I don't mind the front half, but the engine section needs more detail on the front, where a typical deflector would be (it's just gray hull).
Spoilers Star Trek: Prodigy General Discussion Thread
- Thread starter The Overlord
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The front half is the part I dislike the most.
That blue strip is the deflector.
which is why the text says WOULD BE
i rather liked the fake Dauntless from VOY 'Hope & Fear', but yeah, the real thing is pretty fugly, and looks like an awkward top-heavy pelican that's about to faceplant (beakplant?) into the sand and break its neck. The Voyager one is much better proportioned and balanced out, especially with the presence of the "spine" behind the saucer section instead of that flimsy neck on the Prodigy version.
I guess once Arturis learned Voyager was responsible for helping the Borg against Species 8472 he quantum slipstreamed to the Federation to gather intel under cloak and then zoomed back to Voyager while changing his ship to match Starfleet's Dauntless prototype, with some improvements.
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Yeah, I’ve always felt that the VOY version is definitely more aesthetically pleasing to the eye than the current one. I’m honestly kind of surprised that they didn’t use the original design.
In ENT’s “Azati Prime” we even saw a VOY-styled Dauntless in the Fed fleet led by the E-J. Granted, it was an alternate future that never wound up happening, but there was at least one canonical timeline branch where Starfleet ship designers thought it was a worthwhile spaceframe to emulate.
In ENT’s “Azati Prime” we even saw a VOY-styled Dauntless in the Fed fleet led by the E-J. Granted, it was an alternate future that never wound up happening, but there was at least one canonical timeline branch where Starfleet ship designers thought it was a worthwhile spaceframe to emulate.
Maybe the missing spine section of the real Dauntless indicates that Starfleet intended to fit it with a protostsr drive and an additional pop-out nacelle in the spine.
The Starfleet Dauntless was created by a Starfleet project team led by Belanna Torres, as per one of VA Janeways mission logs. So, it was based on Arturis' Dauntless (but obviously not 100% identical), rather than the other way round.
A couple more recent-ish interviews with the Hageman brothers:
(this one, allthough published very recently, actually seems to be recorded shortly after ep.17 streamed for the first time). Talks about the animation and cinematic feel, among other things. At the end, they talk briefly about season 2 (the Chakotay situation to be resolved, more nostalgic ST moments, evolution for the main characters a bit like Murf changed in season 1).
This short interview goes into the inspirations for ST Prodigy, and also talks a bit about the animation style and the casting of the voice actors.
It could be that Starfleet built USS Dauntless has the break in the spine in PRO because its their first iteration of the design.
Arturis species were quite intelligent and advanced (then again a lone SF ship was able to adapt the QS technology rather quickly after first encountering it, and only 4 months later created a MUCH faster version of the drive too), so its possible the SF built Dauntless had to be made the way it was because the break in the spine might have a functional efficiency advantage over Arturis original that improves on the design for v2 QS.
We know the v1 of QS incurred quantum stresses on the VOY hull which prevented it from being in Slipstream for more than 1 hour (and that version of the drive topped out at 300 Ly's per hour - while its 'sustainable cruising speed' was lower at approximately 27.77 Ly's per hour, and this is the velocity we arrive at if the crew was expected to stay in Slipstream for 3 full months to cross 60 000 Ly's and reach Earth per the fake SF message).
The v2 of the QS (as seen about 4 months after fake Arturis Dauntless) was very different. It had a custom made Quantum Matrix, used Benemite crystals (of which there is no canonical mention for Arturis Dauntless and v1 of QS technology) and Borg technology.
This version did NOT incur quantum stresses on the hull, and it seems it was also much faster (it topped out at approximately 10 000 Ly's per minute - which was a whole 2000 times faster than Arturis original Dauntless).
Given that it was confirmed by PRO writers that the SF made Dauntless used Benemite crystals which would have to be used 'sparingly' to slow their degradation (implying SF was able to stabilize the crystals to prevent constant decay and only incur decay if they are used), its possible SF version of the Dauntless had an intentional break in the neck that serves a function for the Slipstream in helping with the phase variance problem that VOY had (though that was more of a computer being slow and unable to calculate the phase variance fast enough as the slipstream was forming - but who knows, the break in the neck could be helping overall effiiciency of the Dauntless design which was needed for the version 2 of QS - who knows).
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A long interview with the Hagemans and Ben Hibon: https://podcasts.roddenberry.com/show/mission-log-prodigy/ (supplemental 07)
Interestingly, the pinky touch between Dal and Gwyn wasn't in the script. It was added by animators and/or Hibon. The Hagemans stress that everybody on the production brings their A-game for this show.
See also: https://trekmovie.com/2023/01/18/st...s-very-different-and-their-hopes-for-a-movie/
Interestingly, the pinky touch between Dal and Gwyn wasn't in the script. It was added by animators and/or Hibon. The Hagemans stress that everybody on the production brings their A-game for this show.
See also: https://trekmovie.com/2023/01/18/st...s-very-different-and-their-hopes-for-a-movie/
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Here a German podcast on Prodigy S1: https://www.trekzone.de/2023/01/27/...eine-kinderserie-auch-erwachsene-faszinieren/
They debate whether the serie can also be fascinating for adults (and the answer is clearly yes, for them). They specifically liked the way the emotions in the serie are deserved (citing Rok-Tahk in Time Amok as a clear example, "how long"), more so than in Discovery. Like us, they hope they will get a third season.
