resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS story

[jefferiestubes8]

Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury is a [unfinished 1998]1999 unreleased PC game from Interplay. It was written by D.C. Fontana and featured the voices of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, and Nichelle Nichols in their original roles.

Yes the same Interplay that made Starfleet Command, New Worlds, Starfleet Academy: Strategic Command, and Checkov's Lost Missions expansion pack for Starfleet Academy.

The voice recordings of the actors were done in 1998. The project put on indefinite hold October 1998.
Most of you have seen these two videos on Youtube but I'll link them here for reference.
Trailer 1:
Trailer 2:

To be able to use the recorded voices of all the actors would be awesome for a animated episode or special for a TAS blu-ray as a major feature to purchase TAS.
I looked around the net.

Apparently because they only completed 5% of development and most of that was story and all the original crew having their dialogue recorded (De Kelley did all his but they had to re-record a few lines with an impersonator when the story changed slightly as he was sadly too ill...). The lead artist also left but even before that they had started from scratch twice so the budget was well over $10M for only 5% so Interplay canned it and have yet to revive it.

SOURCE

they have constructed all of the characters in 3D, as well as new guest characters, the Enterprise, Romulan warships, various space stations, the planet Vulcan

A friend of mine working for the company has stated that no plans are being made to complete this project in the light of Activision getting the license from Viacom as of 2002, and the voice recording of all the main stars of the TV series will not be used in any upcoming project.

-Gary Seven of Eleven
aintitcoolnews 1998

In the past, there has been confusion over whether or not DeForest recorded his lines before he died, but we have confirmed that De did record all his lines from an earlier version of the script. However, as the game progressed, the script changed and De was too ill to come in and record new lines. Maurice LaMarche (Brain from Pinky and the Brain) was then hired to do the new McCoy lines.

- [from the no longer working link]: http://gaming.trekpulse.com/secretofvulcanfury/faq.htm

The game itself never existed. What people are interested in is the story and the audio that was was recorded. It was the last Star Trek work the entire original cast did and the story was written by Star Trek writter legend D.C. Fontana. Several companies had in the past approced Interplay about buying that content to make a new game. Probably 3rd person action or rpg.. The other possiblity would be to make an audio book or cgi movie from it. The sticky point was that if you bought the content from Interplay, you still had to buy the rights to use it from Paramount.

2005 source

Ronald Held said:
Who owns the voice tapes and where are they?

I was told by a former member of the Interplay staff that if the voice recordings still exist, they are probably on magnetic tape and being stored in one of the many storage facilities that houses the sorry remains of Interplay's stuff. The stuff in these storage facilities is not organized apparently, and it's unclear if anyone would even know how to find the tapes. I once tried to get the contact information of the guy who apparently organized some of stuff being stored, but I was unsuccessful. Maybe I will try again.

There is a 2007 dead TrekBBS thread for reference
Vulcan Fury - Is it out there anywhere?


A recording script has been seen floating around the Internet

Interesting bit of Vulcan Fury happenings...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Star-Trek-Secret-Vulcan-Fury-Recording-Script-/290512989358

dead ebay link.

startrek.com forum thread:
What ever happened to The Secret of Vulcan's Fury?

Memory Alpha entry

an archive of the official website:
TrekCore: Secret of Vulcan Fury - pictures, trailers, FAQ, plot, etc.


Yes shall we discuss the possibility of resurrecting the audio recordings and creating a Trek TAS CGI episode rather than our experiences of playing Trek videogames?

 

[Captaindemotion]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

It would be lovely to have one last adventure with the original cast, be it an audio drama or some sort of animated feature. However, if they can't even find the recordings, it really does look like a long-shot, doesn't it?

If they could find them and could sort out licensing issues (big pair of 'ifs' there), you'd imagine that there would be a market for the last adventure of the original crew, not least of all now that Kelley and Doohan are no longer with us. I don't usually buy animated movies or audio dramas but I'd shell out for this in a second.

 

[AviTrek]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

I'd love to get this if it was made. But, I'm sure there are a lot of licensing issues. The actors were paid to record their voices for a video game. If you were to use the voice recordings for a TV/video/streaming release you would have to renegotiate with all of them/their estates.

