startreckanimated

STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES – Once the original show went off the air in 1969, Trekkies were in a pretty sad state. Attempts to relaunch the series were going nowhere and the motion picture was still ten years off. But for a brief 22-episode run Kirk, Spock and the crew of the starship Enterprise were allowed to continue their voyage in animated form (don’t you dare call it a cartoon!) which featured most of the original cast members voices and scripts from frequent Trek contributors. Although the animation is shoddy Saturday morning stuff, the tone of the show is completely in keeping with Trek lore, featuring many crossover characters and galactic landmarks. Decidedly adult in its execution, the show wasn’t dumbed down for a mass audience. If anything Star Trek: The Animated Series is a more legitimate continuation of Gene Roddenberry’s creation than several of the latter TV spin-offs. Episodes like Yesteryear (which delves into Spock’s childhood) and One of Our Planets is Missing (whose central menace is a dead ringer for VGER in the 1979 movie) proved that good writing could be successful in any format. Extras include a great 20-minute featurette on the show’s production and text commentary on several episodes. DISNEY’S TRUE-LIFE ADVENTURES VOL. 1 – 4: Wonders of the World, Lands of Exploration, Creatures of the Wild and Nature’s Mysteries are the titles of these new additions to the Legacy Collection hosted by Roy Disney, who’s justifiably proud of these documentaries culled from the archives. Everything you see today on Animal Planet and The Discovery Channel is a rehash of the stuff Disney was doing as far back as the ‘50s with these Academy Award winning features and shorts; exploring every corner of the world and all the amazing creatures in them. From the secret life of bees to the dramatic adventures of an orphaned baby squirrel (based on a story by the author of Bambi), each volume uses the classic Disney style – witty narration complemented by incredible production values – to entertain anyone from pre-school to well past puberty. Extras include a wealth of rare shorts and longer segments from the Wonderful World of Disney TV show along with new featurettes on current exhibits inside the Animal Kingdom. THE FLICK: Movie trilogies aren’t so different from our own families: the siblings are always trying to live up to the reputation of the first-born. And while the baby of the family (Part 3, in cinematic terms) is spoiled with more toys than it really deserves (i.e., a big budget), the middle child (Part 2) is often the most troubled of the bunch; full of ideas but rather haphazard in their execution, capable of unbelievable brilliance and outright stupidity at the same time. Think Back to the Future 2, a schizophrenic hodgepodge is there ever was one. Or more recently, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dean Man’s Chest. Sure it still climbing the top ten of all-time highest grossing movies, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s second part of the Pirates trilogy is full of disconnected action sequences, unexplained motives, secretive sub-plots and (luckily) some of the best CGI effects ever put to film. Yet it’s all one big set-up, with only the hope of a satisfying conclusion next summer to put all the pieces together. It’s a risky proposition. One that obviously paid off. But that doesn’t mean we can’t call out Pirates 2 for what it really is: essentially one big trailer for Part 3. Epic in scale and grand in scope, Pirates 2 is so large is almost loses track of its own characters, sending them jaunting across the high seas in so many different directions it’s almost impossible to remember who’s going where for what reason and why we’re supposed to care. It makes up for these rather obvious flaws in true summer movie fashion, with elaborate stunt sequences that best the original film in terms of sheer spectacle. Not to mention a memorable new villain, Davy Jones (played by Bill Nighy under the weight of numerous CGI tentacles), that proves a good bad guy really does make the film. Depp is back, of course, as Captain Jack Sparrow. And he stumbles through the motions with relative success. But the film never embraces him the way it should. He’s just another player in a chess game whose strategy is never made clear. It’s frustrating to watch a film with such imagination squander its potential. But like any good parent, I suppose the best advice is to let the filmmakers learn from their own mistakes. THE FEATURES: Bruckheimer certainly doesn’t skimp on the DVD. There’s over 5 hours extras ranging from your typical bloopers and featurettes on the effects, stunts and mythology to a running commentary from screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. On Charting the Return, it becomes painfully obvious where the films flaws began, with director Gore Verbinski planning out action scenes without a script for either film in hand, but a release date pending. It’s a pretty honest look at the business of producing summer blockbusters. Some other segments of note, Re-Imagineering the Attraction gives us a chance to look back at the 1967 Disneyland ride that inspired the film and Creating the Kraken hits on the effects used to create that cool tribute to the very same giant squid used in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.