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Voyager Company

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The Voyager Company
Company typeSoftware company
Founded1984 (1984)
Defunct1997
Fateliquidation
SuccessorThe Criterion Collection
Headquarters
United States
ProductsLaserDiscs, Interactive CD-ROM, The Criterion Collection

The Voyager Company was a pioneer in CD-ROM production in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was founded in 1984 by four partners: Jon Turell, Bill Becker, Aleen Stein, and Robert Stein in Santa Monica, California, and later moved to New York City. The firm took its name from the Voyager space craft. In partnership with Janus Films, the company published The Criterion Collection, a pioneering home video collection of classic and important contemporary films on LaserDisc. Voyager introduced the release of special editions on LaserDisc.[1]

In 1986 it decided to make it company policy to only release widescreen films on LaserDisc in their original aspect ratio rather than pan and scan formats that was common for home media releases at the time. Many other labels followed suit.[2]

In 1994, the partnership was diluted by selling 20% of it to the von Holzbrinck Publishing Group, a German holding company. In 1997, the Holzbrinck Group withdrew with its 20%, the name "Voyager", and half of the CD-ROM rights. Robert Stein took the other half of the CD-ROM rights and the Toolkit rights. This left the Criterion Collection in the possession of three of the original partners, each with a third: Aleen Stein, the Becker family, and the Turell family.

Releases

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LaserDiscs

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  • De Italia
  • The Great Quake of '89 (in partnership with ABC News Interactive)
  • The National Gallery of Art
  • Devo: The Complete Truth About De-Evolution
  • The Residents: Twenty Twisted Questions (Part 1/2)
  • Louvre
  • Theatre of the Imagination: Radio Stories by Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre (1988, ISBN 0-931393-90-6)[3]
  • To New Horizons: Ephemeral Films 1931–1945
  • The Vancouver Disc
  • Vienna
  • You Can't Get There From Here: Ephemeral Films 1945–1960
  • The Voyager Videostack
  • Bram Stoker's Dracula[4]
  • Cries and Whispers[1]
  • Damage[1]
  • The Killer[1]
  • The Man Who Fell to Earth[1]
  • The Player[1]
  • The Inland Sea[5]
  • Call It Home: The House That Private Enterprise Built
  • François Truffaut: 25 Years, 25 Films[5]
  • Polyester[5]
  • Ugetsu[5]

CD-ROMs

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Floppy disks

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Expanded Books series

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f McGowan, Chris (January 8, 1994). "The Year In Laserdisc" (PDF). Billboard. pp. 94–95. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  2. ^ McGowan, Chris (November 6, 1993). "Letterbox Format's Popularity Widens" (PDF). Billboard. p. 73. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  3. ^ "Orson Welles And The Mercury Theatre On The Air – Theatre Of The Imagination: Radio Stories By Orson Welles And The Mercury Theatre (1988, Laserdisc)". 1988. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2021-12-22 – via www.discogs.com.
  4. ^ "Top Laserdisc Sales" (PDF). Billboard. January 8, 1994. p. 94. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d McGowan, Chris (November 6, 1993). "Letterbox Format's Popularity Widens" (PDF). Billboard. p. 73. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  6. ^ "Sacred and secular". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  7. ^ "With Open Eyes (1995)". MobyGames.
  8. ^ Metzner, Jim (1995-10-01). "With Open Eyes". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  9. ^ Smith, Alan G. Artner, John von Rhein, Howard Reich, Greg Kot and Sid (2 July 1995). "ArtLast year, when the Art Institute of..." chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-09-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Macuser Magazine" (PDF). vintageapple.org. 1995. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  11. ^ "Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada on December 18, 1995 · 14". Newspapers.com. 18 December 1995. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
History
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