It had to eventually happen. Star Wars and Star Trek’s histories have been intertwined from the beginning, and now George Takei will be the first Star Trek main cast actor to appear in a George Lucas Star Wars production, the Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon version which has brought in nearly 20 million viewers for its first few episodes on the Cartoon Network.
The December 15th issue of TV Guide has a preview of science fiction shows for 2009, and the article reveals that Takei will play a Neimodian scientist(Neimodian…Nimoydian? Nah….) in two episodes of Clone Wars set for January 16 and 23. Takei will voice Lok Durd who creates a type of nuclear weapon that can destroy biological forms and leave technology unscathed, and who is planning to test it on a planet populated by the pacifist and gentle Lurmens (almost sounds like Star Trek: Insurrection). Jedi Anakin Skywalker and his padawan Ashoka must stop Lok Durd.
Lok Durd from "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," to be voiced by Star Trek’s George Takei
Star Wars: The Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni talked about the theme of the episode, saying:
These episodes raise a very interesting question about the Jedi: Can they still be considered keepers of the peace now that they are soldiers in war?
The themes of the episodes are reminiscent of some of the same kinds of notions explored in Star Trek episodes, specially from the effects of war on soldiers and civilians. Considering Takei’s experiences during World War II chronicled in his excellent biography To The Stars, it should be interesting to see what he brings to the role of Lok Durd whose character reminds of WWII atomic science.
More on Star Wars: The Clone Wars at the official Cartoon Network site.
The Two Star Franchises
Star Wars and Star Trek have often been connected, sometimes tangentially, sometimes directly. For example, the return of Star Trek as a motion picture in 1979 instead of a television show has been well documented, with agreement that it was the success of Star Wars in 1977 that inspired Paramount executives to decide on a feature film version. Most of the Star Trek feature films, and some of the scenes of the Star Trek: The Next Generation "Encounter at Farpoint" premiere, have effects from George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic Company (prompting the inclusion of ILM in the credits of years of TNG episodes). More recently, George Lucas praised Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry for creating an entertainment which teaches moral lessons, when interviewed for Rod Roddenberry’s documentary Trek Nation (see clip). And, of course, Lucas and JJ Abrams were seen dinning together about a year ago, causing fans to wonder what they were discussing.
Trek and Wars summit in 2007
With Takei’s appearance on Clone Wars, the circle is now complete.
Takei back on Heroes
Awesome, I love this show and I’m looking forward to see these ep.s!
Sweet! Good to know he’s doing something notable after coming out of the jungle.
Oh, my!
who cares!!! He’s an actor getting paid to do a job. People get too caught up in the actors. It’s not about the actors, it’s about the characters. It’s not like this Star Wars character will be Sulu— obviously since he’s an evil character anyway. Or are people trying to insinuate that George Takei is evil? Hmmm…Interesting hypothesis… Actors are who their characters are.
Dont forget Lucas had Trek IIs original title changed from ‘Vengence’ of Khan as his ‘Revenge’ of the Jedi was on its way the following year
Good job he did as Wrath is much puncher sounding..
pity it wasnt footage instead of just a picture of them meeting – we could have all played Hal and read their lips
wonder if any star wars actors will be in the new star trek…? I’m hoping for a Ford cameo as some admiral
3
You stole my line.
Isn’t the weapon his character “invents” essentially the much-dreaded, much publicized neutron bomb of the late 1970’s? It was also reputed to be able to kill life forms but leave structures such as buildings intact — or at least that was the urban myth of it.
8. The thought that neutron bombs destroy life yet leave infrastructure intact is a urban myth. Neutron bombs are nuclear weapons that produce a large amount of neutron radiation. The intent of such weapons was to be tank killers, since tank crews in tanks could survive even in close proximity to a nuclear explosion. The neutron radiation was intended to kill such crews. But property would face the same destruction of effects of similar sized nuclear weapons. Biological or chemical weapons would be more suited to that purpose.
We finally get a TREK actor into STAR WARS…
…and the character’s name is “Lok Durd???” That’s just as unforgivable as finally nabbing the great Christopher Lee… and naming him Count Dooku.
