nickelodeon – Trekking with Dennis

The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants – Film Review

Spoiler Warning: Beware of spoilers for The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.

My first encounter with SpongeBob came in 2005, when the first SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was released here in the UK. I think I was dimly aware of the show before then, thanks to its merchandise, but I hadn’t watched any of the episodes. A friend suggested going to see it at the cinema, though, and I must’ve thought that it sounded like a good time. It was one of the last films I saw at a small, family-run cinema before it closed down – the town is now served only by a branch of Vue (or one of those other chains, I forget which).

The point is that, for me, SpongeBob SquarePants started as a cinematic experience, and the first film is what led to me going back to watch some of the show’s earlier episodes. I wouldn’t call myself “a fan” of SpongeBob to any great extent – and I was surprised to learn, not that long ago, that new episodes and seasons are still being produced. But the first film was enjoyable, as were many of those earlier episodes, and while I’m not at all caught up on recent seasons or any of the spin-offs… a brand-new SpongeBob movie seemed like it could be a fun way to spend ninety minutes or so.

Derek Drymon, Bill Fagerbakke, and Tom Kenny at an event for The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) — Voice actors Bill Fagerbakke (left) and Tom Kenny (centre) with director Derek Drymon and their characters at an event for the film.

So when I saw that The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants was available to rent, that’s what I did! And I had a pretty good time with the film, to be honest with you. I don’t know whether I can recommend paying a lot of money for the film on video-on-demand, but I expect it’ll land on Paramount+ (or perhaps another streaming service) within the next few weeks or so, and it’s an easy recommendation if you’re already signed up. If you don’t mind waiting, I think there’s plenty of fun to be had with The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, whether you’ve got kids or whether you’re just a kid at heart – like yours truly.

I went into The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants hoping to have an enjoyable time, but not really with sky-high expectations. The change in animation style was certainly noticeable at first (other SpongeBob films and spin-offs have used 3D animation, but this is the first such project I’ve seen), but I found I got used to it pretty quickly. We’ll get into more detail about the CGI in a moment, because I have a few thoughts on how well it ultimately worked, but once the film got going, I found myself content to go along for the ride.

Still frame from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) showing Conch Street. — Conch Street, as it looks in the new animation style.

Story-wise, Search for SquarePants had a relatively straightforward kids’ movie plot. Nothing about SpongeBob’s quest to become a “big guy,” nor the Flying Dutchman’s scheme to trick him, felt groundbreaking, but the principal characters had solid, easily-understandable motivations that successfully kept things feeling reasonably grounded. When the story involves pirate ghosts and talking sea creatures, that’s no easy task! A couple of the secondary characters got somewhat of an arc of their own, too, including newcomer Barb the ghost-fish. But at a couple of points, I felt that Squidward and even Patrick – mainstays of the franchise – were almost included in the film by default.

There were also noteworthy omissions from the cadre of principal characters from the main show. Sandy the squirrel got a cameo, but Pearl, Karen, and Plankton were all entirely absent. I think there have been TV movies starring some of those characters in recent years, so that could be why. In terms of the story that *this* film wanted to tell, I can see why those characters would’ve felt superfluous or even distracted from the main narrative. But I find it interesting, in any case, that a decision was taken to keep the film focused on just a handful of characters from the main series – including an antagonist who is really a relatively small part of the world of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Key art/concept art for The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025). — Promotional artwork for the film.

The Flying Dutchman – played in this appearance by Mark Hamill – is an incredibly memorable villain from the original show, despite only making a handful of appearances. And a ghostly character like that was a wonderful choice to bring to the big screen for a bigger role. The Flying Dutchman’s design (both in 2D and now in 3D) is fun, reminding me a bit of LeChuck from the Monkey Island games – and while he’s definitely spooky, I don’t think he’d really frighten the film’s intended young audience. Maybe some especially sensitive little ones wouldn’t enjoy a story about a ghost, but for the most part, I think the Flying Dutchman walks a line between being fun in a spooky way without being actively frightening.

And the same is true of the Underworld – a major setting for the film’s adventure. There are monsters and a river of ooze – but the designs are definitely kid-friendly! I’m a big old scaredy-cat sometimes, so even I appreciated that these designs leaned more into “weird and wacky” than “terrifying,” and I’m sure a younger audience will, too.

