After the legendary Animated Series of the 70s, now the Star Trek universe is expanding: with the irreverent Lower Decks and the future Prodigy (dedicated to the little ones)
In the golden age of series and major franchises, even Star Trek - a giant that seemed doomed - is experiencing a real episodic renaissance: after the first prequel Discovery, there was the spin-off Star Trek: Picard, which brought back to the scene the captain played by Patrick Stewart and who will soon have a second season; in addition, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are in the works with the story of a young Spock and another spin-off with Michelle Yeoh in the mysterious Section 31. Is that enough? No, here are some animated series, which have always been a minor but fundamental rib of the saga.
1. Project number 1
The first attempt on the small screen, an anime adaptation of the sci-fi series was done in the late ’60s . The proposal was by Lou Scheimer of Filmation , the legendary animation company that has, over time, the product of He-Man and Ghostbusters , while it was still airing the third season of the tv series original. The idea was to contact a public young also thanks to a system educational : the cast of the primary series would have had the task of training and educating the adolescents that were part of the crew of a space ship called Excalibur . The young protagonists would have been among other things an expression of a great diversity , including a boy of african-american, one chinese, and a... vulcan . Despite the good perspectives and the involvement of a facilitator, such as Don R. Christensen , the animated series has my seen the light. This is why, in 1969, Paramount decided to cancel the series, a live-action, with great scorn of his creator Gene Roddenberry , which took several years to re-establish relations and be persuaded for other projects.
2. Star Trek: The Animated Series
the original course of The tv series Star Trek was already sold out, in fact, in 1969 after three seasons , especially for the low ratings . The replicas broadcast in profusion in the subsequent years, however, have shown a growing interest on the part of the public , so as to abut immediately as a small cult . In 1973 Roddenberry it was, therefore, to pursue the idea of an animated series that would have knocked down a lot of costs. Despite the difference in format, most of the original cast (including William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy) came to give voice to their own characters, while the scriptwriters David Gerrold and D. C. Fontana treat The Animated Series as if it were a real fourth season continuation of the previous flesh-and-bones. So much so that the stories here have had a further continuation in the first movie, a live-action saga was released in 1979. Universally appreciated for his writing and his inventiveness, the animated series has also won an Emmy award in 1975 as Best children's program. In fact, unlike many cartoons of the period, spoke more to adults and to children, hence the decision to conclude after 22 episodes, to focus precisely on the film real.
3. News and canon
Although they were made because The Animated Series was the natural continuation of the series, the original , the introduction of some new features would have made the story: it goes from the revelation of the middle name of captain James Kirk (Tiberius) up to a type of holodeck introduced on the Enterprise of Star Trek: The Next Generation . In one episode there is even one of the rare cases in which a woman , in this case, the captain, Uhura assumes command of the Enterprise . Despite the impact of the animated series was phenomenal, and at the level of the imaginary, still lingering among the fans, it is a striking fact that at a certain point has been excluded by the same Roddenberry from the canon official of the franchise : the stories and the anecdotes recounted here have been non-existent and could not be more use in later stories, although after the death of the creator in 1991 in the series the following were references, even ironic , to the production of the animated.
4. Star Trek: Lower Decks
it took 45 years , but behold that Star Trek has a new animated version. It's called Star Trek: Lower Decks and made his debut on the 6th of August on the american platform Cbs All Access. Located within the new expanding universe overseen by Alex Kurtzman , is created by Mike McMahan , who conceived of the irreverent Solar Opposites . Set in 2380, the first 10 episodes following the events of the ave n spatial USS Cerritos but, unlike the previous series, will deal with “low floors”, that is, in lower grades the most humble following the operation of the ship itself. In particular, the style is comic and ironic, distinctly, and unfold the adventures of four midshipmen who, wishing to impress the officers of the command bridge, risk the can and end up creating several damage . Yet, their spirit and their tenacity show as no ship of the space fleet can exist without every single gear . For more, do not miss the references and citations in more than 50 years of Star Trek .
5. Star Trek: the Prodigy
If Lower Decks is what we could define as an animated series for adults , the franchise of Star Trek has the intention to expand to accommodate an audience more young . By April of 2019, in fact, it has been announced that the american channel Nickelodeon (as part of ViacomCbs, the same group of Paramount) is working on a series of Cgi for the very young. In the past few weeks, it was confirmed that the production will be called Star Trek: the Prodigy and will make its debut in the course of 2021 . Will be written by Kevin and Dan Hageman , who already have made note, over the past few years with the screenplay Trollhunters, the series by Dreamworks and produced by Guillermo Del Toro. Prodigy , in particular, will follow the story of some teenagers from the rebellious nature that you will have to manage an old ship of the fleet abandoned her during a trip in the universe.