Sounds like Latin for “can’t poop”
Here’s hoping for that Star Trek/Star Wars crossover the world has been waiting for!!
…oh come now, don’t look at me like that, you know you want to see it!! ;)
Uh, Shatner sang a tribute song to Lucas long before JJ met Lucas.
Lok Durd looks just like George after a couple of helpings of Thanksgiving dinner. Shatner should be next, playing Durd’s brother Lik Turd.
Caption for the picture:
LUCAS: So those are the ways to ruin a long standing franchise. Don’t forget a little blonde haired kid in the first movie works wonders.
ABRAMS: I just did that
LUCAS: Great. You’re on your way.
Hahahah… i’m only kidding
I haven’t really been able to get into “The Clone Wars” i sat down to watch the movie that came first… the one that went to theatres on DVD. I actually fell asleep. It was that dull. So i haven’t even bothered with the series.
That character’s face looks like it was drawn on somebody’s stomach – at least to me! :)
“”LUCAS: So those are the ways to ruin a long standing franchise.””
Excellent.
Now we need Trek to go back to cartoons. This might be the only way we can get new episodes of TNG (or Titan), DS9, and maybe Voyager short of direct to DVD movies.
That’s great!
In “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” didn’t Kirk order Spock to subject the planet Delta Vega to a lethal dose of neutron radiation, in case Spock didn’t hear from him after he (Kirk) went after Gary Mitchell?
Yuck. Original Star Wars rocks, the rest is crap. In my humble opinion, of course.
11 I truly laughed out loud! That was hilarious!
Of course, I’m sure turd references were in everyone’s heads — where the visions of sugar plums should be dancing this time of year …
9 – Yes, urban myth as I said. But I was in my early college years at the time, and I recall that it was a largely accepted notion throughout the general public.
Takei’s voice has exactly the right timbre and boom for good villainy, IMO. I hope he gets more and more bad-guy roles (not just because he has an awesome voice for ’em, but villains just HAVE to be extra-fun to play) :)
24 – That must of been before the Internet, everything is common knowledge now;) Back in the 70’s you said…
Being a fan of both franchises, I’m pleased to hear about this.
26 – Yup, before the Internet or the word processor — wrote all my papers on a manual typewriter. Still keep a few of them handy for the days the computer is stubborn.
Also rode to classes on the back of a stegosaur …
I agree with 19, except we need a show along the lines of Clone Wars for the period between the movies in the movie setting. Get the actors to sign up for doing the audio work, and give us a great action adventure show kids can watch and love. I would be there in a second– and I’m 41!
By the way, Michael Dorn is the new president on Heroes
Oh, no! He’s playing a Neimodian… those are the “Chinese” sounding aliens… in terms of ethnic stereotyping, almost as bad as the Gungans sounding like they’re from Jamaica or something….
—
#8, #9
In regard to the concept of a neutron bomb, or enhanced radiation weapon, explosive yield is limited but not non-existent; according to Wikipedia, it’s 1/10th that of a H-bomb of the same size. That’s still a lot more explosive force than a conventional weapon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_radiation_weapon
What #9 says about their intended tactical use is true. The neutron bomb isn’t such a big deal anymore as the Cold War is over. If such device were ever to get into the “wrong hands” however, that’s another story….
The concept of a “salted bomb” or Cobalt bomb is more sinister, however they do not exist (that we know of).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_bomb
SW is just getting stupider and stupider.
Ummm, so this confirmation that the Neimodians are space asian? ;-) And Re:#17, lol, he does look like something drawn on a person’s belly!!!
Also, is my memory playing tricks on me, or did this site have a caption game with that Lucas & JJ photo a while back?
Lucas: “Poop and fart jokes, my friend. Poop & farts pack them in!!!”
JJ: “Um…”
‘those are the “Chinese” sounding aliens’
…and Lucas’ reasoning is that he was sick of aliens speaking perfectly American-accented English. Also, you’d have to be pretty thick to miss that in the political allegory he’s drawn, the Trade Federation (who are the Neimoidians) = China. Therefore, the accents “fit” on two levels.