Still frame from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) showing a monster. — An example of the kinds of monsters the film depicts.

Mark Hamill gave an outstanding performance as the Flying Dutchman, and it wasn’t until I looked into it that I came to realise he wasn’t the original voice actor from the TV series; his performance felt seamless. Maybe if you’re a huge SpongeBob fan and you’ve watched all of the Halloween and Flying Dutchman episodes over and over again you’ll pick up on some subtle differences, but speaking for myself, I really wouldn’t have known that Hamill wasn’t the instigator of the role. And his performance – both vocally and in the film’s live-action sequences – was fantastic.

What I appreciated about the Flying Dutchman is the same thing I value in basically any cinematic villain: he has a genuine reason for doing what he does, he isn’t “evil for the sake of it,” and his backstory was even kind of… sympathetic. The Flying Dutchman is cursed to roam the seas as a ghost for eternity – and he wants to find a way to break the curse, even if that means sacrificing someone else to suffer the same fate. We aren’t meant to agree with the actions he takes – setting up SpongeBob to take his place, nor abandoning his first mate when he finally gets what he wants – but we are able to understand where he’s coming from, at least. And if you stop to think about it, whatever crimes the Flying Dutchman may have committed all those years ago… does it justify a punishment of infinite duration?

Still frame from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) showing the Flying Dutchman and SpongeBob. — The Flying Dutchman with SpongeBob.

This is a kids’ film, and it’s part of a franchise that’s been running for more than a quarter of a century. So it was very possible that the film’s villain wouldn’t have had any of those subtleties or nuances; we could’ve got a story about the Flying Dutchman wanting to steal SpongeBob’s soul for no other reason than “that’s what I like doing.” But I truly appreciate that the film went out of its way to make the villain someone we can, at the very least, understand. He still comes across as selfish, and the comeuppance he gets at the end therefore feels justified – especially after how he treated his first mate.

But there’s a tiny twinge of sympathy in the Flying Dutchman’s presentation; the sense that this is a man who, despite his obvious flaws and deficiencies as a person and a friend, is suffering a horrible otherworldly punishment. Perhaps that’s something primal, that empathy for even the most selfish villain… or maybe I’m totally misreading the room! But for me, the Flying Dutchman having a genuinely understandable motivation elevated the main story of the film, and made it that much better.

Still frame from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) showing the Flying Dutchman. — The Flying Dutchman made for a strangely understandable antagonist.

Before we come to SpongeBob himself, the second character who gets an arc of sorts is Mr Krabs. Krabs’ story is a bit more simplistic, as he learns a lesson about boasting, exaggerating his achievements, and just generally lying and being deceitful. He begins the story by exaggerating his past to SpongeBob, painting himself as an all-conquering hero, and this in turn kicks off the main story. Krabs has to come to terms with the fact that his lying caused SpongeBob to get tangled up with the Flying Dutchman, and it’s clear that Krabs genuinely cares about SpongeBob *as a person*, not just as a money-earning employee. That isn’t always present in the show, from what I recall, so it was sweet to see.

There was kind of a father-son thing going on with SpongeBob and Krabs, even though the pair spent most of the film apart, and that culminated in Krabs risking everything – and losing everything, at least for a while – trying to rescue SpongeBob from his grizzly fate. As with the Flying Dutchman above, this mini-arc and an understandable motivation gave Mr Krabs’ story a bit more depth; it would’ve been easy for the film to say “SpongeBob’s friends are going to try to rescue him just because!” and leave it at that. But this additional storyline added a lot and helped keep Mr Krabs feeling a bit more grounded and realistic. The way this was conveyed, too, with Krabs continually looking at SpongeBob’s old ID card, was pretty creative.

Still frame from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) showing Mr Krabs and SpongeBob. — Mr Krabs and SpongeBob at the beginning of the film.

The Search for SquarePants uses, as I mentioned earlier, a 3D animation style. That’s a change from not only the SpongeBob SquarePants TV show, but also from that first film that I saw some two decades ago! For the most part, the change in animation was neither a positive nor a negative thing; it’s just the way this film looks, and I was fine with that. But there are a couple of things I wanted to point out – it’s up to you to decide whether these are issues, nitpicks, or even intentional!

