The Adult Swim veteran discusses his use of slightly weird, experimental comedy on five new 2D shorts that honor ‘Star Trek: The Animated Series’ 50th anniversary, kicking off this Friday with ‘Skin a Cat.’
As a young boy growing up in the 70s, Casper Kelly was one of many kids left broken-hearted when the critically acclaimed Star Trek: The Animated Series ended in 1974 after just two seasons.
“I was really young when the show ended,” remembers Kelly. “Like, I don't think I knew how to even write yet or anything. But I remember I was really upset when I got the news.”
He continues, “There was some church carnival thing I was going to later and they had a fortune teller there, which of course was just a high school kid dressed up as a fortune teller. But I didn’t know that. So, I was like, ‘Can you please tell me when the Star Trek cartoon is coming back on?’ And this high schooler goes, ‘I don't really know.’ And I'm like, ‘You're a fortune teller. You must know.’ So, she just made up a date, like ‘Wednesday at seven.’ And I ran to my mom saying, ‘This is great! It's coming back!’ Later, that fortune teller came and talked to my mom because she felt terrible. Needless to say, Wednesday at seven, my little world was shattered.”
But now, in celebration of the animated series’ 50th anniversary, it’s by Kelly’s own hands that he gets to bring back the cartoons he longed to revive as a child. He just had to wait until his writing skills were fully developed.
To commemorate the animated series’ golden anniversary, CBS Studios has created five all-new animated promotional spots in the 2D style of Star Trek: The Animated Series featuring fan-favorite characters voiced by cast members from across the Star Trek universe, including icons Jonathan Frakes as “Will Riker;” Doug Jones as “Saru;” and Armin Shimerman as “Quark.”
Debuting Friday, September 8, on StarTrek.com, Star Trek: very Short Treks comes from creative consultant Kelly, best known for the viral smash hit Too Many Cooks, and his work on Star Trek: Short Treks, as well as his projects for Adult Swim. Kelly wrote the shorts alongside SNL writer Claire Friedman and Aaron Waltke, who wrote on Star Trek: Prodigy.
“That high schooler was actually right, in a sense,” said Kelly, referring to the fake fortune teller of his youth. “She was just several decades off on the timing.”
Check out the trailer:
Kelly announced the program at this year’s San Diego Comic Con during the 50th Star Trek Animated Celebration panel alongside fellow panelist John Van Citters, Vice President, Star Trek Brand Development. Kelly will also release a new comic book with IDW Publishing, “Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents The Scheimer Barrier.” The comic will debut the first chapter digitally September 8 on StarTrek.com with physical copies available at New York Comic Con in October. Additional chapters will become available weekly on the website, dropping on Wednesdays.
“It's all very exciting to me,” shares Kelly. “We were building animatics for the shorts, starting to put in audio and everything, and when the editor put in the official Star Trek logo at the front of it, I just got chills. I'm like, ‘Oh my God. This actually is really Star Trek.’”
Of course, it’s not the first time Kelly’s been part of the universe, having worked on the stand-alone live-action stories of Star Trek: Short Treks, but he admits there’s something a bit more surreal about working on 2D-animated anniversary shorts that harken back to the original style of 1973.
“Short Treks was wild because I got to go up to Canada to shoot on that set and I took a million photos of myself in the captain’s chair, but when Alex Kurtzman invited me to do this animated series, he said, ‘I want you to do the weird stuff you do, but with Star Trek,’” recalls Kelly. “He was actually inspired by these shorts I did for Adult Swim involving the Wonder Twins, where things would go wrong, and they build the ice bridge to try to help but people start sliding off the bridge to their deaths. Now, that's not going to happen here. But the fact it was that animation that inspired Alex to have me write on this series was incredible. It was a real thrill.”
Star Trek: very Short Treks is animated by Atlanta’s Awesome Inc, known for their work on BirdGirl, The Simpsons, Robot Chicken, and even Too Many Cooks.
“This team is getting all the Atlanta madness,” notes Kelly, an Atlanta local himself.
Principal animation for the series is done in Toon Boom Harmony, with character and background designed in Adobe Photoshop. Though it’s all being done with modern tech and looks very clear and crisp, Kelly says he also still wants it to be reminiscent of the time when fans first watched these cartoons. It’s a difficult task to pull off, as the 70s cartoon is now ancient from a production standpoint, the animation appearing as if viewed through a polaroid lens.
But a 70s animation style, fittingly enough, lends itself to the experimental comedy Casper has infused into the show. “I think of how they did that with Space Ghost, which is based on a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, or with Sealab 2021, which was based on Hanna Barbera's Sealab 2020,” he says. “They're drawn sort of realistically, and for them to say something absurd is even more funny to me because they look so serious. It’s a good contrast.”
In the last three years, two other animated Star Trek series have surfaced, the 2D-animated Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020) and the 3D-animated Star Trek: Prodigy (2021). Both series took on new tones for Star Trek narrative and visuals. And though Star Trek: very Short Treks is an homage to the original animated series, Kelly believes their series takes even more risks than the animated series that have come before it.
“We're experimenting totally with what you might do comedically with Star Trek,” he notes. “I love Lower Decks. And Mike McMahan is awesome. I actually got to work with him some because he needed to approve some things on these shorts. But I think what we are doing with this series is even more different than Lower Decks. Obviously, Lower Decks can be experimental, and a bit fucked up. But this is even a little more so. Hopefully, people will go for it.”
He adds, “We're bringing in some actors – knock on wood – that have never done Star Trek, and who are more from the comedy realm. I came up from Adult Swim and the world of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, CatDog, Too Many Cooks, all those awkward teen things. And Alex and the team, they wanted that. Truthfully, there’s only so much I can say. These are three-minute shorts. So, if I tell you too much, it’ll ruin it for you.”
But there is one exclusive spoiler Kelly was willing to spill.
“I'm killing off Picard,” shares Kelly, thrilled by the new power he wields. “And that's canon, so it can’t be undone. Once I was told it was canon, I laughed maniacally.”
There will be plenty of Easter eggs in the shorts, catering to fans’ nostalgia, as well as new territories explored. In fact, most of the shorts are going to be comprised of new, never-before-explored material.
“Sometimes fans can be hardcore about things, so I hope they take it in a spirit of experimentation,” says Kelly. “I definitely love the shows. And the movies. So, the new stuff we’re trying, it's from a place of love. But, yeah, we’re having a little fun. You're going to see some things you haven't seen. And even people who aren't Star Trek fans who see this on their Facebook or whatever, because we're going to put it on social media, I want them to laugh and think Star Trek can actually be cool.”
Through this project, Kelly also joins the horde of animators that fight to show how hand-drawn 2D still has just as much charm now as it did 50 years ago, even as AI technology continues to rise and threaten the creative craft.
“AI is fascinating to me,” Kelly admits. “I definitely play around with it, constantly. But these cartoons are hand drawn. They're not touched by AI. We’re embracing the old and the new, and just humanity in general, and what humanity has done with animation over the past 50 years. I mean, what is Star Trek, but a celebration of humanity? There's technology, yes. But, ultimately, it's about humanity.”
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
