 1981) was an American production designer and art director. Hennesy was the son of designers and layout artists for Walt Disney. He began working in motion pictures as an illustrator at Twentiet ...
, Walter M. Scott, Stuart A. Reiss) :Won: Best Special Effects ( Art Cruickshank) :Nominated: Best Cinematography (
Ernest Laszlo Ernest Laszlo, A.S.C. (born Ernő László; April 23, 1898 – January 6, 1984) was a Hungarian-American cinematographer for over 60 films, and was known for his frequent collaborations with directors Robert Aldrich and Stanley Kramer. He w ...
) :Nominated: Best Film Editing ( William B. Murphy) :Nominated:
Best Sound Editing This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...
(
Walter Rossi Walter Rossi (July 12, 1894 – February 12, 1978) was a sound editor who won 1 Academy Award and was nominated for 2 more Academy Awards. Oscar nominations * 1957 Academy Awards-Award for '' The Enemy Below'' in the category of Best Special ...
)


Novelization

After acquiring the film's paperback novelization rights,
Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...
approached Isaac Asimov to write the novelization, offering him a flat sum of $5,000 with no royalties involved. In his autobiography ''
In Joy Still Felt Isaac Asimov (–1992) wrote three volumes of autobiography. ''In Memory Yet Green'' (1979) and ''In Joy Still Felt'' (1980) were a two-volume work, covering his life up to 1978. The third volume, ''I. Asimov: A Memoir'' (1994), published after his ...
'', Asimov writes, "I turned down the proposal out of hand. Hackwork, I said. Beneath my dignity." However, Bantam Books persisted, and at a meeting with Marc Jaffe and Marcia Nassiter on April 21, 1965, Asimov agreed to read the screenplay. In the novelization's introduction, Asimov states that he was reluctant to write the book because he believed that the miniaturization of matter was physically impossible, but he decided that it was still good fodder for story-telling and that it could still make for some intelligent reading. In addition, 20th Century Fox was known to want someone with some science-fiction clout to help promote the film. Aside from the initial "impossibility" of the shrinking machine, Asimov went to great lengths to portray with great accuracy what it would actually be like to be reduced to infinitesimal scale. He discussed the ability of the lights on the sub to penetrate normal matter, issues of time distortion, and other side effects that the movie does not address. Asimov was also bothered by the way the wreck of ''Proteus'' was left in Benes. In a subsequent meeting with Jaffe, he insisted that he would have to change the ending so that the submarine was brought out. Asimov also felt the need to gain permission from his usual science-fiction publisher, Doubleday, to write the novel. Doubleday did not object, and had suggested his name to Bantam in the first place. Asimov began work on the novel on May 31, and completed it on July 23. Asimov did not want any of his books, even a film novelization, to appear only in paperback, so in August, he persuaded Austin Olney of
Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
to publish a hardcover edition, assuring him that the book would sell at least 8000 copies, which it did. However, since the rights to the story were held by Otto Klement, who had co-written the original story treatment, Asimov would not be entitled to any royalties. By the time the hardcover edition was published in March 1966, Houghton Mifflin had persuaded Klement to allow Asimov to have a quarter of the royalties. Klement also negotiated for ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
'' to serialize an abridged version of the novel, and he agreed to give Asimov half the payment for it. ''Fantastic Voyage'' (abridged to half its length) appeared in the February 26 and March 12, 1966 issues of the ''Post.'' Bantam Books released the paperback edition of the novel in September 1966 to coincide with the release of the film. Harry Harrison, reviewing the Asimov novelization, called it a "Jerry-built monstrosity", praising the descriptions of science-fiction events as "Asimov at his best", while condemning the narrative framework as "inane drivel".


Later adaptations


Related novels and comics

The film was adapted into a video game for
Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...
in 1982 by Fox Video Games. '' Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain'' (1987) was written by Isaac Asimov as an attempt to develop and present his own story apart from the 1966 screenplay. This novel is not a sequel to the original, but instead is a separate story taking place in the Soviet Union with an entirely different set of characters. ''Fantastic Voyage: Microcosm'' is a third interpretation, written by Kevin J. Anderson, published in 2001. This version has the crew of the ''Proteus'' explore the body of a dead alien that crash-lands on earth, and updates the story with such modern concepts as
nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...
(replacing killer white cells). A comic book adaptation of the film was released by
Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...
in 1967. Drawn by
Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...
, the book followed the plot of the movie with general accuracy, but many scenes were depicted differently and/or outright dropped, and the ending was given an epilogue similar as that seen in some of the early draft scripts for the film. A parody of the film titled "Fantastecch Voyage" was published in ''
Mad Magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several ...
''. It was illustrated by
Mort Drucker Morris "Mort" Drucker (March 22, 1929 – April 9, 2020) was an American caricaturist and comics artist best known as a contributor for over five decades in '' Mad'', where he specialized in satires on the leading feature films and televisio ...
and written by
Larry Siegel Lawrence H. Siegel (October 29, 1925 – August 20, 2019) was an American comedy writer and satirist who wrote for television, stage, magazines, records, and books. He won three Emmys as Head Writer during four seasons of ''The Carol Burnett Show ...
, two members of "The Usual Gang Of Idiots", in regular issue #110, April 1967.MAD Cover Site
MAD #110 April 1967.
The advertising-business-themed spoof has the crew—from L.S.M.F.T. (Laboratory Sector for Making Folks Tiny)—sent to inject decongestant into a badly plugged-up nose.


