I saw this interesting Tweet that got me thinking - an unseen ship design from Greg Jein's collection that the Tweeter posits was an unused Enterprise-B.
It's labelled "Movie 1: Beyond the Sea of Fire" and the sheet is dated 1989.
The date might not be relevant, it could just be old stock, but that title is new to me. I've seen design sketches from Generations with the working title "Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Movie", but never "Beyond the Sea of Fire".
But I did recall that the producers originally wanted an all-new ship for the Enterprise-B, so it could check out.
Sure enough, Mike Okuda said:
The "producers […] felt that the Excelsior had been seen too many times in previous films; they wanted a brand-new design for the Enterprise-B. This presented a challenge how to maintain continuity and Trek "historical accuracy" while giving the audience a "new" ship. Mike Okuda felt the challenge could be met." (Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies, p. 4)
memory-alpha.fandom.com
However, he goes on to say:
"(…) there were not any sketches done for an all-new Enterprise-B. We had said for years that the Excelsior sculpture in the TNG Observation Lounge represented the Enterprise-B, and I felt that some fans would have felt let down if we had failed to follow through with that idea. That's why I enlisted the talented John Eaves, who fortunately jumped right on board to help out. Fortunately, our producers saw the value in this approach, both from a fan-expectation viewpoint, as well as the sheer financial practicality.
It's obviously a Rick Sternbach illustration, but he didn't officially work on Generations. He was busy designing Voyager at the time. Maybe Sternbach was involved early on and Okuda wasn't aware or misremembered before Eaves was brought in.
It does say "For budgetary purposes only - not for construction". Perhaps this was a sketch purely designed to cost out a new model and persuade the producers that the previously-established Excelsior was the way to go?
Alternatively, it's the Enterprise-C. The date and the general design would check out, as would the references to battle damage. We know that was designed by Sternbach and built by Jein, and that the Probert design was simplified for speed of construction. But it doesn't explain the curious title.
Any other possibilities? I wondered if it might have been for another project that never happened. There was the aborted IMAX film that was off and on at various points in the 90s. Or maybe it was for an amusement park ride, perhaps an update of the old Star Trek Adventure at Universal?
Would be great if anyone has any knowledge or insight!
It's labelled "Movie 1: Beyond the Sea of Fire" and the sheet is dated 1989.
The date might not be relevant, it could just be old stock, but that title is new to me. I've seen design sketches from Generations with the working title "Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Movie", but never "Beyond the Sea of Fire".
But I did recall that the producers originally wanted an all-new ship for the Enterprise-B, so it could check out.
Sure enough, Mike Okuda said:
The "producers […] felt that the Excelsior had been seen too many times in previous films; they wanted a brand-new design for the Enterprise-B. This presented a challenge how to maintain continuity and Trek "historical accuracy" while giving the audience a "new" ship. Mike Okuda felt the challenge could be met." (Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies, p. 4)
Excelsior class model
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was one of the few Star Trek productions that introduced a multitude of new space faring designs at once, six in this case, including the Excelsior-class. Built for that movie, the studio model for the Excelsior-class USS Excelsior and the subsequent variant...
memory-alpha.fandom.com
However, he goes on to say:
"(…) there were not any sketches done for an all-new Enterprise-B. We had said for years that the Excelsior sculpture in the TNG Observation Lounge represented the Enterprise-B, and I felt that some fans would have felt let down if we had failed to follow through with that idea. That's why I enlisted the talented John Eaves, who fortunately jumped right on board to help out. Fortunately, our producers saw the value in this approach, both from a fan-expectation viewpoint, as well as the sheer financial practicality.
It's obviously a Rick Sternbach illustration, but he didn't officially work on Generations. He was busy designing Voyager at the time. Maybe Sternbach was involved early on and Okuda wasn't aware or misremembered before Eaves was brought in.
It does say "For budgetary purposes only - not for construction". Perhaps this was a sketch purely designed to cost out a new model and persuade the producers that the previously-established Excelsior was the way to go?
Alternatively, it's the Enterprise-C. The date and the general design would check out, as would the references to battle damage. We know that was designed by Sternbach and built by Jein, and that the Probert design was simplified for speed of construction. But it doesn't explain the curious title.
Any other possibilities? I wondered if it might have been for another project that never happened. There was the aborted IMAX film that was off and on at various points in the 90s. Or maybe it was for an amusement park ride, perhaps an update of the old Star Trek Adventure at Universal?
Would be great if anyone has any knowledge or insight!