SpongeBob’s skin(?) has a weird effect to it where some of the holes or depressions on his face will stay stock still while the background texture moves around them. It was only really noticeable in close-ups, but it was weird – and it’s one of those things that, once I started to notice it, I found that I *kept* noticing it every time the titular sponge was in focus. It feels like a bit of an animation shortcut, and it might be the kind of thing that hardly anyone picks up on. But I did notice it… and while it’s not the worst thing in the world, it didn’t look fantastic.

Six (cropped) frames of SpongeBob from the 2025 movie Search for SquarePants. — It’s subtle in still frames, but look at the two large holes on the bottom-left of SpongeBob’s face, compared to the texture around it. See what I mean?

Sticking with the animation, there was a kind of rubbery, stretchy effect to some of the characters. I noticed this most with Mr Krabs and Patrick; their shell/skin appeared to have the texture of rubber or stretchy plastic. This may have been a deliberate choice, with the animators leaning into a visual style that was a little more textured, less flat, and less “shiny” than some CGI films can be. In any case, I didn’t really have a problem with it; it made the film feel more “cartoony,” if that makes sense. But I did think it was worth mentioning.

Let’s talk about music. Search for SquarePants had a solid score. The soundtrack to the film was spooky where it needed to be, downcast when it looked like defeat was inevitable, and up-tempo and fun at other points, too. My number one rule for any film’s soundtrack is “do no harm;” the music shouldn’t get in the way of, or detract from, what’s going on on screen. Search for SquarePants has a score that clears this admittedly low bar.

The film’s main song, though – Ice Spice’s Big Guy – is another matter.

Still frame from a promo feature for The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants showing Ice Spice. — American rapper Ice Spice performs *Big Guy*, the main song from the film.

I will caveat this by saying that I’m not a fan of contemporary hip-hop and rap music, and that I was unaware of Ice Spice until watching the film. So this song was probably never going to be my thing, and that’s okay! But my goodness, it’s no exaggeration to say that Big Guy is, without a doubt, one of the worst songs I have ever had the misfortune to listen to.

Within The SpongeBob Movie itself, the Big Guy sequence is short enough to pass by relatively inoffensively. But do yourself a favour: don’t do what I did and listen to the entire song. It is a musical travesty; a song in which I can genuinely find zero redeeming qualities. I agree with one of the top comments under the song’s YouTube video: what a great day to be deaf.

Still frame from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) showing the Big Guy sequence. — The *Big Guy* sequence.

I suppose we should talk about SpongeBob, shouldn’t we? This is his movie and his story, after all!

If you remember the first SpongeBob SquarePants Movie from a couple of decades ago… you’ve kind of got the core of SpongeBob’s story right there. SpongeBob wants to feel like a “big guy,” in the words of Ice Spice, but begins the film feeling that, despite a growth spurt, he’s still young and immature. This kicks off his quest to be seen – by Mr Krabs, especially – as more than just a kid. For a film aimed at a younger audience, I think this is an easily-understood character motivation.

My struggle these days is the opposite – the cashier is always a little too quick to hit the “clearly over 25” button when I’m treating myself to a bottle of wine! But I can remember being at school, where I was one of the younger kids in my year group, and wanting to be perceived as older and more “grown-up.” It’s a natural thing that I think a lot of kids experience, so as the motive for the central character of a kids’ film… it works exceptionally well.

Still frame from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) showing SpongeBob dressed as a pirate. — The desire to be seen as more grown-up is something a lot of kids experience.

Despite the core similarity with SpongeBob’s motivation in the earlier film, the presentation of the two stories is different enough that Search for SquarePants doesn’t feel repetitive or derivative. Yes, both films present SpongeBob as a young guy who wants the people around him to see him as more of a grown-up. And yes, in both cases, this leads SpongeBob and Patrick on a “hero’s journey,” travelling to dangerous and faraway places. But the similarities end there; the SpongeBob of Search for SquarePants comes across as younger and more naïve than he does in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

The inciting incident in both cases is different, too – though both are connected to Mr Krabs! In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, SpongeBob believes he’s up for the job of manager at the Krusty Krab’s new location, but loses out because he’s seen as too young and childish for the role. That’s more of, for want of a better term, an “adult problem” for the character. In Search for SquarePants, SpongeBob is excited to finally be able to ride a rollercoaster at his favourite theme park – but chickens out when he sees how big and scary it is. This is much more of a childish problem, emphasising that this version of the character feels younger.