Interestingly, besides the well known visual references to "The fellowship of the Ring" (hiding from Drednok under the tree) and to Terminator (Drednok's red eye that goes out) they also noticed a reference to the Matrix ("upgrades!", referring to holo-Janeway when she reveals to the Diviner that she was reprogrammed so he couldn't take control of her, in the mid-season finale) (see also the image on the linked page).
They debate whether the serie can also be fascinating for adults (and the answer is clearly yes, for them). They specifically liked the way the emotions in the serie are deserved (citing Rok-Tahk in Time Amok as a clear example, "how long"), more so than in Discovery. Like us, they hope they will get a third season.
Interestingly, besides the well known visual references to "The fellowship of the Ring" (hiding from Drednok under the tree) and to Terminator (Drednok's red eye that goes out) they also noticed a reference to the Matrix ("upgrades!", referring to holo-Janeway when she reveals to the Diviner that she was reprogrammed so he couldn't take control of her, in the mid-season finale) (see also the image on the linked page).
I might watch it one day, but I do not want to be a traitor to Star Trek. People buy me Star Wars presents all the time by accident, it really frustrates me.
The first few episodes of Prodigy were what I would consider to be Star Wars like to begin with, this was a bit off putting to begin with but I soon grew to like it. Eventually, Prodigy kind of morphed in to more of a Star Trek like series. Perhaps it was ‘bait and switch’ for a new audience?
I'd call the first few episodes of Prodigy the "playing it safe" portion. If you're going to make a CGI show obstensibly for kids, then apeing the arguably most successful sci-fi kids show for such a franchise in the form of Dave Filoni's Clone Wars? Is definitely the best move you can make. The fact we can spot it during this portion shouldn't be a detracting point but a point of praise considering how good Clone Wars is and thought of by the Star Wars Fandom.
It also allows you to steadily introduce the kids into the ideas of stuff like the Federation etc by easing them in, instead of the various shows which come about now, which technically do need you to burrow into more and more lore to fully understand why things are the way they are. Otherwise we stop having nice things and have to keep wasting episodes recapping Khan, or rebooting it etc. so a new audience can "catch up". The way this show has handled the various background stuff and even some significant plotpoints has been brilliant.
It feels a bit more like various kids shows I watched as a kid. It's primarily for the kids (hence nobody dies) but there's tons of stuff in the background, or even as part of the plot, to keep the adults tuning in too. Never mind the cameos and references.
It has good characters that engage me.
That is sufficient.
No similarity to any other property required, nor do I feel the same way about Clone Wars.
That is sufficient.
No similarity to any other property required, nor do I feel the same way about Clone Wars.
Again, though, how exactly is it similar to The Clone Wars? I'm not seeing it. The character design style is nowhere near as wooden (literally -- Lucas wanted TCW's characters to look like Gerry Anderson marionettes). The animation in Prodigy is superior to anything in the Star Wars shows. The storyline is continuous instead of jumping around in a semi-anthology fashion. It's about a small group of kids discovering Starfleet and the galaxy instead of telling war stories. And as you say, nobody dies (at least on camera), while characters died all the time in TCW.
I keep hearing people asserting Prodigy's alleged similarity to Star Wars as an axiom, but nobody has offered an adequate explanation of what the specific similarities are, beyond comments that boil down to little more than "They're the only two CGI kids' shows I've heard of."
I adore The Clone Wars and its spinoffs using the same animation style and I don't think those and PRO are anything alike other than using CGI animation and being aimed at a younger audience. That's pretty much it. Well, both take place in space and on space vessels and planetary surfaces but, you know, mentioning the characters tending to speak English might be a step too far in the rude direction.
I have never seen this Clone Wars, but as someone who has not even seen the Star Wars movies which it is based on I made the same connection which I mentioned earlier in the thread. After a quick Google Image search search I see that Gwyn is very similar to a character called ‘Ashoka’.
Btw, If there are any Star Wars fans here please feel free to read my Star Wars fan fic linked in my signature below, it’s not getting much interest so I have not bothered writing any more for a while but I might finish it one day. It is an ad-hoc project.
Btw, If there are any Star Wars fans here please feel free to read my Star Wars fan fic linked in my signature below, it’s not getting much interest so I have not bothered writing any more for a while but I might finish it one day. It is an ad-hoc project.
They're nothing alike.
Yup. Not even close to the same. Character journey completely different, goals different, etc.
With due respect, this is commenting on these properties with zero context or anything about either character. At some point in time the surface level comparison game wears quite thin, and requires actual substantive evidence put behind it. In other words, watch Star Wars or the comparison game is meaningless.
Spinoffs, plural? The only other SW show using the same animation style is The Bad Batch. Rebels and Resistance both had very different design styles, with the Rebels designs being more cartoonish and way too bouncily animated in contrast to TCW's marionettish stiffness, and Resistance using an ugly, overexposed-looking cel-shaded style with fairly cheap-looking character animation.
Come to think of it, that's one way Prodigy looks so much better. Lots of CG-animated shows rarely change their characters' clothes because it's expensive to build new models. Resistance was so cheap that it even had the female lead wear her entire pilot uniform (minus only the helmet) even when sitting on her bed in her room. But Prodigy has put its characters in a lot of different outfits, changing to fit the stories. I didn't realize before how much it did that.
Not to pile on, but I can't imagine why you'd think that unless you're desperately looking for similarities. They barely resemble each other at all, aside from being strong, young, and female.
The brain is very good at imagining patterns and connections where they don't exist. You can always convince yourself that two things resemble each other if you want them to, if you choose to ignore the differences that don't fit what you want to prove. Which is why we should shape our conclusions to fit the evidence, not vice versa.
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