1968 animated television series


Similarly-themed works

* '' The Invisible Enemy'', a 1977 four-part serial of the British
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''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' is said to have been inspired by the film. In it, the Doctor's body is possessed by an evil virus, so a doctor creates clones of his companion Leela and him to enter his head to search for the virus and destroy it. * The 1987 film ''
Innerspace ''Innerspace'' is a 1987 American science fiction comedy film directed by Joe Dante and produced by Michael Finnell. Steven Spielberg served as executive producer. It was inspired by the 1966 science fiction film ''Fantastic Voyage''. It sta ...
'' follows a similar plotline, this time concerning a test pilot being miniaturized and injected into a store clerk, although accidentally. * The live-action/animated comedy film ''
Osmosis Jones ''Osmosis Jones'' is a 2001 American live-action/animated buddy cop crime action comedy film written by Marc Hyman. Combining live-action sequences directed by the Farrelly brothers and animation directed by Piet Kroon and Tom Sito, the film ...
'' stars a white cell cop trying to stop a deadly virus from destroying the human he guards. The concept of entering the human body popularized by ''Fantastic Voyage'' has been greatly influential especially in animated TV shows, of which there are several examples: * ''
Captain Planet and the Planeteers ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Ca ...
'' episode "An Inside Job" features The Planeteers battling water-borne parasites in Kwame's body so that he can recover. * ''
SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...
'' episode " Squidtastic Voyage" spoofs the film, with SpongeBob and Patrick attempting to retrieve Squidward's clarinet reed after he swallows it. Other
Nicktoons Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Viacom, now known as Paramount Global) in their ...
have used the ''Fantastic Voyage'' template, such as the ''
Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently— Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, a ...
'' episode " The Inside Story", involving the babies being forced to shrink down and enter Chuckie's body to retrieve a watermelon seed, ''
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'' episode, "Vantastic Voyage", where the scientists go inside Dag's body, the '' Fairly OddParents'' episode " Tiny Timmy!", which has Timmy being shrunk down by Cosmo and Wanda to enter Vicky's body in order to study for school, and '' The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'' episode, "Journey to the Center of Carl", where Jimmy and his friends go inside Carl's body, among others. * Children's educational TV series ''
The Magic School Bus ''The Magic School Bus'' is an American edutainment media franchise that includes a book series, a TV series, a streaming series, and video games. Each of the stories within the franchise centers on the antics of a fictional elementary sch ...
'' had a number of episodes involving the bus going inside a human: "For Lunch" and "Inside Ralphie" in the first season, "Flexes Its Muscles" in the second season, "Works Out" in the third season and "Goes Cellular" and "Makes a Stink" in the final season, dealing with the topics of Digestion, Germs, Body Mechanics, Circulation, Cells and Smelling respectively. * The Iron Man animated TV series features the episode "Iron Man, On the Inside", in which Iron Man must go inside Hawkeye to save him. * '' Dexter's Laboratory'' episode " Fantastic Boyage" features Dexter attempting to inject himself into Dee Dee to find a cure for the common cold, inadvertently winding up inside his dog. * ''
Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
'' episode "
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" involves the Planet Express crew sending microscopic copies of themselves inside Fry to save him from parasites. * ''
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'' episode "
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" has Stewie shrinking down and going inside of Peter's testicles to prevent him and Lois of having another baby. * Both ''
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'' and ''
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'' feature episodes in which either Beast Boy or Robin enter Cyborg's body to cure him. * '' The Simpsons''' fifteenth iteration of Treehouse of Horror sees in its third leg a trip into Mr. Burns's body to rescue Maggie after she gets shrunk down into a pill and ingested. * ''
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'' episode "Journey to the Center of Candace" features Phineas and Ferb building a shrinking submarine to enter Isabella's chihuahua, but accidentally ending up inside their sister Candace. * '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "Journey to the Center of the Bat!" has Atom and Aquaman traveling through Batman's body to cure him. * ''
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'' episode "Cool Cubed" features Mordecai and Rigby shrinking and traveling into Thomas's brain to stop it from freezing. * ''
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'' episode "
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" involves Rick shrinking Morty down to fit in a homeless man dressed as Santa Claus to assist with the amusement park he was trying to operate inside of him. * ''
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'' two-part season 6 finale "Drastic Voyage" directly spoofs the film.


