Star Trek; Starfleet Academy

[Dusty Ayres]

Second time's the charm for my posting of this concept, hopefully.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy-TAS

An animated series based on Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry, written and directed by Bruce Timm & Paul Dini ( Batman: TAS, Superman: TAS, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, The Zeta Project, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, ) with some scripts by Manny Coto and Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens, plus others.

PLOT/CONCEPT: The famous training institution,and the young people who inhabit it. The show will center on a core of freshmen (about 6 youths) training to be future officers and crew members in Starfleet-their hopes, dreams, aspirations, successes, and failures.

The 6 youths, ranging in age from 18-20, are all from different parts of the Federation: three will be human, two will be alien, and the sixth will be from a race that one would not expect to see in Starfleet: Cardassian. As always, the human will be the leader of the group, and it will be through their eyes that we experience what's going on, and the story's main focus.

The 6 are:

• George Washington Carter: The self-appointed leader of the group, he is an Afro Canadian from Toronto, and the second generation of his family to be in Starfleet, on the command fast-track. A self-confident young man, his confidence is somewhat marred by feelings of self-doubt, because of the legacy he has to live up to: his mother, Madeline Carter, captain of the Nebula-class starship U.S.S.Morningstar, whose accomplishments are just as impressive as Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Kirk, etc.
• Samira Al-Sadr: The 'second in command' of the group, on the Life Sciences fast-track, of Arab origin from Palestine. She is conscious of her history, and that carries over into the way she handles medicine. Always striving to become perfect, she does not let that overcome her good-natured sense of humor and fun, or her sexuality.
• Masumi Ito: The 'third' of the triad, she was genetically engineered as a youth on a rediscovered lost colony similar to Moab IV (from the Next Generation episode The Masterpiece Society). However, that was not perfect, and although she is obviously smart, she is left with a craving for food that has given her unsightly weight gain-as well as a caustic tongue when anybody tells her about it. She is studying to be an engineer.
• Selan-A Vulcan cadet on the Security fast track, he is the jock of the group, and is the star of the track team, the new baseball team, and the Paressies Squares (sp) team! He is a somewhat laid-back (for a Vulcan), blonde-haired Vulcan of half-human parentage, who speaks in human slang (whatever slang teenagers of the 24th century speak) on occasion, mixed in with his perfect English.
• Thalla-An Andorian, she is on the Science fast-track, and is somewhat nerdy (for an alien.) To her, scientific discovery is everything, and making (or keeping) friends is low on the list of priorities. She has to be occasionally brought out of her shell by Samira and George.
• Jandara-The Cardassian cadet mentioned earlier, she was found on a horrific abandoned Cardassian outpost world near the Cardassian Neutral Zone, a product of a secret Obsidian Order program to create a super-warrior similar to an Augment. As the embodiment of the Cardassian enemy, she has to prove that she can coexist among humans and the other races at the Academy. Compared to that, the curriculum's a breeze.

ANIMATION STYLE: Let's face it, anime is the style that's popular now, and in order to get viewers, a style similar to anime (think Teen Titans) would be the way to go. While the show will be that way, it won't have all the trappings of anime; no large drop of water from the head or anything like that, more something along the lines of Cowboy Bebop.

TIME SETTING: as mentioned above, the 24th Century, sometime after the Dominion War and the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, possibly before the events of Star Trek: Titan.

Have I got a great new concept, or what? Let me know.

 

[JNG]

ANIMATION STYLE: Let's face it, anime is the style that's popular now, and in order to get viewers, a style similar to anime (think Teen Titans) would be the way to go. While the show will be that way, it won't have all the trappings of anime; no large drop of water from the head or anything like that, more something along the lines of Cowboy Bebop.

Any evidence to support this idea that anime styling is very popular? Adult Swim shows anime and those shows get mostly shit for ratings.

 

[DRMidnite]

ANIMATION STYLE: Let's face it, anime is the style that's popular now, and in order to get viewers, a style similar to anime (think Teen Titans) would be the way to go. While the show will be that way, it won't have all the trappings of anime; no large drop of water from the head or anything like that, more something along the lines of Cowboy Bebop.

Any evidence to support this idea that anime styling is very popular? Adult Swim shows anime and those shows get mostly shit for ratings.

Agreed...

 

[clint g]

It really depends on the show. if you look at the list of shows that do well some will be anime and some will be american style animation.For example, Cowboy Bebop (the one the poster mentioned) did very well. With a show like trek, a more realistic approach that is found in alot of japanese animation would work better than the more un-realisitc type that is common in American animation. That said, I say Trek should just stick to being live action.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

ANIMATION STYLE: Let's face it, anime is the style that's popular now, and in order to get viewers, a style similar to anime (think Teen Titans) would be the way to go. While the show will be that way, it won't have all the trappings of anime; no large drop of water from the head or anything like that, more something along the lines of Cowboy Bebop.

Any evidence to support this idea that anime styling is very popular? Adult Swim shows anime and those shows get mostly shit for ratings.