 

[Brian]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

A clip that showed up in related videos from the second trailer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQRPVqwTAIA



(Note: it says it's for a CGI test for a TV show, but it clearly seems to be from this game.)

 

[Harvey]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

The big questions are:

(1) Do the original voice recordings still exist?
(2) Could they be adapted from the PC game format to a movie format?
(3) Would Interplay -- or whoever owns the material -- be willing to license it?
(4) Is the material even worth resurrecting (i.e. is it any good)?

Assuming the answer is yes to each of those, neither Paramount nor CBS is in the business of producing Direct-to-DVD animated features under the Star Trek brand name. Assuming they were to get into that business (a big assumption), why would they undergo a project that would entail so much hassle rather than develop their own original material?

It's a fun idea, but it'll never happen.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

(4) Is the material even worth resurrecting (i.e. is it any good)?

from 2007:

There was a plan to novelize the script that Dorothy Fontana wrote. But I'm not sure if it ever got off the ground.

Earlier this year, Fontana had this to say about it:

It was a very complicated story. It was big.There was mystery. There was a chase. There was threat and danger. It was five parts that were really very full and complicated. The ‘Vulcan Fury’ was actually one of the moons of Vulcan that was actually a weapons platform that had long bead dead and some happens tore-activate it. Which would then threaten the Enterprise which was in orbit and other Federation ships.

I have asked [CBS Products Exec] Paula Block if I can take it, clear it,and make it into a novel. I haven’t got an answer back yet, but I think it would be a heck of a great story as a novel.

 

[Harvey]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

That Fontana, the original author, likes the material isn't an indication of much of anything. That CBS hasn't answered her requests to novelize the material isn't promising, although that could be due to any number of reasons.

From a fannish perspective, "one of the moons of Vulcan?" From the same writer who was annoyed that TAS added a moon to "Yesteryear?"

 

[Ronald Held]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

Is the TV/movie climate favorable for a project like this?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

TV: no.

Movies: already has a perfectly good Star Trek series underway.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

Realistically, I think the best one could hope for is a release as an audio adventure. At very, very, very best, if the Gods smile on Trek fans, a direct-to-DVD animated adventure in the vein of the DCU movies - which have been released despite the live action Batman, Green Lantern and Superman movies. But we're probably not really comparing like with like.

 

[Danlav05]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

I suggested this years ago - so I'm glad this is being talked about.

I was told by a former member of the Interplay staff that if the voice recordings still exist, they are probably on magnetic tape and being stored in one of the many storage facilities that houses the sorry remains of Interplay's stuff. The stuff in these storage facilities is not organized apparently, and it's unclear if anyone would even know how to find the tapes. I once tried to get the contact information of the guy who apparently organized some of stuff being stored, but I was unsuccessful. Maybe I will try again.

I'd spend weeks trawling though the archives for NOTHING to trawl through those archives. Least tehre may be hope. If it exists and doesn't get destroyed, then there is a chance something could be done with it.

Somebody said when Interplay went bust the recordings were destroyed, BUT that was just one person on the forum, so hopefully someone snuck it onto a disc and its in a file somewhere. It's possible.

I really wanna see this as an animated DTV movie or TV special, a BRAND NEW adventure with the original cast and Mark Lenard, just that one last time. Also on Trekcore is all the imagery of the amazing new stuff like Vulcan, the satellite, Kirk in the shuttle and stuff too advanced for 60s TV.

There's also the otehr two Interplay games which would be EASY to take the audio and make them into episodes, IF yoou cut out the horrible midi music. It could even be the same project - SOVF could be like a multi-part story. Of course the characters would be CG versions of the Original cast.

As a second best to a revival would be a remake, I emailed Cawley and one of the Farragut guys separately to ask if they considered contacting DC Fontana about an adaptation for one of their fanfilms, neither replied. It's interesting that a script is out there - a couple of unmade Doctor Who screenplays occasionally do the rounds on Ebay.

Has DC Fontana got a webspace, jsut to ask her opinion at presen regarding SOVF? That talk in 2007 was around the time she wrote the IDW comic.

 

[CaptainMatt]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

Realistically, I think the best one could hope for is a release as an audio adventure. At very, very, very best, if the Gods smile on Trek fans, a direct-to-DVD animated adventure in the vein of the DCU movies - which have been released despite the live action Batman, Green Lantern and Superman movies. But we're probably not really comparing like with like.

