Trek Disney

Sharing a Universe —
Disney’s Star Trek Connections

Disneyana conventioneers
are an eclectic bunch. There are the fans who drone endlessly
on the same obscure piece of trivia. The hard-core collectors who scribble
off $1,000 checks for knickknacks that look like Goodwill rejects. And,
of course, there are the pin traders who wear their hobby on their sleeves—and
on their caps and their jackets and their pants…

Pin collectors waiting in line overnight at Disneyland last December

None of it compares, though, to the fanatics who attend Star Trek conventions. Imagine a rummage sale at the cantina from Star Wars. Where else can you debate the Eternal Mystery (Kirk vs. Picard) with Klingons and Ferengis? Hundreds of fans turn out in full costume and makeup, having morphed into Worf from ridged forehead to toe.

Certainly fans are deeply passionate about both Disney and Star Trek. Yet, at least on the surface, there seems to be little in common between the two pop culture phenomena. One specializes in classic, family- friendly fairy tales. The other mixes action/adventure and sci-fi soap opera with heavy-handed commentary on the latest political hot buttons, from interracial romance to euthanasia.

On a more basic level, both Disney
and Star Trek are famous for the same things: Taking
audiences to exotic new worlds in a far-away time. Introducing memorable,
endearing characters who aren’t always human, but display the gamut of
human strengths and weaknesses. Celebrating heroism, teamwork and family.
And, anchoring themselves with a conscience, so there’s always a moral
at the end of the story.

Atlantis promotional art © Disney

Not surprisingly, the two franchises have overlapped over the years—and
will even more within the coming weeks. Disney’s upcoming animated feature
Atlantis: The Lost Empire could co-opt Star Trek’s motto
of seeking out new civilizations and boldly going where no man has gone
before. The look, feel and story of the film seem more Gene Roddenberry
than Walt Disney. Compare, for example, the hawk-like Leviathan, mechanical
guardian of Atlantis, to a Klingon bird-of-prey warship.

One of the newly redone scenes from Star Trek: The Motion Picture special edition DVD to be released later this year – Publicity photo © Paramount Pictures

Atlantis co-director Kirk Wise admitted, “As a lifelong Star Trek fan, it’s hard for me to deny that there are some teeny-weeny Trek homages sprinkled throughout Atlantis. Some less obvious then others.”

Atlantis promotional art © Disney

Some parallels are unmistakable. Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy, provided the voice for the reclusive, 25,000-year-old King of Atlantis. Protective of his daughter, Princess Kida, and the Atlantean citizens, the King is alarmed by the arrival of outsiders and resists all efforts to befriend them.

Claudia Christian (Commander Susan Ivanova of the Star Trek– inspired Babylon 5) voiced Helga Sinclair, the exploration team’s icy blonde lieutenant. (MousePlanet today also has an interview with Claudia.)

Another one of the newly redone scenes from Star Trek: The Motion Picture special edition DVD to be released later this year – Publicity photo © Paramount Pictures

To raise the credibility of the Atlantean civilization, the filmmakers asked linguistics expert and Star Trek contributor Marc Okrand to create an original readable, speakable language. Okrand had previously created words for the Vulcan language (for Star Trek II) and went on to invent the Klingon language (used in Star Trek III and on Star Trek: The Next Generation). He even wrote a best-selling Klingon Dictionary. For Disney, Okrand made up hundreds of Atlantean words to be spoken by Nimoy, Cree (Princess Kida) Summers and others. The Atlantean language, which has a corresponding 29-letter alphabet, is rooted in Indo-European, but essentially possesses a set of rules all its own.

Asked to identify more subtle “mini-tributes” to Star Trek, co-director Wise was silent; we’ll have to see the movie to find out.

Walter Koenig publicity photo

Walter Koenig, who played Russian ensign Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek series, has made countless appearances at science fiction conventions. But sharp- eyed collectors might also spot the actor walking the halls of Disneyana conventions.

For nearly 30 years, Koenig has been collecting Disney and other comics-related
memorabilia. He’s not interested in the comic books themselves, just related
items, such as the mini-comics of the early 1930s and 1940s. “I collect
vintage pinback buttons (1930s-1960s), old Marx figurines and more recent
PVC’s,” he says. “Also, some old paper stuff—mostly gum
cards, tattoos and iron-ons.”

Walter Koenig in a publicity photo for Star Trek: The Motion Picture © Paramount Pictures

The collectibles aren’t strictly Disney. Koenig says, “My Disney collection is part of a greater collection of comic character memorabilia that I have been working at since the early Seventies. I don’t want to even think about the psychological ramifications of this obsessive- compulsive behavior. I’m depressed enough as it is.”

He has hundreds of comic book figurines, from Buck Rogers to Captain Marvel. Comic character buttons are a favorite; some of his buttons date back to 1886.

Koenig says he enjoys attending Disneyana shows, but doesn’t get to “as many as I’d like too. Weekend shows frequently interfere with my own out-of-town appearance engagements.”

Unfortunately, Koenig has yet to mix his hobby with his business. He once played a Russian general on the TV series Son of the Beach. “There were lots of war ribbons and medals on my uniform,” he says. “I tried to slip in a Donald Duck pin, but the wardrobe person spotted it.”

Walter Koenig in a publicity photo for Drawing Down the Moon -Photo by Bob Evans

Does Koenig see any parallels between Disney and Star Trek? “No, not really,” he says. “There was one actor on our show who had a sort of Mickey Mouse approach to working with the rest of us, but after that the similarity ends.”

You can write to David atthis link..

Star Trek promotional art © Paramount Pictures