The fact that people are so ridiculously over-sensitive about flipping accents is just further example of how we’re all a bunch of sissies now without senses of humor or perspective. Seriously, compare the Neimoidian accents to all of “Blazing Saddles.” Which is more offensive?
Trick question. Neither.
Back on topic, CW is a terrific series. Truly rich stories and clever animation.
Good for George Takei!
It’s got to be a great feeling for an actor who spentso many years in the type-cast wilderness to now be getting so much work.
Congratulations George Takei!
Now for my opinion on what Mr. Lucas has been up to… nevermind. You don’t want to know.
Star Wars…. UUUUGGGGGHHHHHH.
#35 “The fact that people are so ridiculously over-sensitive about flipping accents is just further example of how we’re all a bunch of sissies now without senses of humor or perspective.”
The general complaint isn’t that they sounded Chinese, it’s that they _didn’t_ sound Chinese – the sounded like racist stereotypes of the “so solly me bling you more flied lice, chop chop” variety.
“Seriously, compare the Neimoidian accents to all of “Blazing Saddles.” Which is more offensive?”
The factual difference is that “Blazing Saddles” was actually (in signifigant part) _about_ racism, and the town survived by overcoming it (or at least, making the first hobbling steps toward overcoming it. Provided you weren’t the Irish. Aww, we’ll take them, too). The other (matter of opinoin) difference is that “Blazing Saddles” was a good movie while the SW prequels were a steaming pile … and people are far more likely to be lenient when the movie entertains :)
(and for the record, the Neimodians didn’t offend me in the least; Star Wars is 1930s matinee-serial stuff, and Yellow Peril racism is part of that … just pointing out the specifics of the usual complaint).
Cool. Although, besides George Takei, there are few other people who are associated with both the CBS-owned “Star Trek” and the Lucasfilm-owned “Star Wars”, like:
1) Clive Revill who voiced Emperor Palpatine in 1980’s “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” and in 1991 played Sir Guy of Gisbourne on the “Qpid” episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”
2) Kevin Kiner, who teamed up with Dennis McCarthy in co-composing scores to episodes of the final two seasons of “Star Trek: Enterprise”–the four-year prequel to the three-year “Original Series”–and later wrote and conduct music for the 2008 CGI movie and TV show “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.
Self-explanatory, eh?
Know what I miss? Jive talk from the 70’s.
I know Snoop Dogg’s Shizzle & Nizzle are like the grandchildren of Jive.
But I miss real Jive.
Darn P.C. movies.
Who gives a damn about the accents?
Next someone will post something about Takei in Mulan. And Chinese Sterotypes in Mulan. I really enjoyed Mulan.
Remember when Star Wars came out and people freaked out because it was “whites only” and they introduced Lando in Empire? (BTW, I lived in London/Borehamwood Elstree in the 80’s, they’re nice people) Now people are complaining when Lucas introduces non-whites.
You cant have your cake both ways people.
Embrace Lucas’ attempt to broaden the SW rainbow.
The Klingons started as a Soviet allegory and became Space Samurai.
The Romulans started as an ancient Roman allegory and became Space Chinese.
There are plenty of racist stereotypes in our beloved Trek. I shake my head at the Ferengi. I wonder why no one ever protested them…
Georges character looks like a face painted on a torso.
35 JWM et al. — Oops, I just dropped an aside in #31 and got jumped on. For the record, I do not think the accent thing is particularly offensive, I think it’s silly, campy, and therefore hilarious — but in the wrong kind of way.
As #38 S. John Ross says, they don’t sound like *real* Chinese people, they sound like caricatures of Chinese people.
If there’s one thing I consistently find annoying about Eps. 1 – 3, it’s the silliness of certain parts (Jar Jar being far and away the worst). I really wanted them to be more “grown up” in tone. Only Revenge of the Sith even comes close to staying serious most of the time.
What I *do* like about Star Wars is that there are actual non-English (technically, in universe, I should say non-Basic) speaking aliens, like Sebulba, Jabba, and the Geonosians (I love the latter’s weird click speech). If an alien’s going to have an “accent”, it should be an accent made for the purpose, not borrowed from a set of caricatures.