Still frame from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) showing SpongeBob afraid. — This version of the character comes across as feeling younger than in the film from 2004.

This culminates in SpongeBob having to literally face his fears at the climax of the story, having confessed to the Flying Dutchman about his fear of the rollercoaster. I really liked the way in which SpongeBob leaned into bubble-blowing – which the film presents as one of his more childish hobbies – as the way to save the day. The message for kids is that it’s okay to be a kid; that you don’t have to rush to grow up. In an age of social media and the internet, where kids are feeling the pressure to grow up at an ever-earlier age, that’s a positive message, in my book.

So that was The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. Can I recommend you purchase it at full-price? If you or your kids are mega-fans, maybe. But if you can wait a few more weeks, it’ll land on Paramount+, I expect, where it’s a much easier recommendation.

Still frame from The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025) showing the title card. — The film’s title card.

For my part, I had fun with the film. It was my first adventure with SpongeBob and his friends in quite a while, and while I definitely felt echoes of 2004’s The SpongeBob Movie, there was more than enough originality to make this film stand apart. The Flying Dutchman made for a fun and understandable antagonist, Mr Krabs kicked off the story and also got an arc of his own, and SpongeBob himself got a storyline about wanting to grow up that will surely resonate with a younger audience – with a message at the end about not needing to grow up *too fast* that I think is important in this day and age.

Thanks for joining me for this review! Depending on when it releases on video-on-demand or streaming, my next film review could very well be 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which will be a decidedly spookier affair than Search for SquarePants has been! And I have plans later in the year to check out a few other titles – click or tap here to see a few films I’m looking forward to in 2026. I hope you’ll join me for some of those! And if you missed it, last year I reviewed KPop Demon Hunters, another animated film that I’m happy to recommend. Click or tap here for that review.

Have fun out there – and try not to get into too much nautical nonsense!

The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is currently available to buy/rent via Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and other video-on-demand platforms in some countries and territories. The film will likely debut on Paramount+ later in 2026, and will also be available on DVD/Blu-ray later this year, too. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is the copyright of Paramount Animation, Nickelodeon Movies, and/or the Skydance/Paramount company. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Star Trek: Scouts

Tue 09.09.25Dennis

It’s not every day that a brand-new Star Trek series premieres… let alone two! But to mark Star Trek Day yesterday (the 8th of September), Skydance/Paramount dropped the first episode of the Khan audio drama… and still had one more surprise in store.

Star Trek: Scouts is a series aimed at preschoolers. The first two episodes were released on YouTube yesterday, and I’m actually pleased to see Paramount doing something like this. As we’ll get into, I’m not sure the way Scouts has been launched is perfect, but as a concept, as a principle… this is the kind of move I think we need to see more of if Skydance and Paramount are serious about establishing Star Trek as a brand with longevity, and that can continue to exist well into the future.

Still frame from Star Trek: Scouts showing Roo, with Sprocket and JR in the background. — A Star Trek series for kids is a good idea.

This is categorically not a “review” of Star Trek: Scouts, by the way. I’m not in the two-to-five demographic (believe it or not), so my thoughts about the actual content of this kind of show really wouldn’t be worth much! That’s not to say I don’t find joy in some cartoons or films aimed at a younger audience… but there’s young and then there’s young, if you take my point. These sub-four-minute episodes, with very basic storylines, are cut from the same cloth as something like Cocomelon, and for their intended audience, I’m sure they’ll be perfectly enjoyable.

What I’m interested in, as a Star Trek fan, is the potential for the franchise to belatedly break out of its demographic prison cell and finally attract a new audience. The tl;dr is that Star Trek is ageing… and if that continues unchecked, the fan community will die out. Shows like Prodigy and films like Section 31 were supposed to change that, attracting a younger audience and an audience raised on Marvel movies, respectively. I don’t think either project really met the moment and achieved those objectives… but there’s a chance, at least, for Scouts to appeal to a very young crowd, some of whom will go on to explore the Star Trek universe in more depth as they grow up. That can only be a good thing.