It would be great if we could get something made like the DCU animated features. I don't know a thing about the copyright and other marketing issues, amd frankly, I don't care. I just know I would pay real money for one last adventure for the crew of the USS Enterprise as voiced by the original cast!

 

[Danlav05]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

Realistically, I think the best one could hope for is a release as an audio adventure. At very, very, very best, if the Gods smile on Trek fans, a direct-to-DVD animated adventure in the vein of the DCU movies - which have been released despite the live action Batman, Green Lantern and Superman movies. But we're probably not really comparing like with like.

It would be great if we could get something made like the DCU animated features. I don't know a thing about the copyright and other marketing issues, amd frankly, I don't care. I just know I would pay real money for one last adventure for the crew of the USS Enterprise as voiced by the original cast!

LOL we need someone to do a bit of detective work...

 

[Danlav05]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

I've just been thinking about this (obsessed much? Yup, this may be the holy grail of Trek) IF the audio tracks still exist and can be found, then that's that. If it can be found and preserved, then even if it's 10/20 years down the line there is always a possiblity something can be done with this, be it an audiobook or CG movie.

I think a movie might be more viable than an episode (or a game I guess, funnily enough I never thought of that?!), given the material. It would give SOVF it's own platform. But imagine it? A brand new full-length adventure with the original cast. And Mark Lenard as Sarek. Obviously any new production would have to go through CBS Studios now rather than Paramount, and the actors/estates, writers and make sure the rights to the story are secured.

James Doohan, Mark Lenard and DeForest Kelley are no longer with us, so that would make the project extra special. Hopefully Kelley's lines would be good enough to use.

I know I'm reading into things a bit here, but I am an optimist. We just need someone in LA (presumably) who can track stuff down and go to CBS with it.

 

[clark054]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

The Gospel according to Newt.

 

[Ronald Held]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

Is there any news on turning the script into a novel?

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

Is there any news on turning the script into a novel?

I've done some more searching. No news but this is the most recent:

98. rm10019 - June 4, 2011

I have done extensive research into Vulcan Fury, even contacting DC Fontana herself. She has the outline and work she did ’somewhere’ in her files, but the question is who owns the rights. Interplay was sold to a European company, but they don’t have the rights to Trek games obviously.

This was mid-2011. So much for her even trying to self-publish as an E-Book...

 

[Ronald Held]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

Has she been to a recent convention where someone had asked her this question?

 

[The Overlord]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

I've just been thinking about this (obsessed much? Yup, this may be the holy grail of Trek) IF the audio tracks still exist and can be found, then that's that. If it can be found and preserved, then even if it's 10/20 years down the line there is always a possiblity something can be done with this, be it an audiobook or CG movie.

I think a movie might be more viable than an episode (or a game I guess, funnily enough I never thought of that?!), given the material. It would give SOVF it's own platform. But imagine it? A brand new full-length adventure with the original cast. And Mark Lenard as Sarek. Obviously any new production would have to go through CBS Studios now rather than Paramount, and the actors/estates, writers and make sure the rights to the story are secured.

James Doohan, Mark Lenard and DeForest Kelley are no longer with us, so that would make the project extra special. Hopefully Kelley's lines would be good enough to use.

I know I'm reading into things a bit here, but I am an optimist. We just need someone in LA (presumably) who can track stuff down and go to CBS with it.

Again I don't see the point in dubbing in old audio clips of the TOS cast, for an animated movie or series, rather just creating a new audio track with a new script.

Trying to dub old audio clips of these actors would sound forced and stilted. No one besides hard core trekies would care that its DeForest Kelly's voice in the cartoon, the stilted way the voice acting was done trying to dub in long deceased voice actors would be a turn off to the general audience. If they are going to make an animated movie about Star Trek, have a new audio track, not an old one. I think a pre-lay track would sound way better then dubbing in old audio clips.

 

[newtontomato539]

Re: resurrecting Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury as a animated TOS st

Secrets of Vulcan's Fury would make a wonderful animated movie.

Pocket Books still hasn't done 25th Anniversary, Judgement Rites or Kobayashi Alternative prose novelizations.

An animated movie would be the next best thing.