9 Star Trek: The Animated Series Aliens That Should Appear In Live Action
Thanks to modern effects, animated aliens can now appear in live action Star Trek.
NBC cancelled Star Trek for low ratings in 1969. When they reexamined the ratings using a new system, NBC discovered that the show had always done well with the prized demographic, males 18 to 45. That, combined with the show's popularity in syndication, convinced NBC that there was an audience for more Star Trek.
In 1972, NBC commissioned an animated Star Trek series from Filmation, the studio best known today for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra, and other animated toy commercials.
Star Trek: The Animated Series, originally broadcast as just Star Trek, aired for two seasons from 1973 to 1974. While it never gained the popularity of the original, it did bring back most of the original cast and hire top-tier writing talent, including Original Series writers D.C. Fontana, and David Gerrold, and well-known science fiction writer Larry Niven.
The Animated Series introduced elements now considered canon such as details of Spock's childhood, original Enterprise commander Robert April, and locations on Vulcan. It also featured aliens that would have been too difficult to depict using 1960s effects but now possible with today's technology. Here are 10 aliens from Star Trek: The Animated Series who should appear in live action.
9. Pandronian
The Pandronians were introduced in the episode Bem. In an attempt to determine whether the Federation was ready for diplomatic relations with his species, Bem, a Pandronian observer, watched the crew of the Enterprise as they investigated the inhabitants of a newly discovered class-M planet.
Pandronians are actually colony creatures whose components can function independently. Because of this, they have a unique concept of individuality, referring to themselves as "this one" rather than "I". The components can also create a new colony by separating and reassembling with different creatures, essentially ending the existence of the previous unique Prandronian.
Writer David Gerrold originally pitched Bem for the Original Series's third season. His outline explored prejudice by showing how the Enterprise crew dealt with Bem.
Gerrold included a costume sketch and description of how Bem could be portrayed by two little people, each wearing half of the costume. Today's effects artists have less awkward solutions for creating a Pandronian including motion capture, CGI, and puppetry.
Both Bem and the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode I, Excretus focused on the Pandronian character's strict adherence to efficiency. Bringing a Pandronian into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds would allow the writers to explore David Gerrold's timely prejudice theme.