2x04 Ephraim and Dot

[7.2/10] I gotta be honest, it’s kind of weird to see Star Trek going for the whole Pixar vibe that this short seems to imitating. It doesn't help that the characters have a Polar Express-esque Uncanny Valley problem in both the real world and the storybook one. There’s a semi-odd tone that doesn't really track with anything else we’ve seen in the franchise.

But that’s kind of a good thing? As one of like twelve people who watched Star Trek: The Animated Series, it’s nice to see the franchise using the medium of animation again. And while I don’t know how I’d feel about this as part of a regular episode, these shorts should be for doing something different and experimenting.

I’ll again admit that the actual fable Michael’s dad imparts to her is a little generic. But despite the off character designs, the environmental and particle effects were really cool and created an interesting mood for the piece. The overall theme of the light inside, the boldness of exploration balanced against the fear of the unknown, and the literal representations of those things, were all well-done. The bedtime reassurance frame story was a little cheesy, but did what it needed to do.

What’s funny is that, outside of a very small handful of episodes, Trek isn’t really aimed at kids. That’s not to say it’s not accessible to people of all ages. (I certainly watched TNG as a pretty young child.) But at the same time, there’s a certain kid-specific tone that “The Girl Who Made the Stars” puts on here that I’m not sure we’ve ever really seen before, even in the 1970s animated show.

Overall, I can’t say I was chomping at the bit for more of this, but (a.) I’m probably not the target audience and (b.) it was, if nothing else, interesting to see Trek attempt this sort of thing.