Still frame from Star Trek: Scouts showing the main character trio. — The three main characters.

I am disappointed, though, that Scouts is currently hosted on the YouTube channel of a different Nickelodeon series. That confused branding and mixed messaging won’t help. And, as I said several years ago when discussing Prodigy: where are the toys and tie-in products? None have been created in time for the show’s launch… and that’s still not good enough from Paramount. Kids – especially younger kids in the age range Scouts is pitched at – engage with their favourite worlds through play. Toys, dolls, dress-up costumes… all of these things should have been ready for eager kids and parents to coincide with the launch. It’s pretty stupid that they weren’t – and it’s going to hold back Scouts’ potential unless and until these kinds of toys are ready to go.

Some cartoons only exist to serve as glorified toy commercials. But despite owning the Nickelodeon brand – and knowing what it takes to market to kids successfully – Paramount is, for the second time, refusing to make kid-friendly Star Trek merchandise for its kid-friendly Star Trek series. I can’t be the only one to think that’s a mistake, can I? Or that it’s undermining the very idea behind creating a series like this?

Still frame from Star Trek: Scouts showing Roo and a tricorder. — Roo using a tricorder.

It’s not my intention to be overly negative, and this criticism is intended to be constructive. I’d love to think a show like Star Trek: Scouts will succeed, and will bring in younger fans to the Star Trek community at just the right moment. Star Trek needs that. And with Prodigy and Starfleey Academy, too, there’ll be no shortage of shows for younger viewers to sink their teeth into when they graduate from this kind of preschool cartoon and want something a bit more grown-up. Those are all great things, and Star Trek could – with the right management and leadership – really synergise these younger-focused series to give kids, tweens, and teens a route into the Star Trek fandom.

But so far, I don’t see a lot of effort on that side. I didn’t see it from the old Paramount at all, and I don’t see it from the new Skydance-owned Paramount, either. The launch of Scouts – with no fanfare, no tie-in products, and on a YouTube channel branded after a different show (not even the main Nickelodeon channel) – just smacks of a lack of care, a lack of attention, and a lack of effort or interest. And if that’s the case… why bother? Why commit money to a project like this only to not follow through and give it the best chance of success? It’s just… wasteful.

Still frame from Star Trek: Scouts showing HQ. — The kids’ HQ… complete with giant phaser beam.

I’m also a little disappointed with some – thankfully a minority, as far as I can tell – of the reactions to Scouts online. Some folks are completely unable to grasp the idea that not every single media project or piece of content is made specifically for them, and I’ve seen people saying Scouts is “childish,” “basic,” and “a joke,” as if it was somehow meant to be something a grown adult would enjoy. So let’s say it loud and clear for the people getting upset about Scouts not being as deep and complex as episodes like The Drumhead:

It’s a show for two-year-olds.

We all get it now, yeah? It’s gonna have basic plots, child characters, and not a lot of world-building or complexity. That’s by design! Not every show – and not every Star Trek show – is made for everyone. Scouts, more so even than Prodigy before it, is targeting a very specific audience, and a very young audience. It’s not for me – but it’s not supposed to be. I’m glad that there’s some effort being made to make some of the basic trappings and aesthetic elements of Star Trek appeal to a new, younger audience – even though I wish some of the execution was being handled a bit more professionally.

Still frame from Star Trek: Scouts showing the three main characters jumping. — To boldly go…

This is probably gonna be the last time I touch base with Scouts… though with my niece being born earlier this year, maybe if it’s still around in a couple of years’ time, I’ll recommend it for her! I think the idea of creating a project like this – a potential easy way into Star Trek for even the youngest viewers – is no bad thing, and I will be rooting for its success, even though Skydance and Paramount don’t seem to be all that bothered one way or another.

So that’s all for today, I guess. Star Trek: Scouts exists. If you have young kids (or you’re a child at heart; no judgment), you can find the first two episodes on YouTube, with a promise of some eighteen more to come. I think there are plans to broadcast episodes on Nickelodeon or Nick Jr., too, in regions where those channels are available, so keep an eye out for that, too.

