"This episode obviously inspired the plot of the first Star Trek Movie where the mysterious and immensely powerful and dangerously destructive evil force is referred to as "V-ger" by the kidnapped and subsequently returned (and reprogrammed) female crewperson of the new and improved Enterprise."
Start Trek: The Motion Picture wasn't simply "inspired"by the Changeling. Roddenberry pretty much took the plot and characters of "The Changeling" tried to file the serial numbers off, and expand it into a feature film without any payment to the author of this script. Said author however wasn't sleeping, nor dead, and sued him over the attempted theft. You can pretty much do a direct mapping of the plot and characters from this episode to that film with Lt. Ilia taking the place of Uhura, but pretty much everything else lifted intact.
Start Trek: The Motion Picture wasn't simply "inspired"by the Changeling. Roddenberry pretty much took the plot and characters of "The Changeling" tried to file the serial numbers off, and expand it into a feature film without any payment to the author of this script. Said author however wasn't sleeping, nor dead, and sued him over the attempted theft. You can pretty much do a direct mapping of the plot and characters from this episode to that film with Lt. Ilia taking the place of Uhura, but pretty much everything else lifted intact.