Has there been any word on why TPTB have chosen to make the next Short Treks animated?

It’s a big shift from the live-action approaches of the first four installments. Are they testing the waters and seeing what works and what doesn’t work with regard to modern animated Trek? Was it more of a creative “Hey, why not?” kind of a decision?

I’m generally not a big fan of Western animation, but it’s Star Trek, so I’m looking forward to it anyway, of course. Just wondering if I’ve missed any official word on this decision.

 

It's not from TPTB, but the Short Treks are subsidized a lot by having resources from the live action shows.
The Picard show doesn't start filming for months, so there's not really any production they can use that can produce new trek in the gaps between series.

 

I'm wondering if it's going to feature a known Trek personality voicing a much younger version of their character? Like maybe George Takei, Patrick Stewart or Jonathan Frakes.

 

Star Wars just did something similar, one with Forces of Destiny where Mark Hammil (hilariously) voiced a young Luke. And more recently the Galaxy of Adventures were stylized animated retellings of OT moments, with the original film dialogue matched to the animation. I think either of those methods would work excellently with the animated short Treks.

 

Maybe they don't want to be constrained by having to reuse existing sets.

The first four Short Treks used the DSC sets so it was easiest to set them all in DSC's time. That restriction won't apply to the animated ones.

 

I believe they've done it explicitly to annoy me.

 

Isn't that why they do everything??

 

Always.

 

Thanks for the replies! This all makes sense now.

Nice to see you again, Daniel! We had some good times at SFFOM. I just couldn’t do the Facebook thing anymore, man. The group was fun but the rest of the site was so emotionally draining for me. I switched to a new account here because the old one just isn’t my name anymore.

I like your speculation. I’d love to see it happen. Has there been any word on whether these upcoming minisodes are both supposed to be tied to Discovery?

 

This. The previous 4 Short Treks were filmed during production of DSC season 2. Picard season 1 begins production in April and DSC season 3 will begin production some time after. If they want to release these Short Treks earlier than late 2019, animation is the way to go.

 

Hmm I actually was kind of picturing Clone Wars style. Not that that's what I'd like them to do, that's just sorta what I assumed it'd be. I think it could work, but I also think 2D with really dynamic lighting and multiple layers of color would be great too.

 

As another data point, there is Star Wars Resistance to consider. Results there are a mixed bag. Some of the character shapes are quite good, and the clothing is generally excellent. Tamara Ryvora is the character who I think is the best executed, and she is excellently done. The hardware, e.g. ships, droids, and backgrounds are of course excellent. Sky is great as usual in these endeavors, and the water seems fine too. But there are some serious shading issues, so I there's still a way to go before I would say that the technology is perfected. I'm also not jazzed by their pastel palette selection*, but that's less a technological/craft issue and more of a personal taste thing.

That said, the technology seems promising, and I believe that, with a few more iterations and in the hands of gifted artists, it has the potential to produce striking results.

* - edited to add: There's nothing wrong with pastels, by the way. I love them. I'm talking about their palette selection in this context.

 

As long as it doesn't look like a cheap web animation, I really don't care if it's 2D or 3D.

 

Not that I know of but I have my own reasoning.

Comics, and animation, are easier (cheaper) to produce than creating live action sets, CGI.
You are only limited by colored pencils & your imagination.

This is a common explanation as to why comic books tend to be more "out there" than live action.
They are simply cheaper & easier to create.

 

Maybe each episode will use a different style of animation.

Which might also answer the OP's question -- i.e., that they might have chosen to go the animation route to be able to make some artistic statements, perhaps using interesting animation styles as the art form.

 

That's a great idea!

 

I look forward to the Parker and Stone episode.

 

An oldie but a goodie:

 

Or a "Supermarionation" Episode. Too bad Gerry Anderson is dead; I would have loved to see the set miniature models.

BTW, Admittedly it was your mention of Parker and Stone -namely their "Team America: World Police", which was an homage to Gerry Anderson's supermarionation -- that made me think of this.