And if Scouts isn’t for you… that’s okay. There are almost 950 episodes and films in the Star Trek franchise that you might like instead.

Star Trek: Scouts is out now and can be streamed via the Blaze and the Monster Machines YouTube channel at time of writing. The Star Trek franchise – including Scouts – is the copyright of Skydance/Paramount and Nickelodeon. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

More details about Star Trek: Prodigy revealed

Mon 14.06.21Sun 13.11.22Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Prodigy.

A few weeks ago we got to see a first glimpse of upcoming kids show Star Trek: Prodigy, showing off the main cast of characters. Today, ViacomCBS revealed a little more information about who these folks are – as well as the voice actors who will bring them to life! In addition, we got four brand-new teaser images. I thought it would be fun to take a look at what’s been revealed as we start to get excited for Prodigy.

It’s worth saying at this stage that no broadcast date was revealed. In fact, we weren’t given so much as a hint as to when Prodigy might hit our screens. I’d definitely seen 2021 talked about as being likely, but given we’re going to get Lower Decks in less than two months, with Discovery following hot on its heels before the end of the year, I’m beginning to think that Prodigy will arrive next year instead. Stay tuned, because if and when we get a proper release date – or a trailer – I’ll try to cover it here on the website!

We’d learned during Star Trek’s First Contact Day digital event a couple of months ago that Prodigy is set in the Delta Quadrant, and that the characters mostly belong to races we haven’t met before. Despite that, however, there are two characters who actually are from familiar races – presumably we’ll learn more about how they came to be in the Delta Quadrant when the show airs!

First up we have a Tellarite named Jankom Pog. The Tellarites were founding members of the Federation – so perhaps we’ll get a different perspective from this character, who may know a little more about Starfleet and the Federation than the others. And secondly we have a Medusan character named Zero. The Medusans were seen in The Original Series Season 3 episode Is There In Truth No Beauty? These aliens are noncorporeal and unable to be looked upon by humans (and presumably others) as the sight of their appearance can drive people insane!

Modern Star Trek has enjoyed bringing back characters and races from The Original Series era, and this feels like a continuation of that trend in some ways. Both Tellarites and Medusans are known but have never been explored in depth, and making main characters out of each feels like it has the potential to expand our understanding of both races.

I don’t want to pre-empt some of the storylines that Prodigy could explore, but in the Medusan character in particular I wonder if we’re going to see stories about things like overcoming insecurities about one’s physical appearance. There’s also the potential for an analogy about having to hide one’s true self and never feeling able to be truly “seen.” The Medusan character was very pointedly described as “genderless” in the press release, and I wonder if that means we’ll get storylines considering gender identity in a comparable way to how Discovery’s third season introduced the non-binary character Adira.

Dal again – perhaps on the Starfleet vessel the kids encounter?

Let’s look at the remaining characters and see if there’s anything else we can gleam!

The character I felt bore superficial similarities to Jaylah from Star Trek Beyond is called Gwyn, described as a Vau N’Akat – a new race that we haven’t met before – who grew up on a bleak mining world. Sounds interesting, and there’s potential for Gwyn to perhaps be a point-of-view character, allowing for things to be explained to us as the audience because she’s less familiar with the wider galaxy and its inhabitants.

Dal is next, the same age as Gwyn but from an unknown race. A couple of the characters have this description; I don’t know if it means their races will be revealed during the series or if the characters themselves don’t know their own origin and identity. If it’s the latter, perhaps there’s scope for Dal to learn more about his people and his home as the series progresses. Otherwise, this character was described as a “maverick,” but also full of hope.

The very large alien that I thought might’ve been a Horta is actually the youngest member of the group. Rok-Tahk is described as shy and an animal-lover. Aside from the unconventional size, this kind of feels like Rok-Tahk has been given generic “little girl” attributes by the creators… but maybe she’ll surprise me and bring something more to the table.

Finally we have Murf, the adorable blob-alien who immediately became a fan-favourite. Murf is the second character whose species is described as being “unknown,” so we’ll have to see what happens there. Otherwise Murf was described as “indestructible,” which certainly seems like an attribute that could come in handy.

