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The Internet Time Travel Database

Chronoscopes

Time Machines

The Ghost of Slumber Mountain

written and directed by Willis H. O’Brien

Unk tells a story to his two nephews about the time when he and Joe visited the stone-covered grave and haunted cabin of Mad Dick where they (and their dog, Soxie) were able to view the prehistoric past through a queer looking instrument that accidentally allowed T. Rex onto Slumber Mountain. Sadly, at the end, Unk suggests that it was all a dream, but what does he know?!

The IMDb lists Herbert M. Dawley as a co-writer, but Wikipedia lists him as only the producer. The initial three-reel film premiered at the Strand Theater, but an unhappy Dawley cut it from over 40 minutes to about 12. Around six extra minutes were later restored by the Dinosaur Museum of Blanding, Utah, in 2016, but the full version no longer exists.

— Michael Main
Far, far away, at the foot of a cliff, a Thunder Lizard—which must have been at least one hundred feet long—appeared out of the mists of forty million years.

The Ghost of Slumber Mountain written and directed by Willis H. O’Brien (premiered at the Strand Theater, Dorcester, Massachusetts, 17 November 1918).

Hindsight

by Jack Williamson

Years ago, engineer Bill Webster abandoned Earth for the employ of the piratical Astrarch far beyond the orbit of Mars; now the Astrarch is aiming the final blow at a defeated Earth, and Bill wonders whether the gun sights he invented can spot—and change!—events in the past.
— Michael Main
The tracer fields are following all the world lines that intersected at the battle, back across the months and years. The analyzers will isolate the smallest—hence most easily altered—essential factor.

“Hindsight” by Jack Williamson, Astounding, May 1940.

Private Eye

by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore

A jilted man plans murderous revenge while trying to avoid any behavior that would reveal his plans to the government’s all-seeing technology that can reconstruct the past from electromagnetic and sound waves.
— Michael Main
It was sensitive enough to pick up the “fingerprints” of light and sound waves imprinted on matter, descramble and screen them, and reproduce the image of what had happened.

“Private Eye” by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, Astounding Science Fiction, January 1949.

Journey into Mystery #2

Don’t Look!

by an unknown writer and Jay Scott Pike

Yep, the mirror that Harold Whitney got from an odd old man really does let you see what people will look like in the future—a situation that we’d normally mark as a mere time phenomenon and tag as a simple kind of chronoscope. But the story also has a twist at the end that makes me wonder whether the old man was also a time traveler.
— Michael Main
I have here a strange invention, a mirror that will let you see how anyone will look at anytime in the future.

“Don’t Look!” by an unknown writer and Jay Scott Pike, in Journey into Mystery #2 (Atlas Comics, August 1952).

The Fence

by Clifford D. Simak

This is a nice short story that touches briefly on one of my personal pet tropes, the time viewer, but which is really once again a paranoid sort of piece—it seems that people in the future live lives of complete leisure, so who is providing for us?

“The Fence” by Clifford D. Simak, Space Science Fiction, September 1952.

Paycheck

by Philip K. Dick

Apparently, Jennings agreed to work as a specialized mechanic for two years at Rethrick Construction, having his memory wiped at the end in return for 50,000 credits—except instead of a bag full of credits, the memory-wiped Jennings is left holding a bag of seven trinkets and no idea why he would have agreed to such a thing.
— Michael Main
But the big puzzle: how had he—his earlier self—known that a piece of wire and a bus token would save his life? He had known, all right. Known in advance. But how? And the other five. Probably they were just as precious, or would be.

“Paycheck” by Philip K. Dick, Imagination, June 1953.

Journey into Mystery #33

There’ll Be Some Changes Made

by Carl Wessler and Steve Ditko

Paul Haines spends his days stewing over the money his 18th-centery ancestor wasted, until he realizes that there’s a way he can get it. I found the story oddly disquieting in that Paul never really faced punishment for his crime and he got the girl too boot—definitely not the usual weird fiction pattern, although I’ll still tag it that way.
— Michael Main
Change the past! Why haven’t I thought of this before? It can be done!

“There’ll Be Some Changes Made” by Carl Wessler and Steve Ditko, in Journey into Mystery #33 (Atlas Comics, April 1956).

Unusual Tales #13

After Tomorrow!

by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno

While preparing for war against Bulavia, King Gustave of Translovia sees two visions of the future by way of a magnificent timepiece.
— Michael Main
I have had a vision of my victory tomorrow!

“After Tomorrow!” by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno, Unusual Tales #13 (Charlton Comics, September 1958).

Journey into Mystery #86

On the Trail of the Tomorrow Man

by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Zarrko, a mad time-machine-building scientist from 2262, believes that our nuclear weapons will enable him to take over the world of his time. He comes back to 1962 to steal one, and the Mighty Thor pursues him back to 2262.

The plot suffers from Alpha Centauri syndrome, where the time traveler might as well be from Alpha Centauri as from the future, but seeing the emergence of Kirby’s high-perspective artwork gives this issue a boost. In addition, the story provides a powerful image of the pre-Vietnam cold war era and its prevailing assumptions about the roles of women in society.

