Thunderbirds (TV series) by ITV, Sylvia Anderson and the estate of Gerry Anderson. "Thunderbirds" has influenced TV programmes, films and various other media. The puppet comedy of the film "" was directly inspired by the idiosyncrasies of "Thunderbirds"-era Supermarionation techniques. Allusion and homage are also evident in "Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave", "" and "Spaced", as well as the character design of "". The BBC sketch comedy "Not Only... But Also" included a segment titled "Superthunderstingcar" – a parody of "Thunderbirds", "Supercar" and "Stingray". IR's life-saving mission inspired the founding of the volunteer International Rescue Corps, originally made up of a group
Thunderbirds (TV series) to the puppets". "Thunderbirds" has been praised for the quality of its effects. Jim Sangster and Paul Condon, writers of "Collins Telly Guide", consider the model work "uniformly impressive". To Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, writers of "The Guinness Book of Classic British TV", the effects are "way beyond anything seen on TV previously". Impressed by their work on "Thunderbirds", film director Stanley Kubrick hired several members of Meddings' staff to supervise the effects shooting for "". The series' title sequence, storyboarded by Gerry Anderson, is made up of two parts. It opens with a countdown of "5,