Summary
Star Trekis about to get weird in the best way with a new series of animated shorts. But unlike its previous release of bite-sized stories known asShort Treks, these new entries will really give their creators a chance to let their freak flags fly. That’s because these will be non-canon.
Back in 2018,Star Trekreleased a series of standalone shorts simply titledShort Treks. These were meant to essentially expand the little spaces between stories in theStar Trekuniverse, with offerings ranging from hilarious to heartfelt. While these ended up creating some of the morelightheartedStar Trekstorylines, they were still largely throwaway tales. But that may have been for the best, as it provided a space for moments that may not have found a home anywhere else in the franchise. Now, it seems that idea is being taken to its absolute extreme with a brand new set of even shorter shorts.
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Director Casper Kelly, who worked onShort Treks, is now doubling down withVery Short Treks, and they’re being marketed as “anything but canon.” Set to loosely coincide with the 50th anniversary ofStar Trek: The Animated Series, these new extra tiny episodes look to be capturing the more lighthearted spirit of that bizarre classic show while giving its own spin as well. Kelly spoke withColliderabout the upcoming collection. “I’m writing them along with these two other writers, Claire Friedman and Aaron Waltke,” Kelly explained. “I write them and then I’m directing them basically along with Awesome Incorporated, the animation studio. And I think the challenge is this isn’t something new I’m making myself, it is a beloved thing with a storied history.”
The trailer forVery Short Treksoffers an interesting mix of animation styles, with the visuals of bothThe Animated Seriesand the current hotness ofStar Trek: Lower Deckswhich is just premiering its 4th season. It will also presumably feature other visual styles as well. But whileVery Short Treksmay end up as a good selection ofepisodes for newcomers toStar Trek, Kelly still wants to keep things kosher with the rest of the franchise. It’s certainly one way to draw in as many viewers as possible.
“So it is negotiating, but you want, you want to push limits,” Kelly continued. “So what’s the right limits to push? What’s not right? What feels good? What makes this not feel likeStar Trekanymore, and just figuring all that out because it is a show about optimism and hope for the future. But it’s also a show that does not take itself too seriously.” It sounds like similar challenges that occurred with the moreraunchy scenes inLower Decks, as the creators had to walk a bit of a tightrope between their new vision for the franchise and staying true to whatStar Trekhas always been.
However, concerned fans can probably rest easy knowing that raunchiness likely won’t cross over intoVery Short Treks. If anything, it seems like this will be less of aLower Deckstype of show and more of aStar Wars Detoursvibe, albeit one that will actually release. So fans may want to calibrate their tricorders for something goofy, because they’re about to go where, frankly, many have gone before.
Star Trek: Very Short Treksbegin airing September 8th onStarTrek.com and the officialStar TrekYouTube channel.