— Michael Main
Ahhh—an ancient explosion of a nuclear bomb! The perfect device with which to conquer the twenty-third century!

“On the Trail of the Tomorrow Man” by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in Journey into Mystery 86 (Marvel Comics, November 1962).

Lem’s Star Diaries

Czarna komnata profesora Tarantogi

Literal: Professor Tarantoga's black room

by Stanisław Lem

Professor Tarantoga saves human civilization! After using his chronopad to investigate the leading scientists and artists in history, Tarantoga concludes that without exception they are lazy drunkards. So naturally, he sends smart young people into various eras to invent differential calculus, to paint the Mona Lisa, etc.—all while a pair of police inspectors have their eye on him.
— based on Wikipedia

[ex=bare]Czarna komnata profesora Tarantogi: Widowisko telewizyjne | Professor Tarantoga’s black room: Television show[/ex] by Stanisław Lem, in Noc księżycowa (Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1963).

The Time Travelers

written and directed by Ib Melchior

Using their time viewer, three scientists see a desolate landscape 107 years in the future, at which point the electrician realizes that the viewer has unexpectedly become a portal. All four jump through, only to have the portal collapse behind them, whereupon they are chased on the surface by Morlockish creatures who are afraid of thrown rocks, and they meet an advanced, post-apocalyptic, underground society that employs androids and is planning a generation-long trip to Alpha Centauri.

The film draws in at least four important additional time travel tropes: suspended animation, a single nonbranching, static timeline (with the corresponding inability to go back and change it), experiencing the passage of time at different rates, and a trip to the far future. And according to the SF Encyclopedia, the film was originally conceived as a sequel to the 1960 film of The Time Machine.

— Michael Main
Isn’t it obvious? The war did happen. You never did go back with your warning.

The Time Travelers written and directed by Ib Melchior (at movie theaters, USA, 29 October 1964).

Avengers #11, December 1964

The Mighty Avengers Meet Spider-Man

by Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Chic Stone

This story is as close as Spidey ever got to time traveling in the Silver Age. He didn’t travel himself, but he did meet and battle Kang’s time traveling Spider-Man robot. On top of that, Don Heck gave us his interpretations of Ditko art taken from the pages of the Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. Can you tell which is which?
Spider-Man! Well, much obliged to you, fella! I never knew you were so . . . cooperative!

“The Mighty Avengers Meet Spider-Man” by Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Chic Stone, in The Avengers 11, December 1964.

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s07e08)

Bada Ping!

by Nancy Cohen, directed by Anson Williams

Sabrina takes Salem into the future to find out her fate after gangster Mickey Brentwood finds out that she’s writing an exposé on his shady practices.
— Inmate Jan
You see, this thug nightclub owner threatened our little Lois Lame over there—

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s07e08), “Bada Ping!” by Nancy Cohen, directed by Anson Williams (The WB-TV, USA, 22 November 2002).

Paycheck

by Dean Georgaris, directed by John Woo

Unlike Philip K. Dick’s story of the same name, the film has only viewing the future rather than physical time travel such as the story’s time scoop’s retrieval capability. Also, the film omits Dick’s dystopian police state and his theme of fate via what appears (in the story) to be a single static timeline. On the other side of the coin, the filmmakers made an epic car chase scene, took Jenning’s female sidekick off the sidelines, and attempted to massively raise the stakes via some questionable choices by Jennings.
— Michael Main
Shorty: Look, if we know anything, we know that time travel's not possible. Einstein proved that. Right?
Michael: Time travel, yes. But Einstein was very clear that he believed time viewing, theoretically, could be accomplished.

Paycheck by Dean Georgaris, directed by John Woo (at movie theaters, USA, 25 December 2003).

Horrid Henry [s01e16]

Horrid Henry’s Time Machine

by Francesca Simon

In the cartoon version of the short story, Henry imagines that his time machine is an elaborate time ship, at least until his perfect little brother brings him out of his daydream and back to the real world of cardboard.
— Michael Main
Peter: “I'm going to the future. I want to see it for myself!”

Horrid Henry’s Time Machine by Francesca Simon, from Horrid Henry [s01e16] by Malcolm Williamson, directed by Dave Unwin (ITV, UK, 18 December 2006).

Dimensions

by Antony Neely, directed by Sloan U’Ren

Imagine you’re a young boy in 1921 Cambridge when your equally young first love dies in a deep well. What would you do? Naturally, you’d vow to become a great scientist in an artsy movie so you could go back in time to alter the tragic event.

Apparently, people in early 20th-century Cambridge espouse many wise thoughts about time, parallel universes that encompass every possible combination of events again and again, and something about every decision every made creating a branch point. In the end, it's difficult to make a cohesive model of time from the plotline of Dimensions, but we tried our best to do so in our plot notes.

— Michael Main
Annie: Are you ready to leave?
Stephen: Yes.
Annie: How long will it take?
Stephen: I don’t know: seconds, decades, an eternity.
Annie: An eternity? For a few moments together?
Stephen: Yes.

Dimensions by Antony Neely, directed by Sloan U’Ren (Cambridge Film Festival, 21 September 2011).

as of 2:05 p.m. MDT, 18 May 2024
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