ANIMATION STYLE: Let's face it, anime is the style that's popular now, and in order to get viewers, a style similar to anime (think Teen Titans) would be the way to go. While the show will be that way, it won't have all the trappings of anime; no large drop of water from the head or anything like that, more something along the lines of Cowboy Bebop.

Any evidence to support this idea that anime styling is very popular? Adult Swim shows anime and those shows get mostly shit for ratings.

Agreed...

Ok, we can try CGI, then-sheesh!

But I don't want the style seen in The Clone Wars, or any Pixar films (although I loved The Incredibles)-I want something along the style of Final Fantasy-The Spirits Within or the new DTV CGI Resident Evil movie.

And I'm sorry, guys, but I go to anime conventions every year, and the amount of people that go to them number in the thousands, more than the local Star Trek convention that I also go to. So there.

 

[DarKush]

I love this idea even though I'm not a fan of anime. Great character descriptions. I think Starfleet Academy is an idea that should've seen the light of day a long time ago.

 

[JNG]

And I'm sorry, guys, but I go to anime conventions every year, and the amount of people that go to them number in the thousands, more than the local Star Trek convention that I also go to.

Right, because Star Trek is five TV series, and anime is a style with thousands of TV series. This doesn't make "anime style" (which is sort of a dopey piece of shorthand, considering that anime isn't so much a style as a French word the Japanese use for "cartoon" and encompasses as many art styles as there are artists) a good choice to bring from one to the other, especially considering that the vast majority of those animations are never watched by more than a tiny, tiny fraction of the American audience attained by even the least successful televised iterations of the Trek franchise.

"CGI" isn't a style, either.

So there.

"So there?"

Hey, your show idea will never, ever get made, and none of the creative professionals you mentioned are likely to ever take your phone calls, no matter how many pals you make at the "anime convention." So there.

 

[mirandafave]

The idea for a Starfleet Academy is an intriguing one but some of the draw backs to it can be that it restrains the character as they are normally Earth bound. With that said I think you can work around that with sporadic episodes of the cadets visiting home for their breaks and special training operations. Plus seeing the federation from the ground up and the Academy would be interesting and if handled well could be thought provoking.

However, if you are going to do it as an animation, which I don't see any problem with [also more likely to happen than live action at the moment albeit whatever comes from the new movie], then there is greater scope to include more alien like characters. The three main characters are basically human.

Granted the bio-engineered character could have some other alterations - webbed hands, hooded eyes or something to do with an enhanced genetic design.

A Vulcan is very humanoid as is but on top of that your character is of half-human parentage. I think you can retain a lot of your character traits - his being competitive and sporty. Vulcans can easily be laconic in their reaction to things as they are emotionally controlled.

Andorians ought to be explored more within a Starfleet context and more of their traits society can be explored building on Enterprises Shran etc.

The Cardassian cadet would also be interesting especially after the Dominion war mind-set.

But again with animation you can have more alien creatures not limited to humanoid. TAS had Caitians and other other species which helped to differentiate it from the live action series.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

The idea for a Starfleet Academy is an intriguing one but some of the draw backs to it can be that it restrains the character as they are normally Earth bound. With that said I think you can work around that with sporadic episodes of the cadets visiting home for their breaks and special training operations. Plus seeing the federation from the ground up and the Academy would be interesting and if handled well could be thought provoking.

However, if you are going to do it as an animation, which I don't see any problem with [also more likely to happen than live action at the moment albeit whatever comes from the new movie], then there is greater scope to include more alien like characters. The three main characters are basically human.

Granted the bio-engineered character could have some other alterations - webbed hands, hooded eyes or something to do with an enhanced genetic design.

A Vulcan is very humanoid as is but on top of that your character is of half-human parentage. I think you can retain a lot of your character traits - his being competitive and sporty. Vulcans can easily be laconic in their reaction to things as they are emotionally controlled.

Andorians ought to be explored more within a Starfleet context and more of their traits society can be explored building on Enterprises Shran etc.

The Cardassian cadet would also be interesting especially after the Dominion war mind-set.

But again with animation you can have more alien creatures not limited to humanoid. TAS had Caitians and other other species which helped to differentiate it from the live action series.

All of your points are good, thanks for posting; I will take them into consideration.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series

we can try CGI, then-sheesh!

But I don't want the style seen in The Clone Wars, or any Pixar films (although I loved The Incredibles)-I want something along the style of Final Fantasy-The Spirits Within or the new DTV CGI Resident Evil movie.

I just checked out the 97 minute feature film
"Resident Evil: Degeneration [Biohazard: Degeneration]"on imdb.com and it looks good. I will add it to my Netflix Que.

I would like a new series about the start of Starfleet Academy done up in CGI instead of live-action. Realistically you are not going to see a 13 or 22 episode series with the quality that Pixar or Sony Pictures Entertainment is going to put out that looks like 'Resident Evil: Degeneration'. 2008's SW:The Clone Wars TV series cost over $22 million for 22 episodes. That was with stylized and less photorealistic CGI animation.
more info here about that series and the budget to make it.