There were a couple of known names among the voice cast. Jason Mantzoukas will voice Jankom Pog (the Tellarite character) and is an actor and comedian who’s been in films like The Dictator and The Lego Batman Movie, as well as television shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Big Mouth. Dee Bradley Baker will voice Murf, and you might know his name from his prolific voice acting in television shows like Star Wars Rebels, SpongeBob SquarePants, and as the “voice” of Perry the Platypus in Phineas and Ferb.

So now we have names to go with the faces we first saw a few months ago! Prodigy is definitely taking shape, and the more we learn about the series, the more interesting it seems to get. I know it’s a show primarily aimed at kids, but the best children’s shows have something to offer adults as well. Not to mention that Star Trek has long been a child-friendly franchise.

It was great to get another glimpse at the new series. Prodigy will be the fourth brand-new Star Trek project to premiere since ViacomCBS brought the franchise back to the small screen less than four years ago. It’s an absolutely amazing time to be a fan of Star Trek – as I keep saying! – and I can only hope that the new show is as entertaining and enjoyable as the others. It’s a departure for the franchise to make a deliberately child-oriented show, and to have a cast of characters which primarily consists of teens and kids, but as Lower Decks proved last year – albeit in a very different way – Star Trek is adaptable. The franchise is capable of branching out and going in different directions. For a lot of kids, Prodigy is about to become their first contact with Star Trek, and I hope many of them will explore the franchise, watch its other iterations, and become lifelong fans.

You can find more information about the cast and characters of Star Trek: Prodigy by following this link to the official Star Trek website. Star Trek: Prodigy will premiere on Paramount+ in the United States soon. International distribution has not yet been announced. The Star Trek franchise – including Prodigy and all other properties mentioned above – is the copyright of ViacomCBS. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Captain Janeway is back!

Thu 08.10.20Sun 20.11.22Dennis

Just a short one this evening. I was surprised – no, positively shocked – to learn that Kate Mulgrew is going to reprise her role as Captain Kathryn Janeway! That actually isn’t the shocking part, as Captain Janeway was one of many characters who could’ve potentially appeared in Star Trek: Picard or future productions set in or around the dawn of the 25th Century. The real surprise was that she’s going to be reprising the role for the upcoming animated series Star Trek: Prodigy!

Prodigy, if you didn’t know, is a joint venture between ViacomCBS (owners of Star Trek) and children’s broadcaster Nickelodeon. The show was announced a while ago, and will be the first Star Trek production to be aimed primarily at kids. The pitch for the series says its target audience is the 5-15 demographic, but Alex Kurtzman and other producers promise that there will be plenty for older fans to enjoy as well.

*Star Trek: Prodigy* had been announced earlier, but with no details of its cast.

Kate Mulgrew spoke during a digital panel for Comic-Con, and expressed her happiness to return to the franchise. Playing Captain Janeway in voiceover, she said, has allowed her to give the character more nuance within the privacy of a recording studio. She had apparently been reluctant at first, but after hearing the pitch of the series and speaking to Alex Kurtzman she was convinced.

Captain Janeway was groundbreaking, not just for Star Trek but for science fiction and the wider world of entertainment. She was Star Trek’s first woman captain, and now, as she says, she will be Star Trek’s first children’s captain too. Even twenty-five years after Voyager premiered, the character – and actress – are still breaking new ground.

Captain Janeway is returning to Star Trek!

So far we haven’t seen what Captain Janeway’s animated form will look like. Prodigy hasn’t released any teaser images as of yet; all we have is the show’s logo. But as we edge closer to the release of the series I’m sure we’ll get to see more!

Prodigy is going to be something different in the Star Trek universe. As we’ve seen with Lower Decks, different doesn’t mean “bad.” While Prodigy and Lower Decks are completely different productions, both have tried to push the boat out and expand Star Trek, bringing in new fans. If Prodigy succeeds, we’re likely to see a whole new generation of Trekkies, many of whom will jump over to watch the likes of Discovery and Strange New Worlds, and will hopefully go back to watch Voyager and other Star Trek shows too.

With Kathryn Janeway back in the captain’s chair, Star Trek: Prodigy is lining up to be a winner. I was looking forward the show before. But now I cannot wait!

Star Trek: Prodigy is due for release in 2021. The Star Trek franchise – including Star Trek: Prodigy – is the copyright of ViacomCBS. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.