| Mechanical effects are those which are built full scale
in such a way that the human cast can interact with the effect, often a
device, or as in the case in science fiction films, some sort of
creature. One of the mechanicals most familiar to Voyage
viewers, either of the 1961 film, or the 1964-68 TV show, is the
mechanical squid seen in footage originally created for the movie and
reused several times in the series. Built full scale,
Voyage's squid looks great in publicity shots, but
due to budget restrictions, Irwin's tentacled beast lacked the full blown
mechanical capability built into, for example, Disney's
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea squid. Whereas the
Disney Squid's tentacles moved and snaked about very
realistically, the fight scene in the Voyage
movie was really tinkered together in the editing room. Watch
closely and note that much of the sequence consists of cuts from one
limited-action squid tentacle-versus-diver close-up to the
next. The Voyage squid looks best when it's at rest
as seen below right; it's less effective during the actual battle.
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