About the content of a Starfleet Academy series:
How about a series starting when Starfleet Acedemy first opens?
Half of the episodes can be set on training missions and half can be at the academy itself?

Some of the stories could be from

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was a comic book series published by Marvel Comics in the United States, running for 19 issues from December 1996 until June 1998.
The series followed the adventures of Nog and his classmates in Omega Squad in the years 2372 and 2373.

Niw that is 211 years after Starfleet Academy was created.

It was created in the year 2161

SOURCE

 

[Anthony Sabre]

Re: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series

CGI/Animation format doesn't bother me. But I'm just not interested in an Academy based Trek. Teenage characters have rarely been well received in Trek. Can't even imagine a show based around that age group.

Plus the likely hood that their actions will be larger than life, even though they're not even out of the Academy. A cadet saves the Federation? No thanks.

 

[The Academic]

Re: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series

Teenage characters have rarely been well received in Trek.

Paging Wesley Crusher! Paging Wesley Crusher!

A cadet saves the Federation? No thanks.

Except young James T. Kirk in Star Trek XI, of course...

 

[32JaX]

I hoped for a ST:SFA series for a long time, but I had always thought in terms of live action (mainly for the cameo opportunity of DS9, Voyager and TNG actors).

By the way, Adult Swim called out the anime viewers a few weeks ago for not watching the Friday night movies they had voted for!

 

[Red Ranger]

Dusty:

Not a bad idea. In the past, ST has handled young cadets poorly, as in Wesley's character in TNG. I think the times they best portrayed cadets or young officers was with, ironically, Nog, the first Ferengi in Starfleet. Talk about a massive change, from scrounging thief to groundbreaking cadet to field promoted ensign, and eventually, to lieutenant, j.g.

Also, the TNG eps Lower Decks and The First Duty are the other best uses of young cadets/young officers. Red Squad was intriguing, but they kind of messed them up on that DSN ep that was half Lord of the Flies and half Mutiny on the Bounty.

I like your imperfectly genetically engineered character best. And hey, first Cardassian in Starfleet opens up all kinds of possibilities, esp. if set right after the war with the Dominion. I'm sure there are some cadets who had family who died in the war and might not warmly receive a Cardassian. It would be cool if the character was yet another bastard child of Gul Dukat's, as he seemed to be leaving his seed everywhere he went in the Alpha Quadrant!

Red Ranger

 

[Jeyl]

Don't listen to these folks who hate anime style. They've never watched Moribito!

 

[Red Ranger]

Jeyl: You're right, I've never seen Moribito. But I'm monumentally unimpressed with anime style. The ridiculous doe eyes alone make me want to barf! Even though I like early anime like Speed Racer and even Starblazers, I really have an intense dislilke of that unrealistic, unnatural style where peoples' mouths are twisted into toothsome maws! -- RR

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Starfleet Academy could work as long as:

-it's live action (animating it, whatever style, would be such a waste)
-the characters are depicted in a grownup fashion without a whiff of teen angst
-they spend at least 2/3 of the time off Earth

As always, the human will be the leader of the group,

Nah, mix it up for a change: make a non-human the main character. It's high time.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

Dusty:

Not a bad idea. In the past, ST has handled young cadets poorly, as in Wesley's character in TNG. I think the times they best portrayed cadets or young officers was with, ironically, Nog, the first Ferengi in Starfleet. Talk about a massive change, from scrounging thief to groundbreaking cadet to field promoted ensign, and eventually, to lieutenant, j.g.

Also, the TNG eps Lower Decks and The First Duty are the other best uses of young cadets/young officers. Red Squad was intriguing, but they kind of messed them up on that DSN ep that was half Lord of the Flies and half Mutiny on the Bounty.

I like your imperfectly genetically engineered character best. And hey, first Cardassian in Starfleet opens up all kinds of possibilities, esp. if set right after the war with the Dominion. I'm sure there are some cadets who had family who died in the war and might not warmly receive a Cardassian. It would be cool if the character was yet another bastard child of Gul Dukat's, as he seemed to be leaving his seed everywhere he went in the Alpha Quadrant!

Red Ranger

Thanks for getting it.

About Masumi Ito: I was thinking she'd be like Margret Cho somewhat (in fact, Margret Cho could do the voice!)

Jandara, the bastard child of Dukat? Why not? I love iti And yes, that's exactly what I was going for with her.

 

[Admiral2]

Wow. It's amazing how quickly this debate became about whether anime-style animation is popular and didn't bother to address the real problem with the idea-the same problem with every academy idea concept-which is it's about kids going to school!

The thing that boggles my mind is that people complain about "one ship, one crew" ideas, "fall of the federation" ideas, whatever, but this idea, which is just "Space Academy" with a Star Trek brand on it, is the one that that needs to die a horrible screaming death, but people are always like "Well, it could work if..."

AAAAAAAGH!

 

[Jeyl]

"Space Academy" with a Star Trek brand on it, is the one that that needs to die a horrible screaming death, but people are always like "Well, it could work if..."

It could. Anything is possible. After all, making a Star Trek movie about whales worked just fine.

Don't worry Dusty. You have my support on this.