Press Release 7/23/08 Captain
Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise Keep on Trekkin' in Animated Form RIDGECREST, July 23, 2008 - DanhauserTrek.com and NeedlessFilms
today officially announced that new animated episodes of STAR TREK are being made for free viewing on
the Internet. The last new animated STAR TREK episode featuring Captain Kirk and
his crew aired on Saturday morning, October 12, 1974. Now, after almost 34
years, new episodes are being produced. These new episodes are intended to be a
direct continuation of the 22-episode animated STAR TREK series produced by Filmation
Associates from 1973-1974. To kick off the new episodes, a seven-minute animated short
feature "The Element of Surprise" debuted today on DanhauserTrek.com
and NeedlessFilms.com. The short was completed in July 2008 and the first
public showing of the short will occur at the August 6th meeting of the
California Writers Club East Sierra Branch, of which Curt is the president.
Danhauser stated that, "The short was created as a proof-of-concept and
also as a fun reminder of what it will be like to see new animated STAR TREK episodes after more than 30
years." Curt Danhauser, creator of the Guide to the Animated STAR
TREK web site, the
Internet's oldest and most extensive site devoted to the forgotten STAR TREK series, is hand-creating a new set
of full-length Animated STAR TREK episodes for release free on the Internet. These new shows
have been in the works since December 2006 and will be written, directed,
produced, storyboarded, animated and drawn by Danhauser. "Ever since I was a kid I've always loved
animation," stated Danhauser. "I am also a fan of STAR TREK and a writer. So, writing and
animating new episodes of the animated STAR TREK is a dream project for me."
Asked whether he would be updating the animation style, Danhauser responded,
"No. These new episodes are also very much intended to be an homage to
Filmation, a company that produced many popular animated Saturday morning
classics including some of the best loved Saturday morning shows of my
generation such as Fantastic Voyage, The New Adventures of Superman, Aquaman,
Batman & Robin, The Archies and Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. Curt Danhauser has a long history with STAR TREK. From 1995-2001, Danhauser worked
as researcher and writer for Michael and Denise Okuda who worked for Paramount
Pictures in the STAR TREK Art Department. He researched and wrote encyclopedia
entries and chronological data points for incorporation into the Okudas'
various publications including The STAR TREK Encyclopedia, The STAR TREK Chronology and The STAR TREK Omnipedia CD-ROMs. In fact, several of the
chronological data points researched by Danhauser are included in the History
of the Future portion of Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. Danhauser is one of the chief experts on the little known
and oft forgotten Animated STAR TREK series, which was produced from 1973-1974. He created the
Guide to the Animated STAR TREK web site in 1996 and since then it has been the source for all things related to
that classic series. Danhauser's knowledge of the animated series has lead to
his being hired to write and select the images for the first ever series of
trading cards devoted to the series, which was produced by Rittenhouse
Archives, Ltd. in 2003. He was also brought on for the "Quotable" Star
Trek: The Animated Series Cards produced in 2004. Most recently, Danhauser wrote an article
about the STAR TREK Story Records of the 1970's, which appeared in the August 2007 issue
of STAR TREK Magazine. Handling distribution and consulting on the new animated STAR
TREK episodes is
NeedlessFilms, a Ridgecrest, California based independent film production
company. "We're glad to host Curt's films," stated Mike Hill, primary
founder of NeedlessFilms. "He's written a script and a number of
treatments for some of our upcoming films, including 'The Dregs of Philosophy'
which is the next one set to go before the cameras." The type of stories that Danhauser will tackle in his set
of new animated adventures will be just the type that the classic series might
have undertaken. "To me, STAR TREK has always been about the human condition and not
about space ships or renegade Klingons," stated Danhauser. The best STAR
TREK episodes were
about what it meant to be human, such as "The Empath," "Requiem for
Methuselah" and "The Ultimate Computer." The tales penned by
Curt for his shows will deal with the nature of sentience, racial inequality on
an alien planet, depression, racial memory, extinction and of course the
non-interference directive. Danhauser is aiming high, but as he says, "I'd
rather aim high and only be partially successful, than aim low and
succeed." About Needless Films NeedlessFilms is a group of motion picture enthusiasts
based in Ridgecrest, California who have come together to make films. Since the
motion picture process is a very resource intensive undertaking, NeedlessFilms
allows its members in the California High Desert area to pool their resources
and achieve their common filmmaking goals. NeedlessFilms' primary founder, Mike Hill, has owned and
operated a video production company since 2001 and specialized in wedding and
event videography. "We currently have ten fully developed story ideas, four
of which are finalized screenplays, and three feature length stories in the
works," stated Hill. "Our story ideas are primarily Science Fiction
and Suspense Thrillers, with a horror story thrown in there as well. Many more
story ideas are on the board for development." Hill has jumped into filmmaking with both feet, writing,
filming and directing his first film, "The One Long Night" shortly
after forming NeedlessFilms. " Hill explained, "That first one was a
learning experiment to prepare for the production of the more ambitious
screenplays we have written." "Most of our stories are shorts, but we have three
feature length screenplays in the works as well," added Hill. Visitors to
the NeedlessFilms web site (www.needlessfilms.com) can view a list of the
stories they have in the works as well as watch their films. Star Trek is the copyright of CBS / Paramount Television. Neither DanhauserTrek.com nor Needless Films have any affiliation with CBS/Paramount Television.
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