Am I covered now? I’m not really that PC.
#32 Mark C
“SW is just getting stupider and stupider.”
Yeah, it’s a real shame that the direction of certain SW-related product after the original trilogy seemed to disappoint in lots of ways. I have high hopes for the LIVE-action television series in the future though.
Meantime, all is not lost, as the extremely talented ‘Adywan’ is concentrating on improving the whole Movie saga at the moment as a labour of love, which will take some years yet.
He has completed his ‘Star Wars:Revisited’ project, and is now hard at work on his ‘Empire:Revisited’ follow-up. As a huge fan of the original trilogy, this is something very cool indeed, as most of HIS ‘creative decisions’ improved ‘A New Hope’ no end! Search around for info. on this, as it’s one of the coolest things ever, for those that still care….
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DlYpNo2vRmv
Oops, mistyped!
It’s – http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DlYpNo2vRmw
In regards of the computer animated cartoon I think some people didn’t read the reports in which it was explained that these are aiming for the kids–not the adult fans. The articles and interviews basically all said the same thing. Lucas wanted to do an animated cartoon that looked like the cartoon shorts on cartoon network, for kids. It was said Lucas wanted to do this because many young kids apparently didn’t get to see Revenge of the sith because of the violence (I take this to mean Vader killing the younglings, etc. and getting burned up). So, because of this, there are some adults who have griped about the show; but the show isn’t targeted for the adults. With that in mind, I find that the show is actually not bad. In fact, there are some episodes that are pretty cool. Many episodes are better than the cartoon version that was released in theaters this past summer (which I didn’t watch until it came out on DVD.)
It’s also been said that the live action show–the one that is supposed to come to t.v. somewhere between now and like 2011–is the show that is being made for a more mature audience. The live action show will take place in the 19 years period between The Revenge of the Sith and before A New Hope. I don’t know who stars; but I wouldn’t be shocked if Sam Wittwer (spelling? The guy who played Crashdown on BSG and is currently on Smallville) will be in it, as he plays Vader’s apprentice in the video game.
Knowing all of this, it seems to be a different case to me than…say knocking the last Indiana Jones movie–which sadly deserves it. That was just an unfortunate awful movie that felt nothing like the other 3 Indian Jones films–which were all great. The fourth one….not so much.
#44: “Yeah, it’s a real shame that the direction of certain SW-related product after the original trilogy seemed to disappoint in lots of ways.”
For some of us, the disappointment kicked in hard and heavy with Return of the Jedi and hasn’t slacked up since :) Although, in nostalgic retrospect even RotJ starts to look sunny … at least it had Han Solo in it :)
“I have high hopes for the LIVE-action television series in the future though.”
Me too, actually. With Lucas neither writing nor directing (at least with any kind of regularity) it puts Star Wars in a lot of different hands, and I think there’s so much potential there that could be unlocked with just the right kick in the pants.
The thing that bothers me most about the prequels and the cartoon, more than anything else, is the writing. The lack of formal language just really gets me. Go back and listen to the words in the original three, and then everything else is just dreck.
The complaint I have about Nemoidians in general is two-fold:
1. They’re sniveling cowards that don’t add to the story.
2. The accents are SO thick, it’s hard to understand what they’re saying. I don’t mind accents at all, but I’ve got to be able to understand the words that are comin’ outta your mouth…
The CW movie did the same thing with the script – recycled stuff. And I feel bad saying this, because I know one of the writers. All of the stuff from the prequels forward, seems aimed at kids. Kids who want the toys. Kids who have parents who buy the toys. The toys that cost upwards of high and keep going.
$150 for the Millenium Falcon??
#46 Notbob
Yeah thankfully there are ‘fan editors’ also working on ‘remedial’ versions of Indy 4 as we speak!
No more goofy gophers or swinging monkey antics then…. :)
Just hope that’s not needed for this new Trek Movie!
Although I fear for that swollen ‘Mickey Mouse’ hands scene….