Cancelled sequel/remake plans

Plans for a sequel or remake have been in discussion since at least 1984, but as of the beginning of July 2015, the project remained stuck in
development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game engi ...
. In 1984, Isaac Asimov was approached to write ''Fantastic Voyage II'', out of which a movie would be made. Asimov "was sent a suggested outline" that mirrored the movie ''
Innerspace ''Innerspace'' is a 1987 American science fiction comedy film directed by Joe Dante and produced by Michael Finnell. Steven Spielberg served as executive producer. It was inspired by the 1966 science fiction film ''Fantastic Voyage''. It sta ...
'' and "involved two vessels in the bloodstream, one American and one Soviet, and what followed was a kind of submicroscopic version of World War III." Asimov was against such an approach. Following a dispute between publishers, the original commissioners of the novel approached
Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...
, who "wrote a novel and sent nthe manuscript" that was rejected despite "stick ngtightly to the outline hat was sent to Asimov" "It dealt with World War III in the bloodstream, and it was full of action and excitement." Although Asimov urged the publisher to accept Farmer's manuscript, it was insisted that Asimov write the novel. So, Asimov eventually wrote the book in his own way (completely different in plot from what armerhad written), which was eventually published by Doubleday in 1987 as ''Fantastic Voyage II'' and "dealt not with competing submarines in the bloodstream, but with one submarine, with nAmerican hero cooperating (not entirely voluntarily) with four Soviet crew members." The novel was not made into a movie, however.
James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
was also interested in directing a remake (since at least 1997), but decided to devote his efforts to his ''
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'' project. He still remained open to the idea of producing a feature based on his own screenplay, and in 2007,
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
announced that pre-production on the project was finally underway.
Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich (; born 10 November 1955) is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the industry. His films, most of wh ...
agreed to direct, but rejected the script written by Cameron. Marianne and Cormac Wibberley were hired to write a new script, but the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike delayed filming, and Emmerich began working on ''
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'' instead. In spring 2010,
Paul Greengrass Paul Greengrass (born 13 August 1955) is a British film director, film producer, screenwriter and former journalist. He specialises in dramatisations of historic events and is known for his signature use of hand-held cameras. His early film ' ...
was considering directing the remake from a script written by
Shane Salerno Shane Salerno (born November 27, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer, and Chief Creative Officer of The Story Factory. His writing credits include the films '' Avatar: The Way of Water'', ''Armageddon'', '' Savages,'' '' Shaft'', and the ...
and produced by
James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
, but later dropped out to be replaced by
Shawn Levy Shawn Adam Levy (born July 23, 1968) is a Canadian film director, film producer, actor, and founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. He has worked across genres and is perhaps best known as the director of the '' Night at the Museum'' film franchise an ...
. It was intended that the film be shot in native stereoscopic 3D. In January 2016, ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' reported that
Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Be ...
was in talks to direct the reboot by reteaming with
David S. Goyer David Samuel Goyer (born December 22, 1965) is an American filmmaker, novelist and comic book writer. He is best known for writing the screenplays for several superhero films, including '' Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (1998), the ''Blade'' ...
, who was writing the film's script with Justin Rhodes with Cameron still on the film by his production company
Lightstorm Entertainment Lightstorm Entertainment is an American independent production company founded in 1990 by filmmaker James Cameron and producer Lawrence Kasanoff. The majority of its films have been distributed and owned by 20th Century Studios. Its productions i ...
. In August 2017, it was reported that del Toro had postponed working on the film to completely focus on his film ''
The Shape of Water ''The Shape of Water'' is a 2017 romantic fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. It stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer ...
'', due to release the same year, and he would start pre-production in spring 2018 and would begin filming in the fall of the same year for a 2020 release.


See also

*
List of American films of 1966 This is a list of American films released in 1966. '' A Man for All Seasons'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture. A–B C–H I–R S–Z See also * 1966 in the United States References External links 1966 filmsat the Internet ...
*
List of films featuring miniature people There is a body of films that feature miniature people. The concept of a human shrinking in size has existed since the beginning of cinema, with early films using camera techniques to change perceptions of human sizes. The earliest film to have a s ...
*
Microsurgery Microsurgery is a general term for surgery requiring an operating microscope. The most obvious developments have been procedures developed to allow anastomosis of successively smaller blood vessels and nerves (typically 1 mm in diameter) whic ...


References


External links

* * * * * * {{Isaac Asimov novels Human body in popular culture 1966 films 1960s science fiction action films American science fiction action films Cold War submarine films 1960s English-language films Films scored by Leonard Rosenman Films adapted into television shows Films directed by Richard Fleischer Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award Medical-themed films Science fiction submarine films Films about size change Films about the Central Intelligence Agency Films adapted into comics Films with screenplays by David Duncan (writer) Films with screenplays by Harry Kleiner American children's adventure films 20th Century Studios franchises 1960s American films