Star Trek and Animation

[Therin of Andor]

Fred Bronson and Susan Sackett made a proposal about a Wesley-at-the-Academy animated series that Rick Berman quashed, worried about the franchise stretching too thinly (ie. in case it "diluted the franchise").

A post-Nemesis animated series, "Final Frontier" (2006) was quashed when the first Kelvinverse movie was being developed instead:
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Final_Frontier
It still has a website!:
http://www.startrekff.com

And a Ferengi animated series with Rom and Quark, a Captain Sulu/kzinti series ("The Lions of the Night") and a redevelopment of the lost "Secret of Vulcan Fury" game were also mooted.

 

[FederationHistorian]

The Ferengi show and Sulu movie could probably be still made, if the actors are up for it. Its not to late for them to happen.

The final frontier show will probably still get made to help fill in the gaps between PIC and DIS S3

I'm uncertain about "Secret of Vulcan Fury" game, since it had the voice acting of the original cast. Would it be rebooted with the Kelvin cast or SNW cast? Would the developers just take from TOS/TAS for extra voice work? Or would the developers use impersonators to complete it?

 

[Grizzlor]

The Ferengi show and Sulu movie could probably be still made, if the actors are up for it. Its not to late for them to happen.

The final frontier show will probably still get made to help fill in the gaps between PIC and DIS S3

I'm uncertain about "Secret of Vulcan Fury" game, since it had the voice acting of the original cast. Would it be rebooted with the Kelvin cast or SNW cast? Would the developers just take from TOS/TAS for extra voice work? Or would the developers use impersonators to complete it?

Animation is not exactly "cheap," and honestly a Ferengi or Sulu project makes no sense for Paramount+ to do. Maybe in one of the Short Treks, but those are done to support the current shows. I spoke via email to one of the devs on Vulcan Fury ages ago. He told me the cast recordings were largely complete, but wasn't sure. He did say that De Kelley did not sound very well due to his ill health, and they weren't even sure if they would use it had it not been canceled. Again, my what-if focused on TAS solely because the cast recordings were professionally made and edited, and their voices were as they were not long after TOS. Rather than as elderly people.

 

[FederationHistorian]

Animation is not exactly "cheap," and honestly a Ferengi or Sulu project makes no sense for Paramount+ to do. Maybe in one of the Short Treks, but those are done to support the current shows.

The only way it makes no sense for Paramount+ is if a huge crossover event is in the works and the animations don’t factor into the plan. Or they behave like Netflix and expect an immediate hit like Stranger Things with every original series created and cancel every series that fails to meet that level of popularity. A number of proposed Star Trek shows that never made it past the drawing board could comeback either in animated form, or in the case M’Benga, a Short Trek (Hopeship).

And, even though I wasn’t advocating for it initally, that Kzinti story featuring Sulu and the Ent-B could also be a away to bring back some members of the ENT cast (major or minor) through flashbacks/audio recordings/time travel. As there were plans for a Kzinti story in S5 before its cancellation. It would be a way to test the waters to fan reception towards ENT before committing to a larger ENT-related project down the line. Can even add some TNG characters (major or minor) to make it a crossover event in animated form, since a TOS/TNG animated crossover was planned but never happened.

It would be at minimum a 75 min film (the average length of some DC Animated original films), and at most one season long.

I spoke via email to one of the devs on Vulcan Fury ages ago. He told me the cast recordings were largely complete, but wasn't sure. He did say that De Kelley did not sound very well due to his ill health, and they weren't even sure if they would use it had it not been canceled. Again, my what-if focused on TAS solely because the cast recordings were professionally made and edited, and their voices were as they were not long after TOS. Rather than as elderly people.

If the recordings are complete, then I don't see why the game could not be produced.

 

[captainkirk]

The status of the Vulcan Fury script and audio has been discussed at length over the years. From what I understand, it is all missing and presumed wiped. I believe there is also conflicting info on how much recording the main cast actually did. I know that DeForest dropped out due to his health and was recast.
And even if all the audio survived and was in pristine condition, I imagine there would be legal issues due to the fact that it was all intended as a game for Interplay, not an animated movie.

 

[Grizzlor]

If the recordings are complete, then I don't see why the game could not be produced.

Interplay, the company making the game, was in the process of imploding. The game was a $10 million dollar disaster, going through four different producers, who would each restart the process "in their image." The project was canceled just as they were beginning to create elements, but not much more. @captainkirk is correct, Maurice Lamarche was hired to be Bones, and was reportedly very good.

The VF team went on to work on the CGI series Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, which used techniques from VF. They also created a far superior CGI teaser for a Star Trek TOS animated pitch to Paramount, who did not go for it. That demo to my knowledge has never surfaced.

 

[fireproof78]

I imagine there would be legal issues due to the fact that it was all intended as a game for Interplay, not an animated movie.

Interplay sold off a lot of assets, which is how Fallout ended up where it is. So it would depend on how that ended up with the rights in that process.

 

[publiusr]

Even FASA abandoned trek for that Battlemech stuff