There's a Second STAR TREK Animated Series in Development
A couple months ago it was announced that Rick and Morty head writer and executive producer Mike McMahan was developing a animated Star Trek comedy series called Star Trek: Lower Decks. That series is said to focus on “the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships.”
Well, we’ve now learned that there’s a second Star Trek animated series in development! According to THR, the series will be “kids-focused” and could potentially land somewhere outside of CBS All Access. There aren’t a lot of details given, but producer Alex Kurtzman said:
“There’s other animated things that we’re building that are an entirely different perspective and an entirely different tone [from Lower Decks]. What’s exciting about it is not only looking at each animated series as what’s the different tone, but what’s the different technology we can apply to these things so that visually they’re entirely different?”
Kurtzman also confirmed that there will be two more Star Trek: Short Treks coming. Those will arrive after the end of Star Trek: Discovery season two, and they will be animated, not live action:
“Our goal is to not only expand the definition of Star Trek and what has qualified as traditional Star Trek, but also to tell stories that are both self-contained in a very short period of time that also connect to the larger picture of what we’re doing, not only in Discovery but in the world building of Trek in general. And you get to tell these very intimate, emotional stories that are side stories to characters. So you get the benefit of the experience in and of itself but then when you watch Discovery you’ll see that these were all setting up things in the world of season two.”
I think it’s cool that they are embracing animation as a way to tell more Star Trek stories. I just hope that they deliver great stories and top-notch animation.
What are your thoughts on the animation direction that CBS is taking as they continue to expand the Star Trek brand?